These white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are soft-baked style with extra chewy centers. Melted butter maintains a delicious buttery flavor while an extra egg yolk adds chewiness. They’re absolutely PACKED with white chocolate and salted macadamia nuts.
Everything Old is New Again!
My website’s archives are filled with over 1,000 recipes. Some of my earlier recipes are total hidden gems, but there are others that I’ve felt needed some work. I’ve been working behind the scenes updating older recipes as I find necessary. Most notable updates: peanut butter cupcakes, monkey bread, and yellow cupcakes.
Today’s white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are part of this project. I craved a thicker cookie with softer, chewier centers and a distinct buttery flavor. There wasn’t much in this recipe that really needed to change, so I just made a couple minor tweaks.
They’re now perfect.
Video Tutorial
These are the BEST White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
And here’s why:
- Major chunks—lots of nuts and white chocolate
- Classic comforting flavors
- Extra buttery
- Soft-baked style
- Chewy centers
- Slightly crisp edges
- Easy to freeze
Re-Testing This Recipe
This recipe is a cross between my coconut macadamia nut cookies and my chewy chocolate chip cookies. Like the original recipe first published in 2012, I use melted butter instead of softened butter. I love using melted butter in cookies because it produces an extra buttery flavor as well as a chewier texture. However, it’s not as simple as swapping melted butter for softened butter. (Of course it’s not. It’s BAKING! So particular!)
You see, melted butter—a liquid—creates spread. If there isn’t enough flour to absorb the added liquid, the cookies will spread all over the baking sheet. On the other hand, if there’s excess flour, the cookies will taste dry. Finding the balance between too wet and too dry is a total roll of the dice! Speaking of dry ingredients, I add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch here. This ingredient adds a little extra softness. I don’t add cornstarch when making the coconut macadamia nut cookies because the coconut acts as a really soft dry ingredient, so cornstarch just isn’t necessary there.
The original recipe also used an extra egg yolk. I love this addition! See my chewy chocolate chip cookies or brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies if you’re curious about it. Basically, an extra egg yolk = extra richness and extra chew. Both good things.
Two final changes: I add a little more baking soda for additional volume because the original cookies typically over-spread. I also switch the amounts of sugar. Here we use an equal amount of granulated sugar and brown sugar. In addition to sweetening, brown sugar creates a soft and more flavorful cookie and granulated sugar creates spread. Balancing them helps produce a chewy, yet crispy edge cookie.
Best Macadamia Nuts to Use
I LOVE using salted dry-roasted macadamia nuts in white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. The roasted salty flavor pairs beautifully with the extra sweet white chocolate morsels—you won’t regret it!
3 Cookie Tips to Improve Your Next Batch
- Spoon & Level the Flour: The amount of flour makes or breaks a cookie recipe—literally. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour.
- Chill the Cookie Dough: Chilling the cookie dough, especially since we’re using melted butter, is an imperative step in this recipe. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. You’ll have thicker, sturdier, and more solid cookies.
- Bake 1 Batch at a Time: You get the best possible results when the oven only concentrates on 1 batch at a time. If you need to bake more than one batch at a time, rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack a couple times through the baking process to encourage even browning. And turn the sheets around as well. Ovens have hot spots!
If you can’t get enough of sweet white chocolate, try my white chocolate brownies and white chocolate peanut butter cookies next!
Print
Super-Chunk White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are soft-baked style with extra chewy centers. They’re absolutely PACKED with white chocolate morsels and salted macadamia nuts. Chilling the cookie dough is imperative, so set aside at least 2 hours.
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, melted + slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup (210g) white chocolate chips*
- 1 cup (120g) roughly chopped macadamia nuts*
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix everything together with a silicone spatula until completely combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. (You can use a mixer for this step if needed.)
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days. If chilling for longer than 2 hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 20-30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1-1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I like to use this medium cookie scoop), and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- White Chocolate Chips: I usually use closer to 1 and 1/4 cups white chocolate chips, about 210g. For looks, you can press a few extra chips into the tops of the warm cookies when they come out of the oven.
- Macadamia Nuts: I used salted dry-roasted macadamia nuts. You can use unsalted, raw, and/or whichever macadamia nuts you love most. Salted dry-roasted adds incredible flavor though.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This cookie has a great flavor and so chewy, with crispy edges! I love the slightly caramel flavor that the melted butter and brown sugar adds. I chopped up some dried cranberries and threw those in half the batch too, it brightened the flavor a bit. So so good!
