White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
These cookies are my weekly installment of baking up the cookies you said were your favorites in my cookie cookbook giveaway. I’m still baking my way through the top 10 and can’t believe I have never made macadamia nut cookies! I actually have never even eaten a homemade macadamia nut cookie; only the large bakery-style store bought variety. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to have another fabulous cookie recipe tucked into my apron pockets! I used roasted and salted macadamia nuts – the salty flavor mixed with the sweet of the white chocolate and cookie dough is a fabulous combination. These are definitely one of the tastiest cookies I’ve ever made.
Can you believe that of all of the baking cookbooks I own (which include big ones like Dorie Greenspan, Baking Illustrated, Williams Sonoma, etc.) not ONE has a recipe for White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies? Maybe it’s just me, but I found that to be incredibly bizarre for how popular these cookies are! So I started poking around the web for recipes and of course there were more than enough for me to wade through. This one, however, caught my eye because I immediately recognized the ingredient list (quantities included) as being almost identical to the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that has become my standard. That’s all it took for me to pick this recipe out of the bunch and I’m so glad that I did – they’re fabulous! The cookies are slightly crisp on the outside with a soft and chewy interior, full of chunks of macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Truly an awesome cookie.
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Cookies from the Top 10 I have made:
Snickerdoodles
No-Bake Cookies
Almond Macaroons with Nutella Filling
Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Thick & Chewy)
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
One year ago: Hearty Whole Wheat Bread
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup (220 g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (201 g) chopped macadamia nuts
- 2 cups (360 g) white chocolate chips
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
- 3. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the egg yolk, then beat in the vanilla.
- 4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just moistened. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips by hand with a rubber spatula.
- 5. Roll into balls or drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, and press down on the cookies with your palm a bit to flatten (not too much!).
- 6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown and the middles don’t look quite set. Allow to finish cooling on the baking sheet.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Just found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it. Absolutely divine! Brown Eyed Baker, you have a new follower.
It took a few tries but these cookies came out excellent with a little bit of adjustment. At first they came out really puffy, so i added less flour. Then they came out a bit too sweet so i rolled them in sea salt. Finally, when they came out of the oven cracked I added a tablespoon or so of whole milk and they finally came out just the way I wanted! Amazing cookies.
I just tried this recipe and the cookies came out GREAT! Thanks!
I first baked these cookies about 2 years ago & have made many batches since then…they are DELICIOUS! The cookies turn out soft & chewy every time…YUM! I was on a white chocolate & macademia nut kick after a vacation in Maui…I was on a quest for the best cookie recipe out there…this is it! Just wanted to give kudos to the brown eyed baker ;) Thanks!
I made these cookies yesterday and it turn out great. Tasted really good. I put the dough in the fridge for an hour before baking. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
by far the best cookies I’ve ever made from scratch! great recipe! thanks :)
My cookies came out flat! I dont know what I could have done wrong? I followed the directions exactly how they were there. There is maybe a step that you forgot to put on here or something. I was so excited to make these cookies since they are my favorite and it seems like I am just going to have to keep buying them. =(
Hi Karla, If the cookies came out flat my first inclination would be that perhaps the butter is the recipe wasn’t cooled completely after melting it. I have been in a rush before and done that, and the cookies definitely spread. I would try again and see if that wasn’t the problem.
I did cool the butter. But I will try the recipe one more time and see how it goes.
I was wondering if u could help me here. Just tried your recipe yesterday, use half recipe. My cookies turned out very cakey. Do you know what could be the cause? I didnt use any caster sugar as i thought it would be too sweet. Really appreciate if you could help me out here. Thankssss
Hi Silvya, If you omitted all of the granulated sugar, that definitely could have affected the final outcome of the cookie.
Should I use Salted or Unsalted butter?
Oops, sorry for the oversight – unsalted butter. I will edit that now. Thanks for the catch!
Hi Michelle!
I want to make these cookies for my boyfriend’s birthday (they are his favorite) I was wondering if you think I could substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose flour? If so, would the amount differ?
Thank you!!
Hi Kaley, You could sub one for one, but I would probably start by only subbing 1/4 or 1/2 and see how they are before you do a total substitution. It will affect the taste.
I’ve been looking for a recipe for these cookies. I’ve read great reviews using the light brown sugar, but also found great reviews using all white sugar. Have any of you tried both to make a comparison?
