A classic cookie with a flair for decadence — these white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies are made with browned butter, toasted macadamia nuts, premium white chocolate, all topped off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
One of the things that I gave up for Lent this year has been eating raw cookie dough.
It has been exactly one week since the start of Lent, and I can safely say that this has been a terrible decision, and is bound to be one of the most brutal experiences of my existence
I also may have a tendency for hyperbole at the moment, but please forgive me as my rationality has begun to slowly decay as I watch scoop after scoop of cookie dough slide on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets past my face and into the oven without me having sampled so much as a morsel.
It’s been tough, but fortunately baked cookies are not on my Lenten do-not-eat list, and so a freshly baked cookie is totally game. And these white chocolate macadamia nuts, made with browned butter are irresistibly and perfectly made, which makes the experience a bit more bearable.
I’ve been slightly obsessed with baking with brown butter recently. If you haven’t made brown butter before, it’s a simple technique to master that, once done, elevates your cookie dough to the ultimate level of gourmet cookie-ness.
Essentially, it’s just a matter of melting and “toasting” your butter in a saucepan until it begins to turn brown.
By browning it, you enhance the butter flavor in your cookie dough and add a slightly nutty flavor as well. If you’ve never tried this technique before it’s not terribly difficult and even an amateur baker can manage it so long as you follow the instructions I’ve provided in the recipe below.
Browning butter does require a little more effort, but Macadamia nuts aren’t cheap, so if you’re going to spend your hard earned dollars on them, they deserve taking the time to bake them into seriously gourmet cookies.
The final product is decadently buttery. Nutty. Enhanced with a subtle toasted flavor. Complete with slightly crisp, wrinkly edges and soft centers.
Make them with premium white chocolate chips (not the plastic-y generic ones, mind you) that melt in your mouth, rationed out just enough as to not be overwhelming or over-sweet. My first experience with these cookies was like biting into a mouthful of sweet white chocolate flavored plastic and deterred me from white chocolate macadamia nut cookies for quite a while… these white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies definitely make up for that experience while still incorporating enough white chocolate to keep them true to their name.
Enjoy, and sample some of the cookie dough for me, would you?
Editor’s note (OK, it’s just me again, hi): The author of this post cannot be held responsible for any E.Coli/Salmonella/severe weight gain etc. as a result of eating raw cookie dough — please consume at your own risk.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226g
- 1 cup brown sugar 200g
- 2/3 cup white sugar 135g
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 350g
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups premium white chocolate chips 255g
- 1 cup Macadamia nut pieces 125g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut your butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat.
To Brown the Butter (It's easy, I promise!)
- Once butter has melted, increase heat to just above medium heat.
- Swirl and scrape the sides of the pan frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will bubble and pop. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown, it will look like this once it's finished:
- Watch the butter very carefully at this point, and once it begins to brown and you smell the nutty aroma of browned butter, remove from heat quickly and pour into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Allow butter to cool for 25-30 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
Cookie Dough
- Add sugars into cooled browned butter, stir well.
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and stir.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are nearly completely combined.
- Add white chocolate chips and macadamia nut pieces and stir until ingredients are well-incorporated.
- Drop by heaping, rounded 1 1/2-Tbsp scoops onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2" apart.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 10-11 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown (cookies should still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven, and may even appear slightly underbaked in center).
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking pan for about 3 minutes and then use a spatula to gently scoop beneath them and carefully wiggle them free from the parchment paper, as the toffee tends to stick.
- Allow to cool several more minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
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(this is nearly the same cookie dough base as the recipe above!)
TRACY LYNN DAWSON says
March 9, 2019 at 9:36 pmI made these gluten free by substituting with almond flour. Honestly the best cookies I’ve ever made, delicious!
Sam says
March 10, 2019 at 9:55 pmThank you so much for the feedback, Tracy! I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
Bonnie says
February 23, 2019 at 4:56 pmI browned the butter and toasted the nuts, and this recipe will be the only white chocolate macadamia cookie I will ever make again!
