A classic cookie with a decadent flair — these White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies are made with browned butter, toasted macadamia nuts, premium white chocolate chips, and are topped off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Soft, Chewy, White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. That name is a mouthful.
But… a good mouthful. Decadently buttery and enriched with toasty, nutty, toffee-like flavors. Punctuated with crunchy macadamia nuts and punches of sweet white chocolate. Complete with slightly crisp, golden-brown edges, thick, soft centers, and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Are you ready to make these yet?
These are one of my favorite cookies to make when I’m “appreciation baking”, I made a batch of these to gift to our realtor to thank her for helping us buy our new home and (finally!) sell our old one. Nothing says thank you like a plate full of perfect white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Right?
Key Ingredients (& What Makes These Cookies so Special)
Most of the ingredients used for these cookies are pretty standard: flour, sugars, butter, baking powder, etc. But we have a few important ingredients that elevate this cookie dough from classic to pretty dang irresistible:
Browned butter
The first step in making these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies is browning your butter. If you’ve never done this before, don’t worry I walk you through the steps in the recipe and you even can watch me do it in the video (just below the recipe). I also recently published a step-by-step guide on how to brown butter.
Browning the butter gives these cookies a much deeper flavor, this browned butter base enriches the flavor of the cookies, adds a subtle nutty/toffee-like flavor. It’s our secret ingredient here.
Cornstarch
This is a favorite in so many of my cookie recipes, especially ones that begin with melted butter. This ingredient helps to keep the cookies soft and keep them from spreading too much without drying them out and making them crumbly (which adding more flour would do). Cornstarch is one of my favorite “secret” ingredients in the kitchen.
White Chocolate Chips
We use just enough chips here to punctuate these cookies with a punch of sweetness without making them overly sweet. There are a lot of ingredients that I buy generic without issue, but white chocolate chips are not one of them (FYI, neither is baking powder or soda). I’ve had bad luck with plastic-y tasting generic chips and recommend splurging on a quality brand. Ghirardelli is my current favorite. You can instead chop up a white chocolate bar instead of using chips.
Macadamia Nuts
If they aren’t already chopped when you buy them, be sure to break/chop them into chocolate-chip-sized pieces before stirring these into your cookie dough.
Tips
- Make sure your browned butter is no longer warm to the touch before adding anything else to it. Warm or hot butter will melt your sugars, leaving you with a soupy, greasy cookie dough that will yield ultra-flat cookies.
- For extra rich flavor, try using European butter.
- Eggs (and all ingredients) should ideally be at room temperature. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 15 minutes.
- Substitute white chocolate chips for a chopped white chocolate bar for an especially decadent treat.
- For neat, round cookies, roll the scoops of cookie dough briefly between your palms before baking.
I shared a how-to video below the recipe, showing you exactly how I make these cookies in my own kitchen (I was so pregnant when I filmed this video and my feet were killing me. The very memory of making these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies now makes my feet hurt just thinking about it😂).
Enjoy!
More Cookie Recipes to Try:
Let’s bake together! Head on over to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 200 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 226g
- 1 cup brown sugar 200g
- 2/3 cup white sugar 135g
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 340g
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cups premium white chocolate chips 170g
- 1 cup Macadamia nut pieces 110g
- sea salt for sprinkling optional
Instructions
Begin by Browning your Butter:
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Once butter has melted, increase heat to just above medium heat. Stir the butter and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will begin to bubble and pop. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown (see image). Once it begins to brown, remove from heat and pour into a large heat-proof bowl.
- Allow butter to cool to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
Cookie Dough
- Add sugars into cooled browned butter and stir well.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.
- 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.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before proceeding.
- 15 minutes before you are ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Once oven is preheated and cookie dough has chilled, drop dough by heaping, rounded 1 1/2-Tbsp-sized scoops onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2" apart.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 9-11 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 completely on baking sheet.
Video
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published 03/08/2017. Photos updated, helpful notes added, and a video is now included as of 01/22/2020. One of the original photos is below:
Pilar says
As always amazing recipe!! I adapted it to make it Gluten Free, they taste amazing. The browned butter makes sucha difference in taste. Just delicious.
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Pilar! I am so glad that you enjoyed the white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
AJ says
These look yummy! I’m going to try these this weekend add some coconut.
Sugar Spun Run says
Wonderful! I hope that you enjoy the cookies, AJ! Keep me posted on how they turn out. 🙂
Esse says
Hiiii Sam! What can i use in place of the nuts? And am I free to leave them out?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Esse! You are free to leave them out. I hope that you enjoy the cookies! 🙂
Caron says
These cookies are terrific!! I made them for my husband’s birthday as they are his favorite. I had never browned butter before but it was easy and you can tell it makes a difference in the taste! I’ve tried several of your cookie recipes, everyone who eats them loves them! I always check your site first now for cookie recipes! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Caron! Browned butter makes so all the difference, right?!!! I am so glad that your husband enjoyed his birthday cookies. I appreciate you visiting my site and trying my recipes. I am so glad you enjoy them. Happy Holidays. 🙂