A classic cookie with a decadent flair, these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are made with browned butter, toasted macadamia nuts, premium white chocolate, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Gourmet White Chocolate Cookies
These are not your average white chocolate macadamia nut cookies! No, these are decadently buttery cookies enriched with toasty, nutty flavor, sweet white chocolate, crunchy roasted macadamia nuts, and finishing dash of sea salt.
While it may sound complicated, my recipe is actually quite easy to make and doesn’t even require a mixer!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavor: Rich, nutty brown butter enriches the cookies and gives them a much deeper flavor that is reminiscent of toffee. It’s our secret ingredient here!
- Texture: Slightly crisp, golden-brown edges with thick, soft centers punctuated with crunchy macadamia nuts and pockets of creamy white chocolate.
- Ease: No mixer needed, since we are starting with melted butter (like when making my butter pecan cookies). Don’t you love it when that happens?
- Chilling: Only 30 minutes to chill, which is just enough time to clean up your countertop, preheat your oven, and prep your cookie sheets.
- Sweetness: White chocolate has a reputation for being super sweet (I talked about this when I shared my white chocolate buttercream), so we’ll use just enough chips to add sweetness without making the cookies cloying.
Ingredients
Most of today’s ingredients are pretty standard, but we do have a few important ingredients that elevate this cookie dough from classic to irresistible!
- Butter. The first step in this recipe is browning your butter. If you’ve never done this before, I walk you through the steps in the recipe and video (just below the recipe). I also have a step-by-step guide on how to brown butter, if you need more help. For extra rich flavor, try using European butter.
- White chocolate. There are a lot of ingredients that I buy generic without issue, but white chocolate is not one of them (and the same goes for baking powder or soda). Ghirardelli is my current favorite brand; you can either chop up a white chocolate bar (my preference for extra melty hunks of chocolate throughout) or just use chips.
- Macadamia nuts. I use roasted and salted macadamia nuts. If yours aren’t already chopped when you buy them, be sure to chop them into chocolate-chip-sized pieces before adding.
- Cornstarch. This is a favorite in so many of my cookie recipes, especially ones that begin with melted butter (like my worst chocolate chip cookies). It helps to keep the cookies soft and prevents them from spreading too much without drying them out (which adding more flour would do).
- Sea salt. This is optional, but I love adding a sprinkle of sea salt to the tops of my cookies just after removing them from the oven.
SAM’S TIP: Your eggs 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.
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Brown the butter: Melt and cook the butter in a saucepan until it foams, sizzles, and turns brown. Remove from the heat and let cool until it is no longer warm to the touch.
- Stir in the sugars, eggs, and vanilla, then set aside while you whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, then fold in the add-ins.
- Cover and chill the dough before scooping and rolling into 1 ½ tablespoon sized balls.
- Bake until the edges just start to turn golden brown, then remove and sprinkle with sea salt. The key to soft and chewy cookies is to slightly underbake them in the oven and finish cooking outside the oven on their baking sheets.
SAM’S TIP: For round, uniform-looking cookies, roll the scoops of cookie dough briefly between your palms before baking. You can also add a few chocolate chips to the tops after they come out of the oven. This will give your cookies a bakery-style look!
Frequently Asked Questions
Adding the sugars when your butter is warm or hot butter will melt them, leaving you with a soupy, greasy cookie dough and ultra-flat cookies.
On the other hand, if you have cookie dough that isn’t spreading enough, you may have accidentally added too much flour to your dough. This is a common mistake; make sure you know how to measure flour properly if this happens to you often.
I suppose you don’t have to! I do have a separate recipe for white chocolate chip cookies that you could try instead.
Yes, though you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a bit before scooping if you do. If you want to freeze the cookie dough, follow the instructions in my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
If you’re a big macadamia nut fan, give my coconut cream pie a try! It uses a macadamia nut-infused crust for extra flavor 🤍
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cups (170 g) premium white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (110 g) Macadamia nut pieces
- sea salt for sprinkling optional
Instructions
Begin by Browning your Butter:
- Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 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.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon 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.1 cups (170 g) premium white chocolate chips, 1 cup (110 g) Macadamia nut pieces
- 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 350F (175C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Once oven is preheated and cookie dough has chilled, drop dough by heaping, rounded 1 ½-Tbsp-sized scoops (50g) onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2" (5cm) apart.
