White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Classic white chocolate macadamia nut cookies have never been better! Bake a batch of these incredible, nostalgic cookies and you won’t be sorry.
I’ve been tinkering with these cookies for quite a while now, and finally have the recipe just the way I want it. I promise, you might not find a better white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe!
These cookies are the perfect balance of textures and flavors, with crisp edges and soft, chewy centers. And the sweet, creamy white chocolate pairs beautifully with the buttery cookie dough, crunchy toasted macadamia nuts, and coarse salt on top. It’s that sweet and salty magic that makes these cookies impossible to resist!
What makes these cookies special
Two things set these cookies apart from other white chocolate macadamia nut cookies you may have had in the past:
- Toasting the macadamia nuts, which brings out their flavor and makes it so much more interesting.
- Adding a sprinkling of coarse salt to the cookies after baking to give them a delicious sweet and salty flavor.
“Thanks for the tip about toasting the macadamia nuts! They really are better this way! These cookies are perfect. My husband says they’re addicting.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” — from reader Sarah
“The best recipe I’ve tried! They turned out perfect- crunchy and soft!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” —from reader Hillary.
Ingredients you’ll need
Let’s get baking shall we? Here’s everything you’ll need for these cookies (full recipe below):
- Salted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light or dark brown sugar
- Egg
- All-purpose flour
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Salt
- White chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
- Macadamia nuts
How to make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies
- Toast macadamia nuts to bring out their rich, nutty flavor.
- Cream butter and sugarsuntil light and fluffy. This forms the base for these cookies, more about the creaming method here.
- Add egg and vanilla extract. Mixing after each.
- Mix in dry ingredients (flour, bakingsoda and salt) until dough starts to come together.
- Add white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts just and mix until dough is uniform.
- Scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet pans.
- Bake at 350°F until edges are golden brown, 10-12 minutes for medium, 14-15 minutes for larger cookies.
- Sprinkle with coarse salt the moment they come out, then cool.
Then, enjoy!
Tips for baking the best cookies
- Use dry-roasted macadamia nuts and skip the toasting step. These nuts are usually salted, so omit salt in the cookie dough or use unsalted butter.
- Watch your butter temperature: It should be soft enough that a pressed finger will leave an indent, but not soft enough that your finger can press all the way through. If it’s shiny or melty at all, the butter is too warm and your cookies may spread too much in the oven.
- Be sure to measure flour correctly! All of my recipes are tested using the spoon and level method (more info through that link).
- Use a cookie scoop for even baking and beautiful cookies: A large cookie scoop will give you show-stopping cookies like you see here. More traditional sized cookies can be shaped with a medium cookie scoop.
- If cookies come out slightly misshapen, use a spatula to press them back into a circle right after they come out of the oven. See more of my tips for how to bake pretty cookies.
- Cookie dough freezes really well. I like to keep a stash in the freezer for fresh-baked cookies on demand.
- Storage instructions: These cookies will keep at room temperature for about a week, but are best within a few days of baking. Or you can freeze them for up to 1 month.
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies
- Toasted Coconut, Pecan, and Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Monster Cookies
This recipe was originally published August 2010.
White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 grams) salted butter , softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (213 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup (270 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (150 grams) macadamia nuts , coarsely chopped
- Coarse salt , for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Add macadamia nuts to 1 sheet pan and spread into an even layer. Toast in oven for about 5 minutes, then let cool completely.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium high until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add flour, soda, and salt to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until just combined. Add the white chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts.
- Portion into rounded tablespoon for medium cookies, or 3 tablespoon scoop for large cookies and place onto prepared sheet pans, with about 2 inch spacing. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 to 12 minutes (14-15 minutes for large cookies). Cool on a wire rack.
- When hot from the oven, sprinkle with coarse salt. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer for a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Best macadamia nut cookies! I added half a teaspoon of almond extract and it is to die for!
For the brown sugar, I used half a cup each of light and dark brown. This is one of the best cookies I have ever made, if not THE best. It was certainly better than the pepperidge farm, which used to be fantastic but they must have made a change in ingredients… it seems store bought cookies are going downhill.
