White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Honestly, this year has been a busy one and the days, weeks, and months are just flying by! I haven't been baking nearly as much as I would have liked the past few months, and when I have gotten the chance to bake something yummy I never seem to find a moment to take a photo of my creations before they're gobbled up. I deeply miss blogging and it seems I have some very sweet readers who miss me as well! I hope to remedy my lack of posts soon.

With my lack of baking lately and having been busy with other adventures, I've been thinking about including more non-food and jewelry related posts here on the blog. I have been tackling a few projects around the house that I thought might be fun to share here, and I've recently rediscovered my passion for makeup, beauty, and fashion and am curious about sharing some posts of that sort as well. I've always been kind of apprehensive about posting on such a wide range of topics because I know a lot of my readers are only interested in food-related posts. Personally some of my favorite blogs cover a wide range of topics and I'm curious to know how my readers would react to a variety of other topics.

I made these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies last night for a mostly-weekly movie night the hubby and I host for a small group of friends. This was my first time making White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and I was surprised to find so few recipes available for them. After searching around online and in a few cookbooks I own, I decided to try this recipe from Handle the Heat as it reminded me a lot of one of my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. These were quick and simple to throw together and they baked up beautifully. I used a tablespoon and a half cookie scoop and the recipe yielded just shy of 3 dozen cookies, the perfect amount for everyone to freely indulge during our movie while leaving plenty leftover for the hubby to take to work the next day. These were very well received and I'll definitely be keeping this recipe on hand for the next time I want to make these cookies.


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
via Handle the Heat
makes 2-3 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Adjust an oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, about 16 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.