White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

After years of threatening to make these cookies, I finally decided to try them. Oh boy, I’m glad I did.

I’m not ashamed to admit it, but I am horrible at following recipes. There are a few exceptions to this but for the most part I will look at a recipe and decide on the fly whether to use the ingredients and their measurements or fudge with it or use a different spice. Sure, part of that is years of experience and knowing what the hell I’m doing, but the other part is experimenting. Let’s just say I’ve only had a few duds, so my instincts are usually right on. So when I flipped through my cookbooks to look for a recipe for White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, I was surprised that only one book had it. Well, not too surprised that this particular book, The Joy of Cooking, had a recipe, but that the ratios seemed a little, well, off to me. Me being me, I fiddled. And me being me, I nailed it.

Cory’s White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 1/3 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup roasted macadamia nuts

2/3 cup white chocolate chips (I prefer Guittard)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt with the paddle attachment (scraping blade works great too) by mixing on low speed for about ten seconds. Pour into a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the softened butter until slightly pale, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium to medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla on low just until mixed in. Add the flour mixture on low a little at a time until no white streaks appear. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. Using a 2 tablespoon spring loaded scoop, place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet two inches apart and bake for 12 minutes. Makes 16 cookies.