The Best White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have the perfect balance of chewiness and crunchiness, with chunks of creamy white chocolate and macadamia nuts in every bite. A salty-sweet cookie treat!
This cookie recipe was inspired by a somewhat unlikely source: stress. Back in 2013, I was scheduled to be on a tv show (on the Live Well Network) during the Christmas season. Just a couple of weeks before filming, I had a call with the network, who let me know that they were still working out the details of what exactly the competition would be.
So that meant that this girl was STRESSED out. I’m a born planner, but you just can’t plan the unknown, no matter how hard you try. One thing I did know was that the competition would involve candy making, and as y’all know, you can’t just “wing it” with candy!
So I turned to my never-fail stress relief strategy: baking. This time, my goal was the perfect white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. Cookies never fail me. I get cookies and they get me. For this version, I wanted a soft, chewy cookie (so I used a lot of brown sugar) and I wanted them to be thick (so I formed them into oblong shapes – more on that in the recipe).
I called these “the best” and they really are! I have made many versions of this cookie, but I think I finally got it down to a science! Salty, sweet, thick, and luscious, it’s heaven in a cookie.
The Ingredients You’ll Need
To make these cookies, you’ll need some baking basics, as well as salted macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips, and almond extract.
- Flour: All-purpose flour.
- Baking Soda: Make sure to use baking soda, not baking powder, or the cookies won’t have a good texture.
- Salt
- Butter: Unsalted butter, at room temperature.
- Sugar: Packed light brown sugar, and a bit of granulated sugar as well.
- Egg: A large, whole egg helps bind the mixture together.
- Vanilla Extract and Almond Extract: These two flavorings will make the cookies taste like bakery masterpieces!
- White Chocolate Chips
- Macadamia Nuts: Coarsely chopped, salted macadamia nuts.
How Do You Cut Macadamia Nuts for Cookies?
While some recipes call for processing the nuts in a food processor, I like the slightly more chunky and messy result you get from chopping them by hand. Just watch your fingers, because the small round macadamia nuts can slip here and there. Go slowly and carefully, and use a sharp knife to avoid having to use a lot of pressure.
How Is White Chocolate Different from Regular Chocolate?
This is a really interesting question for chocolate lovers especially – is white chocolate actually chocolate, or just a sort of vanilla version of the classic?
It turns out that white chocolate really is made of cacao, the essential ingredient that makes chocolate what it is. It’s just that white chocolate uses only cocoa butter, with no cocoa nibs. Cocoa butter is creamy and fragrant, while the nibs have a strong, chocolatey, cocoa flavor and dark color. Regular chocolate is made with both cocoa butter and nibs.
To get the perfect cookie thickness and texture, this recipe is a little different than other cookie recipes. Here’s how to make them:
- Prep the Oven and Baking Sheets. First things first, make sure to preheat the oven to 325°F. Then line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Set the baking sheets aside, and start working on the cookie dough.
- Combine the Dry Ingredients and Wet Ingredients in Separate Bowls. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and beat until thoroughly mixed.
- Combine the Wet and Dry Ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until completely combined.
- Add the Nuts and White Chocolate. Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough (you can do this by hand or with the stand mixer).
- Shape the Cookies. To make these cookies thick and decadent, measure two heaping tablespoons of dough and roll them into a ball. Tear the ball in half, and place the torn side down on the cookie sheet. Take the second half and place it on top of the first half. Continue shaping the cookies and laying them on the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake! Bake the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are very slightly browned. (The cookies will not look cooked in the center, but they will finish cooking while they cool on the cookie sheets.)
- Cool the Cookies. Take them out of the oven, and let them rest on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
Check out these helpful tips for baking the ultimate white chocolate macadamia nut cookies – flawless and scrumptious every time!
- Measuring Tip: To get an accurate flour measurement, make sure to lightly fluff or stir your flour before spooning it into your measuring cup. Use a knife to scrape any excess flour off the top.
- White Chocolate: The better the ingredients, the better the bake – so feel free to use chopped white chocolate from a baker’s bar or even a candy bar, if you have some special white chocolate on hand.
- Macadamia Nuts: Salted macadamia nuts are great in these cookies, for that sweet and salty flair. However, plain macadamia nuts would be fine as well.
