These chewy cookies are just like subway white chocolate macadamia cookies but so much better! I add almond extract for some extra special bakery taste that complements the white chocolate chips so well. And, yes, if you find Funfetti chocolate chips like I did you should 100% use them in this recipe.
First full week of December, we made it!
Let's talk about productive procrastination:
Have you heard about this? Do you do this? The thing where you're really incredibly busy and overwhelmed with real life things but your brain is like "it's useful to make cookies too tho."
It's a real phenomenon, and the thought is that if little things are done, if we have a sense of life being handled, even unnecessary things like a freezer full of white chocolate and macadamia nut dough, then we can settle into our own brains and do real tasks like, say, our jobs.
What I'm trying to say is that my freezer is incredibly well stocked and I'm always a little behind on work and honestly I'm just learning to live with it. I like having frozen cookie dough at all times, it works for me.
So. Christmas cookies 2020! Despite not having any actual events happening this year I've made plennnnty of batches already this year, and here's what I do for freezer cookie dough: I make a full batch of cookie dough. I scoop it into mounds with a cookie scoop. I bake one pan of cookies, then freeze the rest of the dough balls in stasher bags. THAT WAY we aren't stuck with 24 cookies (not a bad thing) all at once, and we can have freshly baked cookies every day.
It's meal prep, stay with me.
PS, to bake cookies from frozen I plop the frozen dough balls straight on a baking sheet + parchment paper or silicone baking mat, preheat the oven as directed and bake for maybe one minute longer. My "done cookie" is very slightly brown around the edges, right on the edge of underbaked in the middle. Then, I let the cookies cool almost all the way on the baking sheet to set and cook a tiny bit more.
So! Let's make Easy White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies.
This recipe is adapted from IHeartNaptime.Net, and I love love love the recipe as-is. I made a few adjustments in the form of a bit more salt to balance so much sugar and I added almost extract to these cookies. I love almond extract in white cookies because I think it adds a really special bakery-esque taste to baked goods. If you don't have almond extract or don't like it, though, you can definitely leave it out and the cookies will still be delicious.
Start by creaming the butter and sugars together. While the butter and sugar get creamy and fluffy, I gather up the rest of my ingredients: eggs, vanilla, almond extract, flour, cornstarch, kosher salt, baking powder, white chocolate chips, and macadamia nuts. All good things.
I love roasted and salted chopped macadamia nuts for this - the kind sold with mixed nuts and snacks, not the kind in the baking aisle.
Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, kosher salt, and baking powder (or do this in advance!)
Special Stuff For This Recipe
Once the butter and sugar are creamed, add the eggs and extracts. Scrape down the bowl as needed, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Last, mix or stir in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Here's our dough!
Now, this is when I use my large cookie scoop to portion the dough. I'll be honest, I spooned my own dough for years and was surprised at how much time I saved by using the scoops. You can use any size you like, just adjust the cooking time accordingly so you get that chewy center no matter what size your cookies are!
Once the dough is portioned, chill the dough for 30 minutes to hydrate the flour a bit. This dough can be made the day before as well! I like to scoop the cookie dough right after mixing while it's still soft, then chill the individual portions of dough. The chilling goes much faster that way!
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F, bake for 9-11 minutes or until that magic lightly golden at the edges, soft at the center moment. Let the cookies rest for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then eat them all at once I MEAN let them cool all the way on a cooling rack.
Now, these look a little jank because Beck insisted on putting Funfetti chocolate chips right on top but you know what? That's life. Life isn't the best pictures or a Pinterest board, it's the excitement your kid gets when she realizes there are 3 tablespoons left of Funfetti chocolate chips and yes her dad ate the entire bag slowly over the course of a month without telling anyone but there were still some left!
It's a special kind of joy, is what I'm saying.
These macadamia nut cookies are SO GOOD. They're way better than Subway white chocolate macadamia cookies but still have the same chewy + sweet + salty thing that a white cookie with nuts has. The dough freezes so well, the baked cookies are soft, and this is absolutely one of those Christmas cookies that will keep for a week due to the butter + sugar + cornstarch that helps the cookies really hold up nice and soft for several days.
I adore these and hope you will too. Enjoy!
Recipe
Easy White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter very soft
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs at room temp
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped macadamia nuts I like roasted and salted!
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars for 3 minutes or so until very light and fluffy.
- While you cream the butter and sugar, gather the rest of your ingredients and whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder.
- To the butter/sugar mixture, add the eggs and extracts. Mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Add the flour mixture a little at a time until a very thick dough forms. Don't overmix. Add the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
- Scoop the dough into 3 tablespoon cookies using a cookie scoop. Freeze the dough balls (all together on a baking sheet, then transfer to a plastic bag), or chill for 30 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone baking mat, or cooking spray. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes (for large cookies, decrease the time for smaller cookies) until just golden at the edges but still soft in the center.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Devour.
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