White chocolate macadamia nut cookies are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. Chewy, buttery, and filled with smooth white chocolate chips and salty macadamia nuts.
Who else loves white chocolate chips in cookies? We've baked birthday cake cookies and butter pecan cookies - now it's time to take on the classic white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.
These cookies are soft in the middle, chewy, and filled with white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts. The best part is that they're made from scratch and only require simple ingredients.
There's no wrong time to make a batch of these cookies. Add them to your next holiday cookie tray, or make a batch to share with friends and family.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Unsalted butter - Butter should be room temperature to easily incorporate with the other ingredients and create a smooth, even dough. If using salted butter, omit the salt listed in the recipe.
- Sugars - We're using a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe for optimal texture and flavor. Granulated sugar helps aerate the butter when creaming the two together, which helps lift your cookies as they bake. Brown sugar adds a caramelized, molasses flavor and chewy texture to your cookies.
- Eggs - Room temperature eggs incorporate seamlessly into the dough and add moisture and structure.
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cookies.
- All-purpose flour - Adds structure to your cookies and balances the wet ingredients in the recipe. I haven't tested this recipe with other types of flours, so I can't say for sure how your cookies would turn out with substitutions. To avoid wasting ingredients, I highly suggest searching for a recipe that has been developed with the type of flour you'd like to use.
- Leavening - You'll need baking soda for this recipe - it cannot be substituted with baking powder, the two are not interchangeable.
- Macadamia nuts - Adds crunch and salty flavor to your cookies. I recommend using roasted macadamia nuts or roasting your nuts before adding to the dough (see instructions below).
- White chocolate chips - Add a sweet, melty element to your cookies. They can be omitted if desired or substituted with your favorite baking chip, like semi sweet chocolate chips or butterscotch chips.
Roasting macadamia nuts
Roasted macadamia nuts add the best flavor to your cookies. Roasting brings out extra depth of flavor in the nuts, which in turn makes your cookies taste even better.
If you have raw macadamia nuts, they will work just fine. If you’d like to roast them for some extra depth of flavor, it only takes a few minutes.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the macadamia nuts on a lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Watch carefully to prevent burning. Allow to cool before adding nuts to your dough.
Cookie baking tips
These are my absolute favorite tips for making a successful batch of cookies!
- Room temperature ingredients - using room temperature ingredients, like butter and eggs, is important when making cookies. Room temperature ingredients cream together with the sugar to create an emulsion. This traps air in the dough, which helps create a soft and fluffy cookie.
- Properly measuring flour - One of the most frequent issues I see with cookie making is the improper measuring of flour. Do your cookies frequently turn out cakey or thick, and don't spread well? You may be adding too much flour. To properly measure flour - use a kitchen scale. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use a spoon to scoop dough from the container to your measuring cup. Level off with a knife. Scooping directly from the container with your measuring cup will compact flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your dough.
- Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat instead of greasing a cookie sheet. Grease or butter on a cookie sheet will cause your cookies to spread more than they should.
For more cookie tips, check out my full post: 10 tips for baking cookies.
How to keep cookies soft
Store your cookies in a tightly sealed container. If cookies are loosely covered with plastic or foil on a plate, they will dry out quickly.
Generally, homemade cookies will stay fresh and soft for about 2 to 3 days in a sealed container, and will begin to dry out after that.
Add a slice of fresh bread to your cookie container. The cookies draw moisture from the slice of bread, keeping them fresh and drying out the bread instead. Replace the bread daily (or as needed) with a fresh slice.
Freezing
Baked cookies and cookie dough both freeze well, for three months or more when stored in optimal conditions.
I recommend portioning cookie dough into balls before freezing. Store in a tightly sealed, freezer safe container or bag. Dough can be transferred directly from the freezer to cookie sheet and bake from frozen, adding about 1-2 minutes to your baking time. Frozen cookie dough will spread slightly less in the oven.
Baked, completely cooled cookies can be frozen for 3 months or more. Tightly seal in a freezer safe container, squeezing out all excess air. To thaw, place on the countertop to bring to room temperature for about 1 hour.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (107 g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (114 g) chopped macadamia nuts
- 1 cup (170 g) white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugars. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until mixture is fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined. Add white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and stir until just combined.
- Cover bowl or wrap dough in wax paper. Chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) in the refrigerator. Refrigerating helps the flavors meld and also create a firmer dough to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a 1.5 tablespoon scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges and across the tops. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Storage: Leftover cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Make ahead: Dough will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cookie dough balls (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen balls to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
- Top tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
Trying these tonight! Thanks