Yummy Variations
As perfect as they are on their own, these stress-busting cookies are also great with toppings like these:
- Sea Salt: Adding a sprinkle of sea salt to these cookies is a great way to add a special touch.
- Dark Chocolate: You can also drizzle melted dark chocolate over the cookies for an elegant finish that cuts the sweetness.
- A la Mode: If you love desserts a la mode, try serving these cookies warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce! A super decadent dessert idea that’s also incredibly easy.
White chocolate macadamia nut cookies can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Store them with a piece of white bread to keep them soft and chewy. Replace the slice of bread every few days as it goes stale.
Can I Freeze These?
Sure can! The Cookies freeze well, and so does the dough if you would rather freeze that.
- To freeze the dough, just roll it into balls and freeze them on a clean tray until frozen solid. Place in a freezer bag, and store in your freezer for up to 3 months.
- To freeze the baked cookies, arrange them in single layers in an airtight container, with wax paper or parchment between each layer of cookies. Freeze for up to three months.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup coarsely chopped salted macadamia nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Add flour mixture, mixing until completely combined. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until evenly distributed (you can do this by hand or with the stand mixer).
- Roll two heaping tablespoons of dough into a ball. Tear the ball in half and place the torn side down on the cookie sheet. Take the second half and place it on top of the first half (check out the step by step photos in the post to see what your cookie dough should look like) — leaving about two inches for spreading.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are very slightly browned. The cookies will not look cooked in the center, but they will finish cooking while cooling on cookie sheet!
- Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Store with a slice of white bread to keep cookies soft and chewy. Replace slice of bread every few days when it goes stale.
- To freeze the dough, just roll it into balls and freeze them on a clean tray until frozen solid. Place in a freezer bag, and store in your freezer for up to 3 months.
- To freeze the baked cookies, arrange them in single layers in an airtight container, with wax paper or parchment between each layer of cookies. Freeze for up to three months.
Nutrition
Categories:
- Toffee Pecan Sandies
- Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
- Lofthouse Cookies
- Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Best Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies
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Excellent cookies just loved them
Thank you for sharing
Can I exchange reg choc chips instead of the white chips ?
Of course!
These are the best white chocolate macadamia nut cookies you’ll find anywhere.
I tried this!
It’s good!
I changed the nuts to Hazelnuts because those were the only ones I had at home. Also, I didn’t have any almond extract so I just used vanilla extract.
I didn’t do the one cookie on top of one another but it still spread out!
:)
Is it ok if the nuts aren’t salted? These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them!!!
Yes! ;-)
I just wanted to come back and say “WOW”!! These are incredibly delicious! I went ahead and made the dough the day before I baked it, and then just brought it to room temp before baking. I love your stacked method of baking. The cookies have a wonderful flavor….and they are perfectly soft and ‘melt-in-your-mouth’. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
So glad it worked out and you enjoyed them Kara!!
Hi! I can’t wait to try these! They look fantastic! I was wondering if you think I could make the dough a day ahead and refrigerate it? Thanks for your help! :)
Adding course chopped dry cranberries will take these cookies over the top…. excellent…….
As SEVERAL bakers have already RIGHTLY commented…these White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies truly merit the moniker BEST… They simply ARE!!
The instructions were very spot-on and fantastically accurate. I LOVE it when I find a recipe that is well explained, simple to execute (thanks to your clear/concise directions)..AND becomes the new gold-standard/Go-To home reference!!! Thank you from across the pond in France!
Hello I just made these… my husband likes them but he wants them to be thinner instead of doing 2 tbsp I was wounding if I can do 1 tbsp and roll it…
Glad you liked them!
These look wonderful. Do you think that I could add caramel to this. I have a daughter-in-law that is looking for this type of a cookie but with caramel also.
Thanks
Yes, I think caramel would be great in them! :-)
Jessica – I have twin babies, too! (And three older children!) I run a small cake business from home, so I totally get balancing the kitchen and my kiddos. I tried these cookies today and was pleasantly surprised. (Kind of a baking and cookie snob, which I’m sure you can appreciate.) Thank you so much for sharing! They are now my go-to on White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies for sure!
Is it absolutely necessary to bake as directed, one ball on top of another. Or,
can we bake as regular cookies. What is the reasoning behind it, if so?