Funny today this comment showed up in my email…. i was just waiting for the cookies to cool down.. this is my second time baking them and it’s really hard for me to find something i wanna bake again & again. This time i did double the batch but i did use 2 cups whole wheat and 2 all purpose flour.. the macadamias this time i used roasted which gave me a bit of worry that they would taste burn but were great, my daughters love this cookies and if you follow the recipe they will turn out great for Brenda i will say maybe you should cut the dose of chips and nuts in half next time .. DON’T GIVE UP THEY WILL TURN OUT GREAT :D
Brenda,
So sorry to hear your cookies didn’t turn out right. I find I have to follow the receipe exactly but it works like a charm every time and always looks like the picture. I wouldn’t give up on this cookie too quickly.
These cookies don’t look anything like the photo. It is a ton of nuts and chocolate held together by a tiny bit of not-so-great batter (more like shortbread). Wish I’d skipped this one. Would be a lot better with the Nestle choc. chip cookie batter and just add in a few nuts and white chips instead.
Brenda, I’m sorry these didn’t turn out for you. The dough really is nothing like shortbread though, so that’s a little puzzling. And the nuts and chips are definitely a much smaller component compared to the dough. Hope you’ll give this one another shot!
Hello,
So I’m kinda new to baking and after some research I decided to go with your recipe. I’m so glad I did, this is soooo good and it’s good to know the base is similar for ccc’s. My husband has stated, “THIS COOKIE is a keeper, do you know how you made it?” LOL
The only challenge however were the white chocolate chips — they didn’t melt, do you know why?
Thanks,
AP
Hi ap, so glad you liked the cookies! Did you want the chips to melt completely into the cookie? Chips typically don’t melt down the whole way, and white chocolate ones even less so.
Michelle,
thanks so much for the quick response. I didn’t know that about the chips. I didn’t want them to melt fully but to melt more like semi-sweet chips – gets gooey. The white chips didn’t melt in the least bit so I was concerned. I might just put them in the microwave for a quick second to soften them up. Thanks for teaching something new to the newbie baker!
-ap-
Hi!! I tried your recipe and the only things i changed was i used whole wheat ( 1 cup = 5 oz) only i used 9 oz total for the 2 cups this recipe called for, and i forgot to melt the butter, and my husband found my stash of macadamias (which are hard to find) so i only had about 3/4 cup so I added walnuts as for the chocolate chips only 1 cup was enough.. They came out great!!
Hi Claudia, Thanks for sharing your adjustments; I’m so happy you loved these!
My fiance and I just polished off two Sasquatch sized versions each of these cookies – AMAZING! I’ve only been baking about a year and this was an exciting recipe to try. We love your chocolate chip cookie recipe so I was pretty psyched that this recipe was similar. I tried these tonight for his birthday and he really, REALLY likes them. Thanks for another solid recipe to add to the arsenal :o)
Woo! Happy birthday to your fiance, so glad you both enjoyed these cookies!
Easily the best macadamia cookie recipe I have found so far! These are WONDERFUL, and I have made macadamia nut cookies for a LONG time with many different recipes.
I am storing this in my personal recipe book from now on–this is my official new white chocolate macadamia recipe I will go too when I have a hankering for a cookie!
Awesome Dani! Nothing beats a favorite recipe, so happy these have become yours!
I loved these they were awesome. For my own preference I am going to cut back on the macadamia nuts just a tad.
I’m glad I went through the reviews before baking. The original recipe doesn’t state to cool the butter after melting! That is a very important step. Delicious with 1.5 cups of chocolate chips. I plan to sprinkle the last batch with a bit of sea salt like someone suggested to try it out. Can’t wait!
These cookies are awesome! My favorite recipe by FAR!
For some reason, I never think to bake with macadamia nuts either, but I do love the flavor. Great combination with the white chocolate!
These look amazing!
Gorgeous cookies!
These look absolutely delicious! This type of cookie is one of my favorites!
White*
Whit Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are my very favourite cookie but shamefully I have never made them. I must remedy this and fast!
Just discovered your website and tried your version of these cookies. Really good. Am trying your triple chocolate oatmeal next, but am wondering whether I can add walnuts without upsetting the recipe too much.
I did not cool the butter first either (now I know). They tasted great, but like Jennifer said 2 cups of chips was too much.
Michelle, thank you SO much for taking time to email me about the recipe. No, I did NOT let the butter cool after I melted it. DUH. In my message to you, I typed that I wasn’t a novice baker, and I’m not, but maybe I should have known to do that. I didn’t see that instruction in the recipe. I make a buttersctoch brownie where the butter is melted but it’s poured into the flour mixture as is and not cooled first, so that’s what I did with these cookies. Live and learn. Thank you. I’m going to try them again, though I have to say my hubby LOVES the cookies just as I made them. The flavor is still there, they’re just kinda puffy. THANK YOU and HAPPY BAKING!
Kady from Ohio