Sam says
February 23, 2019 at 9:43 pmI am so glad you enjoyed the cookies Bonnie! 🙂
Sarah Walker says
September 29, 2018 at 3:02 pmThis is a phenomenal cookie recipe. I followed everything except the corn starch, because I’ve never used it. Browning the butter was new to me. It turns out great though. Thank you for posting this. I’ll definitely be putting this recipe in my arsenal. Here’s to living for the sweet tooth.
Sam says
September 29, 2018 at 7:44 pmThe browned butter makes a huge difference! It’s really incredible! I am so glad you enjoyed them!! 😃😃
Sarah says
September 29, 2018 at 12:42 pmI’m in the process of making these cookies right now. I was wondering if you sifted the dry ingredients…
I usually do, but I’m trying to follow your recipe exactly.
eilis says
May 14, 2018 at 3:58 amhiya have made these cookies a few times and they are divine!!! was just wondering would it be ok to keep the dough in the fridge for 24hrs or would that ruin them…..don’t want to lose the lovely texture 😁😁
Sam says
May 14, 2018 at 9:17 pmSo glad you enjoyed them! Yes the dough can keep in the fridge for that long, but the dough will be hard to scoop so either scoop it and then chill for the 24 hours (make sure to wrap the cookie dough balls in cling wrap and then put in a ziploc bag or otherwise contain in an airtight container) or cover and chill the dough and then you’ll need to let the dough sit out at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes to be able to scoop it.
Becs says
November 8, 2017 at 3:49 amCould you make these with different nuts like cashew or almond? Thanks 🙂
Shauna L says
October 7, 2017 at 2:51 pmI followed the recipe as written, it was AMAZING. The browned butter was easier than I thought, now I’m trying to figure out what else I can use it in. Totally obsessed! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Sam says
October 8, 2017 at 9:37 amI’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, Shauna! Isn’t browned butter amazing? I have a few recipes that use browned butter, if you search “browned butter” in the search bar you might find something else you like, too! 🙂
Amanda says
September 18, 2017 at 3:09 pmHello! I was just wondering if you toasted your macadamia nuts before putting them in the dough mix and if so, how did you go about doing that? I’m planning to make these cookies this week and I’m super excited to try out your browning butter method!
Sam says
September 18, 2017 at 4:19 pmHi Amanda! If your macadamia nuts don’t come already toasted (I always buy the Mauna Loa brand, they come roasted and chopped) then you don’t have to toast them, they’ll be just fine if you don’t. I hope you love the cookies!! 🙂
Laurel says
September 10, 2017 at 10:12 pmWow.
How have I never heard of browning butter before??!
Made these tonight and there just aren’t words to adequately describe them.
Receipe was spot on (although it didn’t mentian how to toast the nuts.. so i googled it, easy peasy)
First time making mac, wht choc cookies and this recipe needs NO tinkering. It’s perfect ❤️❤️ I am forever in your debt for the brown butter thing
Sam says
September 13, 2017 at 3:19 pmI’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed them so much, Laurel!!! Thank you for commenting. <3
Michelle says
September 8, 2017 at 1:27 amThey didn’t bake flat! I followed everything to the “T”. Your pictures a deceptive. I don’t understand. I’ve got round puff balls. They taste great and they will do fine but the ingredients are too expensive for a mess up. I made the toffee ones and did not use cornstarch, because that makes them more like cake cookies (upon research) and I used a half of a cup less of flour than you suggested. WAY better. The batter wasn’t crumbly at all. I still give it 4 stars because it tastes great, but not 5 because I did exactly what you said and they turned out nothing like yours.
Sam says
September 10, 2017 at 10:01 amHi Michelle, the pictures are hardly deceptive, they’re literally pictures taken of this exact recipe, I took them myself after making them. I’ve made these cookie dozens of times without them coming out puffy so it sounds like the problem may be in the flour, are you using grams or cups? Sounds like you may be packing the cups with flour rather than spooning and leveling and therefore overmeasuring? The cornstarch is actually used to keep the cookies from being too flat (which is the more likely outcome with these cookies), so I’m not sure why you had the opposite problem. Glad you enjoyed the taste overall, but I wouldn’t recommend that others follow your substitutions.
Selah says
November 2, 2018 at 12:22 pmYou are so kind, Sam. You respond low-key and understandable, (hard to find on this planet). Your husband is married to a jewel! I only wish that this world could take lessons from you. Thank you!