Thanks and have a great day!
You can bake them in traditional scoops as well. They will just not be as thick!
These are AMAZING! This is my favorite cookie! These are way better then any I’ve had. Love, love, love. Thank you for sharing!
Awesome! So happy to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to comment Sherri!
This was my first time making cookies. I must admit I have in the past cheated by purchasing a store brand and baked them for my family. Well, this was an easy recipe and the cookies were amazing. I baked them for my yard sale and had nothing left to share with my family. I will be making them again as soon as I can buy more macadamia nuts.
So glad to hear it Torra! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I made these tonight and they were awesome! They taste like they came from a bakery, but they came from my kitchen!! And I love your trick to stack the halves of the ball. I have never heard of that, but I gave it a try, and the centers were perfect with just a little crunch on the edge. This is my new go to cookie recipe!
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WOW what amazing cookies they look so AmAziNg, don’t stress out! try keep calm and everything shall go ur way! Sweet and salty is a gr8 combo. so happy 4 u. I reckon these would just disappear my brother would probably eat them all before I even lay a hand on them! These would be such a treat! THE BEST :D :) :O YumE!
Hi,
I know this post is older, but I just want to let anybody who checks out this recipe
know that it really is the BEST white choco macadamia nut recipe! I made them exactly according to recipe, except I use elbow grease (no mixers in my house). They turned out perfect and amazing. I’m really glad I found a quality recipe to bank for future use!
Thanks!
I made these today, but I chose to use coconut flour and I was very disappointed. The dough was very dry and cumbly, roll as best I could in saran wrap and froze to see if I could manage to shape into a ball, that didn’t work either. Do u think it could have been the coconut flour?
These cookies are the best, I use Aussie salted Mac Nuts chopped up and set a side, then I make the dough and roll them in the nuts. For a different taste I add some coffee granules to the mix as well. I tell ya Yummmm.
Thanks Jessica for sharing these yummy morsels with us.
I’m known at work as “the baker”. I took a request for White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies and searched all over for the best recipe. So glad I chose your recipe!
Everyone devoured these. My favorite compliment was actually from a week after I brought them in. Someone was still thinking about them and said “I don’t even really like Macadamia cookies, but dang, those were good!!”.
I only made two substitutions: egg beaters instead of real egg and using only vanilla extract, omitting the almond extract.
I will definitely make these again!
Thanks for sharing such a WONDERFUL recipe! And the concept of stacking the rolled dough does create a fabulous end result. These were delicious and my teenage son (who is a bit of a picky eater still!) gave me rave reviews for theses cookies.
Best macadamia nut cookie recipe!! I’ve made them dozens of times and they always come out amazing!! :)
These spread reallllllly bad. Like…a lake. I’m a very competent baker, I did everything correctly and these just don’t cut the mustard. Now, I have an entire kitchen aid professional mixer bowl full of dough that makes cookie lakes. Wish I could upload a picture to do them justice. Double stacking didn’t do anything to help either.
I have used this recipe multiple times and the cookies have always turned out fantastic. :)
Just made these and they turned out great! I added in some extra white chocolate chips and nuts, also didn’t have the almond extract so I subbed it for 1/8t coconut extract.
I have made these a couple of times, and they are delicious….but I cannot get them thin?! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, they are big thick cookies (still gooey in the middle though!)
Made these and they were delicious! I like the suggestion to double stack the dough – kept it gooey in the center. :)
WONDERFUL. This is actually the first time I’ve ever made white chocolate macadamia cookies and I will probably never use another recipe. I used a cookie scoop instead of tearing them apart and putting them together, and they didn’t spread too thin and turned out perfectly. I just got a cookie scoop this year, and I have to say that it is worth every penny.
You weren’t kidding! These really are THE best!! Thank you!
Hi,
I thought this might be a good place to share a site with a lot of chef memes that are pretty funny. Maybe your community of readers might enjoy them.