- Bake on 350F (175C) 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 immediately after removing from the oven.sea salt for sprinkling
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Nikki
I’ve made both your worst-ever chocolate chip cookies (several times now) and now these! I used vegan butter and egg replacer and they turned out great! Definitely one of my favourite baking recipes 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them both so much, Nikki! Thank you for your feedback using your substitutions. It’s very helpful for others. 🙂
Jackie
Hi Sam,
I have some macadamia nuts I wanted to use up and this is the perfect way. But, my macadamia nuts are actually salted. Could I still use these and maybe cut the salt in the recipe to 1/2 tsp instead of 3/4 tsp?
Sam
That sounds like it would work perfectly, enjoy! 🙂
Jackie
Wow, these were delicious! I cut the salt to 1/2 tsp with the salted nuts and it worked just fine. Thanks Sam – another great recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know, Jackie 😊 Enjoy!
Susan
Hey Sam! Can I use dark brown sugar? Will it change the flavor profile? Thanks. You’re my go to favorite for baking.
Sam
Hi Susan! Dark brown sugar will work. It just makes the flavor a bit more rich. 🙂
Sarah
Can the cookies bake at 350 degrees or does it have to be 375?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sarah! We would recommend sticking with the recipe for best results. We hope you love the cookies 😊
sarah
i made then the other day, and they where (what people said) DEVINE! 😄👍
but please tell me, why they are not spreading like you “worst chocolate chip cookies”??
the macadamia cookies are much higher and doesn’t look as good as the worst.
i weight all my ingredients. 🤷🏻♀️
Sam
Hi Sarah! Are they still in a ball? These cookies are supposed to be a bit thicker than the worst chocolate chip cookies.
katie
Sam, you are a GODDESS in the kitchen. THANK YOU for the BEST recipes!!!!!
Gale B
They are heavenly and decadent. The directions for browning the butter were perfect and took all the guess work out of the task. The cookies went to together easily and baked up perfectly.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you enjoyed them, Gale! 🥰
Paul
Off the hook; soo simple and classic Macadamia White Chip taste.
I’m a fan.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you like them, Paul! Thanks for your review 😊
Anjelica Martinez
I followed your recipe exactly, but it came out more flour than anything after the chill. The cookies didn’t want to stay together even when I compacted them. Super sad because your recipes usually work for me and are my go to.
Sam
I’m so sorry this happened, Anjelica! Did you weigh your flour? It sounds like there may have been a little too much added, accidentally. 🙁
Angie Johnson
She wrote 2 3/4 cup flour on her recipe, but I’m pretty sure she meant to put 2 1/4 cup flour. I did 2 1/4 cup because I knew 2 3/4 cup would be wayyyy too much, and mine turned out perfect!
Sam
Hi Angie! It is supposed to be 2 3/4c, but I’m glad yours turned out. 🙂
Cheryl
Mine also came out ridiculously dry! I followed the recipe exactly! I’m going to try and make them anyway – hate to waste the expensive ingredients and time I have in this already. UGH Will not be using this one again, darn it.
vaishali
can u tell what is egg substitute
Sam
Hi Vaishali! Unfortunately I am not familiar with an egg substitute that would work well here, but perhaps someone else who has tried it can chime in!
Cavet
This recipe is always delicious! Unfortunately I got on the wrong recipe somehow ugh and I couldn’t figure out what happened? Well no wonder my cookies were soft lol ,64 years and still goofing up lol
Deborah
yes! I use fresh apple sauce – 1/4 cup to replace 1 egg. 😀
Barbara
I’m making these cookies now and also am adding a small amount of mini chocolate chips to them
Kelsey
Hello- I plan to make these as 0art of my Christmas cookies. Do they freeze well? Would you suggest freezing dough or baked cookie if so? Thanks in advance! 🙃
Sam
Hi Kelsey! Personally I think a freshly baked cookie is best. I would scoop out the dough, Wrap each dough ball individually and store in a freezer bag. They may need an extra minute or two when baked from frozen. 🙂
Pamela Gordon
Sam,
These came out amazingly delicious! This is the recipe I’ve been looking for! I have a question, though, They seemed to get harder sooner than many of your cookies. They were stored in an air tight container but lost their chewiness after only two days. Any idea why? I think next time I will put a piece of bread in with them to keep them moister longer. Thank you for a great recipe!
Sam
Hi Pamela! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! I think if you bake them for a minute or two less, so that the centers seem slightly underbaked, and let them finish cooling completely on the pan they should stay soft a little bit longer. 🙂
Jenna
So yummy! My family loves them!
Nidhi
Hi! So my cookies went rock hard. I’m trying to figure out what went wrong?:( They tasted good but were rock hard.
Sam
O no! I’m so sorry that happened! There are 2 things that could have caused this. The cookies may have needed slightly less time in the oven or you may have accidentally over-measured your flour. 🙁
Deborah
Hi Sam, could I omit the macadamias altogether?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