Anyway, perfect recipe. I did bake both straight after making the batter and also after it was refrigerated for a while.
These are great! They are slightly crispy and golden brown on the outside, but the inside is a decadent, soft, chewy texture. I made these for my grandma because she loves this combo and she gave them a thumbs up. A tip is to take the cookies out when they are still soft and then leave them to cool on the baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes. This always helps me to ensure I don’t overbake them!
These were incredible!! I let my dough refrigerate for 24hrs before baking and whew! Super moist, rich and chewy; everything I was searching for.
Absolutely perfect! I rarely eat sweets and do not bake them! My elderly neighbor asks me to bake gigantic frozen ones for him he receives in gift pkgs from Omaha Steaks for Christmas. I thought I would give it a try from scratch for him and researched recipes choosing yours. The only thing I added was 1/2t baking powder, used an ice cream scoop and baked 16 minutes. They were huge, puffy, tender with barely browned bottoms and tops! Thank you for this recipe!
Your recipe came out so awesome! I bought dry roasted macadamia nuts with sea salt, so I actually didn’t roast mine. I lined my baking sheets with parchment paper. Ended up with 30 small scoop and 7 large scoop cookies!
Thanks for the feedback, Lori! So happy you enjoyed these cookies!
Top tier recipe. I made this recipe but tripled the ingredients so I had enough for all of my co workers, my husbands coworkers, my kids, and my in laws which amounts to about 60+ people. They all LOVED it. The only thing I changed was a smidgen of extra vanilla because yum vanilla. It was so perfect. I make cookies for all 60 people every single week in my tiny kitchen and so far this is their favorite cookie.
Hi Violet, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! I’m so happy to hear everyone enjoys these cookies. And wow, cookies for 60+ is not a small task. Well done!
These are were delicious and super easy. The boyfriend says they are the best cookies I make and to keep the the cookie jar with them!!
Oh no the recipe changed AGAIN. I really wish I would have printed out the original recipe. Everyone was disappointed with the last update. I think I need to move on to a more consistent recipe that I can rely on. I don’t have time for experimenting. Best wishes to you and good luck with your blog!
Hi! I just reviewed the recipe as it was written when I originally published it in 2010. Literally the only thing that changed is instead of 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening and 1/4 cup butter, I now use just 3/4 cup butter. Everything else is exactly the same, I can guarantee you.
Like a lot of people, I don’t bake with shortening anymore, and in my opinion the results are the same if not better. Feel free to use the old amounts if you prefer. I hope this helps! Have a good day. 🙂
These are yummy chocolatey Carmely nutty crunchy gooey goodness yum yum yum yum yum yum
My family found these were too sweet. I’m seeing other recipes now with a lower proportion of sugar, so I don’t think it’s just us. I’d try a different one next time.
Easy and very good
Came out great, filled up the cookie jar and froze the rest. Only change I made was to use my food processor to finely grind the nuts to make them easier to swallow
Hi Analise I was wondering if you have the original recipe from years ago. Made them yearly for friends who loved them but then it seemed that something changed. Now I see the recipe is tweaked again? Can you help all of us who loved the classic recipe?
Hi JR! I haven’t changed this recipe at all since it was originally published in 2010. Other dates mentioned are from site-wide maintenance updates. It’s still the same as it always has been!
Thanks for getting back to me. I just had an epic fail with the cookies ? I don’t know why I can’t get them right anymore when for years I never got them wrong! Its not the oven, everything else I bake is consistent. I’m getting scorched bottoms so I can’t get enough color on the tops. Using a light silver cookie tray (the kind with the layer of air) and parchment. I seem to remember them taking longer in the oven in the past. I have an oven thermometer so everything is okay with the temp. The only thing I may be doing differently is when I chop the nuts coarsely I am not including all of the leftover “sawdust” that happens from the chopping. Could that be it? I measure flour in the proper way, so I don’t think that’s it.
What are your thoughts? I need to remake these for my friend. As you know, when they are right they are so good!
Perhaps bake on a higher rack in the oven so the bottoms get less heat and the tops get more brown? Good luck!
I tried making these earlier today, and while they tasted amazing, the round balls didn’t flatten in the oven! Is there any reason this could have happened?