The site is http://ChefMemes.com
Thank you
I have never posted to a blog, ever. And I visit a TON of food and baking ect.. blogs for great ideas and inspiration. I had to post, to thank you SO much. For 10 years ive been an avid baker, and the one thing I couldnt get correct was cookies. No matter what recipe or even boxed, pre made ones, i ruined them all. This is the FIRST time in my life ive made cookies that worked. And they are AMAZING I am strict about what I eat, and I couldnt help but eat 5 or 6 in a day. Thank you so much! Take care and Happy Holidays!!
I got what I wanted for X-mas, a lot of organic macadamia nuts… I’m nutz for nutz! I bookmarked your recipe awhile back in anticipation. Made them tonight and YUMMY…. so good! I’ve always wondered how the bakery shops get such huge plump cookies, the stacking method. I did the first pan stacked and used tablespoons, big and beautiful. Second pan I cut for stacking and at the last min I un-stacked them and put them cut side down. Smaller and flatter, yet not too flat. We’re calling them home style… more importantly we’re calling them a WINNER… absolutely the most delicious cookies I’ve ever made.
Thank You :)
I just made these.. I made two batches. First batch I made almond..they are good but the almond is over powering but the second batch did only vanilla 1 1/4 teaspoons and the are amazing. Soft and yummy. Great recipe will make these again.
Just made a batch of these and they turned out perfect!! Really really nice, not too sweet, not too cakey, just right! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
OMG!!!!! I made these with ghirardelli white chocolate and these were so good!!!! I made a double batch and baked them all. They lasted one day everyone was all over them. THEY ARE PERFECT!!!!!!
I’m sure you will do fabulously on the tv show!
These are my favorite kind of cookie! So glad to have a perfected version now! I hope your tv show works out….I like plans too, and usually ask a million and one questions…I just like to know what’s going on! I totally feel your pain!
Just baked these and WOW they are the best! THANK YOU for such a delicious and easy recipe! This is keeper!!!
Oh goodness, these cookies are fantastic :) I just adore white chocolate & macadamia!
The cookies look absolutely fabulous! Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Made these last night and they were excellent! Soft and chewy with excellent flavor. We all loved them so much that I am making another batch again today. I don’t think we have to worry about them going stale in this house.
So happy to hear it Carol! :-)
That sounds like a really cool opportunity, although I would also be pretty stressed out! These cookies look really cool, too!
I hate the unknown too. I feel like I live in a world of unknown with my job not knowing where we will end up once my post-doc ends and it totally stresses us out. I want to know what to expect! I’m sure you will be awesome on the show!
So I usually hate white chocolate, but it totally works for me in white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I love them and these look perfect!
They just look so CHEWY! Gah, so good. Must make.
Congratulations on the tv show! I am the exact same way–especially when it comes to stuff like that. Try to have fun with it and not get too stressed :( Cookies and pasta…that’s what I would eat/make, haha.
I live in Honolulu, so mac nuts are pretty much everywhere down here. They have their own aisle at Walmart. I’m always searching for the perfect mac nut cookie. These look awesome. I can’t wait to try them.
That’s so exciting!!! Even if there is caramel everywhere, I’m sure it will be amazing and you will look adorable. I have faith.
White chocolate mac nut cookies are for real my favorite. NEED this “best” version!
Ohmygosh these are my very favorite cookies in the entire world! I hate when they are crispy though, I like em soft and chewy. These look PERFECT. Can’t wait to try them!!!!!
Favorite. cookie. ever. Yours look so perfectly soft and chewy, Jess!
I am such a planner, too! I will worry over ridiculous details that are way far in advance. I think you will be fantastic on that show! Can’t wait to see it!
These cookies look amazing! I love the white chocolate and nut combo!!
I am the exact same way! I like knowing what to expect and if I don’t, I am totally stressed!! Just try and hang in there and geez, be excited!! That is so awesome!! Congrats!!
Mmm these sound awesome! I love a good white chocolate cookie :)
Reminds me of Hawaii.
This is big flavour hit down under. These sure will go quickly in my Aussie house Hold.
WOW a television position! I hope you do well! (like always) but do not stress! that when most people make careless mistakes. breathe and be your natural creative self!
I love white choco cookies. Yours look buttery, soft, and just the way I like them! But I admit, I omit the nuts. :)
Congrats on your cooking competition! It would stress me out tons to be competing and for the reasons you mentioned of not knowing what you’re going to be doing. Cookies, wine, yeah, that’s what I’d be doing!