Sam says
November 2, 2018 at 1:47 pmThank you very much! I try to help my readers get the best results from their recipes. 😊
Mikaru86 says
March 11, 2017 at 4:54 amThere seems to be a slight mistake with the temperatures. In step 1 you specify preheating to 375°F or 190°C (which is the correct conversion). But in step 8 you specify baking at 350°F which you also convert to 190°C, but 350°F should be 175°C (well, 176.67°C, but let’s not be pedantic XD).
So now I’m wondering which temperature is the correct one. I usually bake my cookies at 175°C, so I’m inclined to go with that, but maybe you are aiming for a crisper outside with a soft center and the higher temperature of 190°C is intentional?
Sam says
March 11, 2017 at 8:36 amOops, thanks for the catch!! I tried these cookies at both 350 & 375 with success (baking slightly longer at 350), but ultimately decided that I liked them best at 375 (or 190C), so that’s what it should be! Thank you for letting me know about that, I’ll go in and fix it now!
Mikaru86 says
March 12, 2017 at 4:26 amThanks for the clarification, again (it seems like me previous comment was eaten by the comment system XD).
I went with 190°C-ish (my temperature dial is a bit imprecise and I didn’t want to overdo it, so probably around 180-185°C) for the first batch but the edges were just starting to get a tad too dark for my taste, so I reduced that to 175° for all the other batches. I baked them all at 11 minutes (I used 60g dough balls for all batches, that’s why I went with the high end of the range you gave) and they seem to have come out perfectly. Although they aren’t exactly perfectly soft and chewy. The edges are slightly crumbly but the center is somewhat soft (but not “you can bend the cookie without breaking it” soft). But I also let them rest on the baking sheet while the next batch was baking and didn’t remove them after 3 minutes, so that might have also reduced the softness a bit.
Next time I’d probably use 10 minutes at 175°C for a slightly softer result, but that is just my personal preference.
Mikaru86 says
March 10, 2017 at 11:18 amYour rule is just no unbaked cookie dough right? I see an obvious loophope: Put the dough in the oven for a few seconds. Technically it is baked then. It might be just a tiny bit underbaked, but it’s technically baked 😉
Sam says
March 15, 2017 at 2:03 pmThat’s pretty much how I would bake all my cookies if I wasn’t sharing recipes. “Bake at 350 for 2 minutes. Cool slightly. Enjoy.” 😉
Sues says
March 8, 2017 at 11:26 pmHaha I love that you gave up eating raw cookie dough for Lent! I totally would not be able to resist eating this cookie dough!! Power to you 🙂
Dawn says
March 8, 2017 at 7:45 pmok, perhaps change your Lenten “give up raw dough” to doing something for someone else, volunteer more etc. that will get you off the hook for anytime you need to give in 🙂
Those cookies look amazing- what white chocolate chips do you prefer to use? Your go to chip?
Sam says
March 8, 2017 at 7:49 pmI seriously should! I don’t know how I’m going to make it! 😉
My favorites are the Ghirardelli white chocolate chips! Though Hershey’s and Tollhouse are quite acceptable substitutes. 🙂
Mikaru86 says
March 8, 2017 at 2:42 pmThose look amazing. After the great success with the chocolate cookies last week (http://i.imgur.com/rKXqUhc.jpg details and more pictures to follow as soon as I find the time to sit down to upload the pictures and write an update) I’ll have to try this. I’ve never used browned butter, but this is as good a chance as any to do so. I also have some cans of chocolate covered macadamia nuts left that would go well with this, maybe just hammer them into smaller pieces in a freezer bag…
I’ll let you know how they turn out 🙂
Sam says
March 8, 2017 at 3:19 pmI’m glad you liked the chocolate cookies! Are those espresso beans on top? That sounds like a great idea 🙂
I think you’ll love the browned butter, it really takes everything to the next level, and the chocolate covered macadamia nuts should be pretty fantastic in here, too 🙂
Mikaru86 says
March 10, 2017 at 2:17 pmYeah, I finally found a use for the leftover chocolate mocha beans. I wasn’t really a fan of those (they were too intensely coffee-y for my taste), but my colleagues really liked them.