White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

These white chocolate macadamia cookies have soft and chewy centers, perfectly golden edges, and are packed with white chocolate and macadamia nuts. This recipe has been tested, retested & taste tested to produce buttery, chewy cookies that are seriously impossible to resist.

There’s something about the combination of sweet white chocolate and salty, buttery, macadamia nuts that make cookies completely addictive. I have been known to adore the cookies from Subway (maybe that’s embarrassing to admit as a baker). But a soft, buttery, chewy white chocolate macadamia nut cookie is my kryptonite. And this recipe is exactly that.

These cookies will rival your favorite bakery cookies in a way that’s homemade, perfectly soft, thick and chewy, sweet but with just the right amount of salt, and totally addictive. 

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies – How to Get the Perfect Cookie

I’ve been working on this recipe for so long. And after a ton of testing – here are the key components to the perfect cookie:

• Melted butter. Some recipes call for softened butter, some for melted. Melted butter coats all the sugar crystals leaving you with cookies that are chewier and even a little gooier. Butter also has way more flavor than shortening, so it packs an extra flavor punch in these cookies.
• More brown sugar than white sugar. Brown sugar adds a delicious caramel undertone to the flavor of the cookie batter. It also has more moisture than white sugar, so it makes the cookies softer and less crunchy.
• 1 egg plus 1 extra egg yolk. Eggs bind the ingredients together and also add tenderness. Note that you’ll use 1 large egg and 1 extra egg yolk (you can discard the egg white of the second egg – do not use 2 full eggs or the cookies will spread too thin).
• Just the right amount of flour. Too much flour and the cookies get dry, not enough and they spread too thin. We’re using  2 ¼ cups of all-purpose (plain) flour. Spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup, or use a scale. It will weigh 282g or 9.5 ounces.
• A little cornstarch (aka cornflour in the UK). This makes the cookies softer.
• Chop your macadamia nuts. I found that if the macadamia nuts are too big, the cookies have a hard time staying together and spread too thin or get weirdly lumpy. Chop the macadamia nuts at least in half or in quarters if they’re very large.
• Chill the dough first. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking. This creates minimizes your cookies spreading too thin, and leads to much more consistent results.
• Use a cookie scoop. This creates cookies that are uniform in size, and stops your hands from getting sticky.
• Underbake the cookies just slightly. The tops should look just done when you take them out of the oven. This leads to softer, melt-in-your-mouth style cookies.

Love white chocolate and macadamia nuts? Try these other recipes too:

• White Chocolate Macadamia Blondies
• White Chocolate Macadamia Brownies
• Avalanche Cookies
• White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

These white chocolate macadamia cookies have soft and chewy centers, perfectly golden edges, and are packed with white chocolate and macadamia nuts. This recipe has been tested, retested & taste tested to produce buttery, chewy cookies that are seriously impossible to resist.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time8 mins

Chilling2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 23 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chewy, Soft, Subway

Servings: 36 cookies

Author: Fiona Dowling

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted butter , melted & cooled
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk , discard the white
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup macadamia nuts , roughly chopped
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

• In a large bowl beat together the melted butter and sugars.
• Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
• Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture about ½ at a time.
• Turn off the mixer and gently fold in the macadamia nuts and chocolate chips (I usually reserve a tablespoon or 2 of each for dotting the tops of the cookies after baking).
• Cover the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
• Take the dough out of the fridge to soften slightly for 5-10 minutes (or 15 minutes if dough has been in the fridge overnight).
• Using a cookie scoop, form the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball (about 1 - 1.5 tablespoons in size), and place 2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time on the middle rack of your oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are just set.
• Remove from the oven, optionally place a few chocolate chips & macadamias on the top of each cookie. Cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Notes

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Freezing Instructions: Cookie dough balls can be placed in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Bake cookies from frozen - they'll take 1-2 minutes longer. Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months in an airtight container.