Can you roll these, then slice once set?
Hi Mary! We don’t suggest it as they would spread too much. We recommend using the dough and instructions from this recipe, but feel free to add white chocolate and macadamia nuts instead!
I followed the recipe exactly except I only added 1/4 teaspoon salt because my butter was salted……they turned out absolutely PERFECT
Be sure and chill for two hours then roll in balls to bake
Delicious! I will make them again soon.
I love every recipe on sallysbakingaddiction.com. This is my new favorite cookie recipe and I have made it about 20 times since finding it a month ago. The cookies always come out phenomenally. Crisp edges, tender center and deliciously buttery. I recommend balling the dough before refrigeration so that you can easily bake from the freezer.
Everyone giving this recipe a one star review clearly has no idea what they are doing.
THANKS SALLY!
These cookies are outstanding. I didn’t use roasted/salted macadamia nuts because I had some unsalted ones in my pantry. To compensate, I sprinkled a bit of Maldon sea salt on the cookies right when they came out of the oven. I also used a chopped up a Ghiradelli white chocolate bar instead of chips. I’ll definitely be making these again and again. Next time I’m definitely going to use the recommended roasted/salted nuts.
I followed everything to a T could you please explain to me why they are so dry? Oh my ingredients were fresh leveled and measured appropriately
Hi Ivanka! When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough.
If you are ever in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven.
Thank you so much for letting me know that Trina. I actually tried to make another batch smaller in scooping size and they turned out fantastic I think I was at fault because I wanted larger shaped cookies but I made them smaller and they were delicious. 🙂
I thought these cookies were terrible. Absolutely tasteless and dry.
White chocolate macadamia nut cookies are my all time favorite.
I don’t know what I was expecting making this recipe, but I have to be honest, this is THE BEST white chocolate macadamia cookie I have ever had!The roasted salted macadamia was a perfect ingredient!
Thank you for making these recipes,always extraordinary results!
I followed the recipe exactly as written, weighing my (high quality) ingredients and refrigerating the dough; these still ended up being flat. Very disappointing! I am a 25-year seasoned baker and should have trusted my experience that melted butter in a cookie doesn’t turn out well (extra flour and refrigeration notwithstanding).
I made these a few times, love it.
But freezing did not work for me.
The dough balls won’t flatten in the oven. It came out like lumps. The second time I made zure they were defrosted and flattened them before putting them in the oven, still no succes. So how can i freeze them before baking and still have flat normal shaped cookies?
Hi Deedee, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level to measure, otherwise too much flour could be the contributing factor to your cookies not spreading. This article on tips to improve your next batch of cookies may also be helpful — see #2 “What if cookies AREN’T spreading?” Hope this is helpful for next time!
I did everything exactly like in the Recipe, Used a scale to weigh the ingrediënts.
The non-frozen cookies spread perfectly. So it must be the freezing.
I just made them after refrigerating the dough for 2 hours as the recipe states. Mine didn’t spread much either and like you I weighed all the ingredients. Next time I’ll flatten the balls a bit first.
Wondered if I could add coconut to these cookies and omit the nuts?
Hi Heather, definitely! You could swap the nuts for an equal amount of shredded coconut.
Thanks Lexi! Will definitely consider trying to decrease the sugar a bit (as I can’t bear to give up the white choc instead!), but though I find them a bit too sweet, they’re somehow very addictive, and there must be a reason why
Hi Sally! I loved the texture of these cookies, but would like to decrease the sweetness without changing the crispy and chewy texture. Would it be possible to decrease each type of sugar to 100g, while maintaining the present crisp and chewiness? Or what proportion would you suggest? Thanks!
Hi Caroline! We’re so glad to hear you love these cookies. Sugar plays a large role not only in taste but in the final texture and structure of baked goods, so reducing the sugar will likely change the crispiness and chewiness of the cookies. You can certainly try experimenting, but we’d recommend starting small and then adjusting for future batches as needed. Let us know what you try!
Yes, these are perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
We like fresh baked after dinner. Every tried freezing the dough in balls before baking?
Hi Lisa, you can absolutely do that. Cookie dough balls will freeze well for up to three months. Enjoy!
