White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Nut Cookies
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A cookie jar classic– buttery cookies filled with creamy white chocolate and crunchy macadamia nuts.
Rounding out our 12 Days of Christmas Cookies and our Christmas cookie jars is a classic. A timeless, widely-loved cookie that has stolen the hearts of cookie lovers all over the world.
This, my friends, is one cookie you must squeeze into your Christmas baking list this year, because along with peanut butter blossoms, no cookie collection is complete without it.
This is a cookie I made for the annual cookie exchange I do with my girlfriends at work. Past participants have been these gingerbread cookies and last year’s lemon crinkles. Every year right before Christmas, a few of us get together to share cookies, and we have one rule: you must make a cookie that you’ve never made before.
If it flops, OH WELL, it’s probably still delicious, even if not beautiful, and the experience was a fun one. Hopefully.
That said, can you believe that in my years of baking, I had never made a white chocolate chip/chunk macadamia nut cookie?! Blasphemous! I’ve made lots of cookies in my years, but never this one.
And I’m really not sure why, because although I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate, you just can’t beat the chunky, buttery, crunchy yet soft textures going on in these cookies. You just can’t.
There are many ways to make these cookies, as I found in my cookie research. Some people use all butter, some use a combination of butter and shortening, and some people use chips instead of chopped chocolate.
So many ways!!
This recipe (my way– all butter) may not be your favorite white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe, and that’s ok. I won’t be mad at you, and you shouldn’t be mad at me either. We can all live in cookie harmony with one another if we just agree that these cookies, like classic chocolate chip cookies, come in all shapes, sizes, and textures.
To be perfectly honest, my best taste tester (Matt) didn’t love the texture of these cookies. He is firmly in crispy cookie camp, whereas I like ’em soft and chewy. But he did agree that the taste was fab. So I let him back in my camp (camp cookie) where he just stays in his own tent (crispy tent).
These cookies are very straightforward and you won’t find any complicated ingredients in the dough. You will, however, need to roll your cookie dough into “tall balls” to ensure they don’t end up like flat little pancakes. We did this with our sumbitches this summer, and here’s a picture of that dough with the “tall” method:
Feel free to add extra white chocolate pieces and/or macadamia chunks. The more chunks, the merrier.
When you’re arranging the dough balls on the baking sheet, you’ll want no more than 6 at a time. They will spread a bit, and you don’t want any of the cookies to run together. I mean, unless you do want that, then you can claim the melded cookie as your own and you don’t have to share…
The cookies will need about a 10 minute rest on the baking sheet to cool a bit before they’re transferred to a wire rack to cool completely. They are so ooey gooey and if you move them too soon, they will turn to mush and fall apart. One big cookie mess.
As I said, these cookies are out-of-this-world soft and chewy. If you eat one before it’s completely set, you’ll be met with the most luxuriously creamy white chocolate and toasty little macadamia chunks.
Of course, these cookies are just as delicious as time goes on, but there’s nothing like a cookie that’s got a bit of melty business going on inside it. You could even microwave a completely set cookie for a few seconds to achieve that fresh-out-of-the-oven texture.
If you’re looking for that big bakery style white chocolate macadamia nut cookie with the crispy edges and soft centers, this isn’t quite your cookie. But if you’re looking for an overall chewy cookie that still has all the tasty insides of that same cookie going on, here’s your chance to make it happen in your kitchen.
Promise me you’ll try to squeeze it into your Christmas baking schedule??
I’m so happy to have brought 12 cookie recipes to my blog again this year, despite having ridiculously less time on my hands and a bit different of a focus than previous years.
But I hope to be able to make this an annual thing because it’s just so darn fun and I really do love sharing my passion for baking with the world.
Thank you all for continuing to read, share, bake, and allow me to help you in your kitchen. May you have the most wonderful holiday season and I’m looking forward to continuing this crazy baking journey with you all in 2017.
Now, the most important question: what’s on your Christmas baking list?? I want to know!!
White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 ounces white chocolate chopped
- 2 and 1/2 ounces salted macadamia nuts chopped (about 1/2 cup)*
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat again until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Add the chopped white chocolate and macadamia nuts and mix until evenly dispersed. Cover the bowl and allow to chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), roll the cookie dough into tall balls (*see text above for photo) and place no more than 6 balls of dough onto the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes, or until edges just start to brown. Do not over bake cookies. Remove from oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Baked cookies freeze well, up to 2 months. Rolled cookie dough freezes well, up to 3 months. Do not thaw and place on baking sheet frozen. Bake an additional 1-2 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Can you use white chocolate chips instead of chunks??
Thanks!
Mandi
Heyyy, Mandi! Yes– enjoy!