White chocolate macadamia nut cookies

These soft baked white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are irresistible! Buttery, soft, chewy and packed with white chocolate chips and crunchy macadamias, they take less than 10 minutes to bake!

I’m busy updating old recipes that are hidden away in the depths of my archives! Today is the turn of these delicious cookies with white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

White chocolate and macadamia nuts are such a great combination.  The creamy white chocolate pairs perfectly with the slightly waxy, crunchy texture of the macadamia nuts.  It makes a pretty perfect cookie! Along with these white chocolate cranberry cookies, they are definitely in my top ten all-time favourite cookies.

what’s new?

I recently made the original recipe and while they were delicious, the cookies were very fragile and broke easily. I’ve added a little more flour to the cookies to improve the structure but not too much, to keep that slightly gooey, soft baked centre I love in a cookie.

I’ve also added an extra egg yolk – just as I do in my classic soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. The extra yolk adds extra chewiness, which is never a bad thing in a cookie!

I’ve also thrown in even more macadamias and chocolate chips – I do love a loaded cookie, after all!

ingredients

Just want to go straight to the recipe? Keep scrolling to the end of the post to find the printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

• soft butter. proper block butter is best for cookies. Baking margarine or “spreadable” butter doesn’t work as well – they contain a blend of butter and buttermilk or vegetable oil, causing the cookies to spread into an oily puddle. It’s worth getting the real stuff!
• brown sugar and white granulated sugar. (please see notes below on why I use a mixture of the two).
• one large egg and one egg yolk. You could omit the extra yolk, but it makes an extra chewy cookie.
• vanilla extract. I can’t settle for anything less than the good stuff. Essence will not give you the same flavour! I love Nielsen-Massey vanilla, but Taylor and Colledge is another brand I use often.
• plain (all purpose) flour
• bicarbonate of soda
• fine salt to balance out the flavours (so important in baking)
• white chocolate
• macadamia nuts

step by step method

Step 1 – using an electric hand mixer or freestanding mixer, mix the butter and sugar together until well combined. You don’t need to cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy when making cookies.

Step 2 – Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract. To make sure all of the ingredients are properly mixed, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Step 4 – Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture. Don’t overmix.

Step 5 – Fold in the chopped white chocolate and the macadamia nuts. You should have a thick cookie batter. Place the batter in the fridge for a minium of one hour to firm up.

Step 6 – Roll tablespoons of the cookie dough onto a lined large baking sheet, making sure they have some space between them to allow for spreading.

Step 7 – Bake the cookies in a preheated oven 180C/160Fan/350F/Gas mark 4 for 8-10 minutes or until light golden. They will still be quite soft in the middle, but will firm as they cool.

My Tips for making The best white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

• Don’t be tempted to use margarine or baking spread – real butter all the way! If you use anything else, the texture of the cookies will be…weird. Plus butter makes everything taste good. 

• I use a mixture of soft light brown sugar and white granulated sugar in this recipe. Soft light brown sugar is brilliant for cookies – it adds moisture and a caramel like taste. White sugar makes the cookies spread. There’s no need for caster sugar – good old granulated sugar works just fine here.

• Try to avoid overmixing the cookie batter. You just need to mix until the flour has disappeared into the batter and there are no streaks of flour. If you beat the living daylights out of the dough, you run the risk of developing gluten and your cookies will be tough.

• It might sound obvious, but try and make sure the macadamia nuts are as fresh as possible. They turn rancid very quickly. To prevent this from happening, store opened packets of nuts in the fridge.

is chilling the cookie dough necessary?

Many cookie recipes require you to chill the dough in the fridge. It’s generally a good idea to do this as it firms up the dough and prevents the cookies from spreading out into a giant puddle in the oven. This recipe will work without chilling the dough first, but I highly recommend you do so. Your cookies will be much better for it.

While we’re on the subject of cookies spreading, never place cookie dough on warm baking sheets unless you want them to spread out into one giant cookie!

what’s the best white chocolate to use for cookies?

Naturally, the better quality white chocolate you use in this recipe, the better your cookies are going to taste. 

I love Callebaut chocolate callets – ordering a big bag works out about the same price as the little bags you can buy in the supermarket and they keep well for several months.

You can also use a chopped up white chocolate bar if you prefer, but I like those cute little chocolate chips for this particular recipe.  

variations

For white chocolate cranberry macadamia cookies, add 100g dried cranberries to the batter along with the chocolate chips and nuts.

Chopped apricots or mango also work really well with the macadamia nuts.

Instead of macadamias, you could use chopped pecans or walnuts instead.

storing freshly baked cookies

Cookies are best on the day they are baked, but they will keep in an airtight tin or box for up to three days. I doubt they will last that long though!

can white chocolate macadamia nut cookies be frozen?

Yes, you have a choice of freezing the cookie dough raw or once the cookies are baked. I find it useful to freeze cookie dough for another time.

Roll the cookie dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet and freeze. Once the cookie dough portions are frozen, place them in freezer bags or a box. They will be fine in the freezer for up to two months.

Bake the cookie dough balls from frozen – there’s no need to defrost them. You’ll just need to add an extra 3-4 minutes onto the baking time. I often do this with my Biscoff stuffed cookies!

Continue to Content

Yield: 14 cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Print

These white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are soft, chewy and so delicious! They take less than 10 minutes to bake. For the best results, chill the cookie dough before baking.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 150g soft butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 1 egg yolk
• 180g plain (all purpose) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 150g white chocolate chunks or chips, plus about 25g extra for pressing into the top of each cookie (optional extra)
• 100g macadamia nuts

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F. Grease and line a large baking tray.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat well.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture until just combined and no pockets of flour are visible.
4. Gently fold in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts. You should have a fairly thick cookie dough. For best results, chill the dough for a minimum of one hour.
5. Roll tablespoons of dough and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between them. If you like, press a few extra chocolate chips or chunks on top of each cookie. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
6. The cookies should still feel a little soft in the middle and will be pretty fragile, so leave them on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

The cookies taste best fresh, but will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

They can be frozen for up to 3 months.

For the best results, make sure the macadamia nuts are as fresh as possible and use good quality white chocolate.

For a pretty effect, I press a few chocolate chunks or chips to the top of each cookie before baking.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

14

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 171mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 19gProtein: 3g

Any nutritional information shown is the estimated nutritional information per serving.

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