I sent my husband to the store to buy semi-sweet chocolate chips. He came home with a bag of milk chocolate chips, and a bag of white chocolate chips. I had macadamia nuts on hand, and I thought, why not make white chocolate macadamia nut chip cookies? I searched through a lot of recipes, and this one seemed the best. I followed the recipe TO THE TEE. I spooned and leveled the flour, I was meticulous in leveling and incorporating the dry ingredients, and following the procedures for the wet mix, then combining. Y’all…these are HAND DOWN the best cookies I’ve ever produced. I did bake them slightly longer, because I prefer a crispier cookie. But man, if you follow this recipe with exactness, you’ll make some incredible cookies. Thank you for the wonderful recipe, Sally! I’ve bookmarked the site… I’ll be back.
So glad you enjoyed these cookies, Andi! Hope you find many more recipes to enjoy on our site 🙂
Cornstarch, extra egg yolk, and melted butter are literally *chefs kiss* when it comes to chewy cookies which are my husband and my fave cookies. I love you and I love this recipe. 20 stars
Hi Sally! I’d love to bake these cookies.
Which white chocolate type/brand would you recommend?
Between callebaut semi sweet callets and a regular white chocolate bar such as nestle milky bar or Lindt chopped, which do you feel would be the better choice?
Hi Saajida, really any brand should work. We love Ghirardelli brand chips, but the Callebaut callets should work just as well. You could also chop up a white chocolate baking bar as you mention and use those in place of the chips. Hope you enjoy these cookies!
Would these work if I browned the butter instead of just melting it? My hubby loves white chocolate macadamia cookies but loves brown butter as well!
Definitely!
In love with these cookies!! I made them for my boyfriend for the first time – his all-time-fav are white chocolate macadamia nut. I have never been a fan of the combo, until I tried these. WOW!! Pinning this recipe and will be making them often. Delicious flavor!!
Follow recipe per instructions. Cookies were moist and chewy as stated on website but the salt and baking soda definitely overpowered the flavor of cookies and it felt as if we ate straight chocolate and salt not appealing after the third and fourth bite
I’m going to try 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda next time
All i can say is, “Whew!” Intense flavors
This recipe did not disappoint! My cookies turned out perfectly!
Suggest forming the dough into balls first then refrigerate. I left the dough in overnight.
The next day it took four hours to soften enough to proceed.
Would this recipe work for blondies? I need a good cookie bar recipe and this looks marvelous.
Hi Diana, Check out our recipe for White Chocolate Brownies and see the note about adding macadamia nuts. Let us know if you try them!
Hi, I’d like to try these. My old standby vendor for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, David’s, seems to no longer have bakeries in malls. As I remember them, these were very large, maybe 3″ to 3 1/2 inches in diameter, and there was a half or whole macadamia nut in every bit. They were soft baked, and if asked to do so, they would even make a special batch that bordered on being a little under done but that was the way I liked them.
Would your recipe lend itself to using halves or whole nuts and how many larger cookies would you think the recipe above would make?
Thank you!
Hi Joe, we like to roughly chop the macadamia nuts but you can certainly use whole or half macadamia nuts if you like. You could definitely make them larger too if desired — yield will depend on exactly how large you make them! Let us know how they turn out for you.
I made these cookies today and was shocked by how unbelievably delicious they are! They are a good thickness and the flavour is out of this world, I wish I doubled the recipe. I made it exactly as outlined in the recipe, no adjustments needed. Absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe with us!
So glad you loved these cookies, Jen! Thank you for giving them a try.
Amazing and easy recipe! Cookies turned out fabulous! I could only find natural roasted ( not salted) macadamia nuts but still turned out amazing! I always use the tillamook butter to ensure quality . Will definitely make again!
was delicious but needed to add an extra 5 mins, that be just because I had it on fan bake.
Can you use sugar substitutes for the granulated and brown sugar such as natvia and get the same results as when using these substitutes, you would use less amounts.
Hi Jennifer, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Jennifer, If you use King Arthur’s Baking Sugar Alternative, it is a 1 to 1 replacement but cut the baking time or start watching just a little earlier until you find your sweet spot for baking.
Are there high altitude adjustments that need to be made? I I’ve in Denver.
Thanks,
Heidi
Hi Heidi, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. We know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html