These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have soft and chewy centers with lightly crisp edges. They are loaded with white chocolate chips and macadamias for the ultimate cookie!
I’m a lover of these cookies. There are few things I like in a cookie more than white chocolate. Bring it on! And when you add macadamia nuts, it’s the perfect pair.
And I’m so excited to share this cookie recipe with you guys today! I’ve been working on sharing more and more cookies over the last several months and have been learning so much about them. I feel like most people think that cakes are harder to make than cookies, but I really do think cookies are so much more tricky.
Why? Because of the natural fact that cookie dough is thicker than cake batter, small differences in ingredients and how things are baked make a much bigger difference. It’s kind of fascinating, frustrating, and also exciting. This macadamia nut cookie recipe was tested more times than I can even count. Even when I thought I had them just right, I messed with them some more.
I can tell you that after all that testing, these cookies are just right. In fact, I pretty much guarantee they’ll be the best macadamia nut cookies you’ve ever had. I know that’s a big promise but there, I said it!
I’m sure opinions on this vary, but for me, they should be soft and chewy, lightly crispy on the edges, and have lots of flavor! To get these important cookie qualities, let’s chat about the ingredients a bit.
- Butter – Obviously necessary in cookies and adds buttery flavor.
- Sugar – These cookies use both brown and white sugar. All brown sugar would be a little much, but you definitely want plenty of it to give that really classic and almost caramel-y flavor to these cookies.
- Eggs – You’ll find a full egg plus an egg yolk in these cookies. The extra egg yolk helps add moisture and chewiness to these cookies.
- Baking soda – I’m a big fan of it in cookies. Baking powder can be appropriate sometimes, but I often find that the best and chewiest cookies use baking soda. They also stay softer and chewier for longer.
- Flour – All purpose is used here and you want to be sure to measure this correctly. A food scale would be super helpful and is the most accurate. Remember how I said small differences make a big difference in cookies? Flour is one of those places it makes the biggest difference.
For a full list of ingredients and specific amounts, be sure to scroll down to the recipe card.
Are you ready to get baking? Here’s how to make these macadamia nut cookies:
- Cream your butter and sugars: First up, you’ll cream your butter and sugars together until they are light in color and fluffy in texture. You should be able to really see that the change has happened. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times while mixing to make sure everything is getting creamed well.
- Add the eggs: Next, add the egg and egg yolk one at a time, mixing until well combined after each addition. Then add the vanilla extract.
- Add your dry ingredients: Add the dry ingredients and mix together just until well incorporated. You won’t want to over-mix.
- Add some milk: Now you’ll add one to two teaspoons of milk. It really just helps the dough come together at the end and adds a touch more moisture to the cookies. Keep in mind that you don’t want to overdo the milk. Too much can lead to cookies that spread too much.
- Mix in the white chocolate and macadamias: Finally, add the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and stir everything together. The cookie dough is quite thick but will come together.
- Chill your cookie dough: Make your cookie dough balls, then refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- Bake your cookies: After refrigerating, let them sit for about an hour before popping them in the oven. Once baked, let them cool and you are finally ready to devour your cookies!
This step is really quite important. As the cookie dough sits, the moisture soaks in and becomes more dispersed through the dry ingredients.
If you don’t give this cookie dough the chance to rest, your cookies will not only spread more (and not leave you with as chewy of a cookie), but they’ll also be drier because the dry ingredients won’t have had a chance to absorb extra moisture.
Not all cookies are made better by refrigeration, but these ones 100% are.
These cookies are seriously delicious! But like I mentioned before, cookies can be finicky so keep these tips in mind as you go.
If your cookies are spreading too much.
- The cookie dough is a little too warm.
- You didn’t refrigerate the cookie dough. When the cookies are refrigerated, moisture is absorbed by the dry ingredients. If you skip that step, the moisture is still hanging out in there and ends up making your cookies spread more.
- You added too much milk or mismeasured an ingredient. Keep in mind that even the type of sugar you use can affect moisture. If you try reducing sugars or adding more, it will affect your cookies’ spread.
- Your cookie dough balls might be too big – bigger balls spread more.
- You added fewer mix-ins – the fewer white chocolate chips/nuts in a cookie, the more likely they are to spread more.
If your cookies didn’t spread enough.
- The number one culprit here is going to be over-measuring the flour. A food scale is always the most accurate.
- Cookie dough could be a little too cool.
- Mix-ins – if one particular cookie has a lot of mix-ins, they may stay in a mound in the center of the cookie so it ends up not spreading as well. I know – a pain.
- Did you reduce the sugar at all or mis-measure it? That makes a difference. Sugar adds moisture, which adds to the cookies’ spread.
- Did you make smaller cookie balls? They will likely spread less. Try flattening them out a bit prior to baking.
How to Store
Let your macadamia nut cookies cool completely, then transfer them to an airtight container and store them on the counter for up to 4 days. You can also place the container in the fridge and extend the shelf-life of your cookies up to 1 week.
More Great Cookie Recipes:
- Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
- Best Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Classic Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Butter Pecan Cookies
- Cutout Sugar Cookies Recipe
- The Best Gingerbread Cookies
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- Prep Time: 3 hours 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 2 minutes
- Yield: 28-30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have soft and chewy centers with lightly crisp edges! They use an extra egg yolk for chewiness and are loaded with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts for the ultimate cookie!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (225g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (104g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup (211g) white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (120g) roasted salted macadamia nuts, chopped
- 1–2 tsp of milk
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl while it’s mixing a few times, as needed. You should be able to see the change in color and texture happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time and mix until well combined after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is just combined. Do not over mix.
- Add a teaspoon of milk and combine on low speed just until incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to finish combing the dough and help it come together. Add an additional teaspoon of milk only if really needed to help the dough come together. You don’t want to add too much liquid and end up with cookies that spread too much.
- Stir in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
- Create 2 tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough until all the cookie dough has been used.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2-3 hours or overnight. After refrigerating them, let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before baking to come closer to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes. Remove just as the edges begin to turn golden. Don’t over bake. The cookies will be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven but will fall a bit as they cool. For tips and troubleshooting help, check out the post above or see the video.
- Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If the cookies have spread a little more than you like, you can use a spoon to gently push the sides in a bit.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 193
- Sugar: 14.3 g
- Sodium: 94.9 mg
- Fat: 10.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.7 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 26.1 mg
Keywords: white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, white chocolate macadamia cookies, white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies
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Used the exact recipe and everyone loved them ! I am diabetic so I give them all away. Next time I think I will freeze a few for my once a week cookie! Lol
★★★★★
Awesome! Glad they were a hit!