These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have soft centers, crisp edges, and they’re packed white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Two special ingredients make these cookies the best!
Mouth watering cookies with creamy white chocolate, crunchy macadamia nuts, and a sprinkle of sea salt? SOLD. Gimme. Yes, please! SIGN.ME.UP. These cookies check all the boxes.
Every time I make this recipe my family devours them. In full disclosure, when I say “my family” I am mostly referring to myself. Because, who can resist a warm, freshly baked cookie? Not me. And these cookies are THE BEST. You’ll also love our White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies!
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These cookies are
- Crisp around the edges
- Soft in the middle
- Packed with white chocolate and macadamia nuts
- Sweet and salty
- Quick and easy – no chill time
Essential ingredients
The following ingredients set these cookies apart from others of the same variety.
- Brown sugar: This recipe has more brown sugar than white sugar. The extra brown sugar makes these cookies soft and chewy and imparts a deeper flavor. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh and soft; it can be light or dark brown sugar. The photos you see were made with light.
- Almond extract: In addition to vanilla extract, I also add a splash of almond extract to the cookie dough. The almond extract pairs perfectly with the white chocolate and macadamia nuts. It’s not overpowering, just a subtle, smooth, underlying flavor.
- Sea salt: This is my favorite technique for this recipe. Right after the cookies are finished baking, lightly sprinkle the tops with sea salt. You’ll love the salty-sweet balance! I especially like a flaky finishing salt like Maldon.
Recipe overview
Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in white chocolate and macadamia nuts.
Scoop and bake.
Recipe tips
- Your butter should be slightly soft, but still cool. If it is too soft your cookies will spread too much.
- Use roasted salted macadamia nuts (if possible). Roasted nuts have way more flavor than raw nuts, and that extra bit of salt really takes these over the top.
- Use good quality white chocolate chips or chunks. Ghirardelli or Guittard are two of my favorite brands. You can also chop a good quality white chocolate bar.
- Do not overbake. Pulling your cookies from the oven when they are still slightly underdone will result in the perfect texture – soft centers with crisp edges. Oven times vary, and the size of you dough balls may vary slightly from mine. Keep an eye on them. When the edges are set and the very center is still slightly underdone, pull them out and allow them to cool with the baking sheet set on a rack.
- Don’t skip the finishing salt. That sprinkle of salt on top of the cookies balances out all that sugar (white chocolate can be super sweet).
How to get perfectly round cookies
Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. Gently but quickly swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the warm baking sheet.
Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.
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Recipe
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to cool room temp
- ½ cup packed brown sugar , make sure it is fresh and soft
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅔ cup chopped macadamia nuts*, preferably roasted & salted
- ⅔ cup white chocolate chips*
- sea salt, for garnish, I like flaky Maldon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add egg and extracts and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and stir until well combined.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon portions of dough and place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the cookie sheets. If desired, top each ball of dough with a few additional white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts (this makes for a prettier cookie).
- Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes, until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the very center is still slightly underdone. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, if necessary. If your dough balls are smaller or larger than 2 tablespoons, adjust bake time accordingly. Make sure not to overbake. The cookies should still be soft in the center when you remove them from the oven.**
- Place the baking sheets on wire racks and sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt. Cookies will firm up as they cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Tiffany
Hi! I’m going to be baking these for our Christmas celebrations,
How long do they keep after baked ?
Thanks !
Celebrating Sweets
I think they’re best within 1-2 days (like most cookies). Also, you can freeze the dough balls and bake them fresh or you can freeze them already baked. Enjoy!
Sophia
Do you use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe?
Allison
I’ve made them with both. Enjoy!
Diday Ramirez
Hi can i use less macadamia nuts?
Allison
Sure!
Simonne Ho
Hi, Do i need to flatten the cookies b4 baking ?
Thanks
Allison
No. They should spread just the right amount when they bake. Enjoy!
wilhelmina
I absolutely LOVE this cookies recipe! They came out so perfectly, this is my new obsession!
Allison
Yay! I’m so glad. 🙂
Erin
These sound so easy to make and look so soft, just how I like them! Can’t wait to try these!
Alex
I made these last weekend and they were lovely. The flavors really stand out individually without either overpowering the other. Thank you for sharing. I initially got confused by the list of ingredients saying 2/3 cup of nuts and chocolate chips then within the recipe it says 3/4. I went with 2/3 and it worked great. 🙂 Love this and your berry bar recipe which we make regularly in our home.
Allison
Thanks for the kind review, Alex. And good catch on the two different amounts. I had an error in the instructions. I corrected it. Thanks again!
Eva
Hi there,
Can I use salted butter?
Allison
Sure! You can reduce the added salt a bit or even just leave it as-is since the white chocolate makes these quite sweet. Enjoy!
Dianna
At what point would I sprinkle the sea salt on top? These sound yummy!
Allison
Hi! I just added it to the recipe. Right after they come out of the oven. Enjoy!
Jill
Hi, my cookies didnt spread very much, any thoughts?
Allison
Hi, Jill. Perhaps your dry ingredients were slightly over measured. You can try patting the dough balls down before baking to encourage spreading.
Lisa
Hi! I’m excited to use this recipe for a friends wedding! I was wondering how many cookies are in a batch, and if you have recommendations on the best way to freeze for a couple weeks? Thank you in advance!!
Allison
Hi, Lisa. This recipe makes 14 cookies. You can freeze the dough balls (I use a food storage container) or you can freeze the baked cookies tightly wrapped (I double bag them in a freezer safe storage bag). Enjoy!