White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
This Ghirardelli White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Recipe creates soft, chewy bakery-style cookies loaded with creamy white chocolate chips, buttery roasted macadamia nuts, and crisp golden edges. If you've ever wished you could recreate that perfect bakery cookie at home, this recipe delivers exactly that.
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Servings: 24
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs. at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 (11-ounce) package premium white chocolate chips, about 2 cups
- 1 cup dry-roasted, salted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, beat the 2 sticks unsalted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar together on medium speed for 2–3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add Wet Ingredients. Reduce to low speed and add the 2 eggs, 1 extra egg yolk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Beat until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated — stop as soon as no dry streaks remain. Mix in the bag of white chocolate chips and 1 cup macadamia nuts.
- Chill. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes 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.
- Scoop and Bake. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake 10–12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown but the centers still look slightly underdone — they will firm up on the cooling rack. For crispy edges and soft centers, pull them at 10 minutes. For crispier cookies throughout, go the full 12.
- Cool. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. This prevents the soft centers from breaking apart.
Notes
- Room temperature matters: Cold butter won't cream properly, and cold eggs can cause the batter to break. Pull everything out 30–60 minutes before you start.
- Thicker cookies: Chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 2 hours before baking to prevent spreading and get a taller, thicker cookie with extra chewy centers and crisp edges.
- Macadamia nuts: Dry-roasted, salted macadamia nuts give the best nutty flavor that balances the sweetness of the white chocolate chips.
- White chocolate: Use premium white chocolate chips (I obviously like Ghiradelli white chocolate chips for this recipe) for the creamiest, most flavorful result — the quality of the white chocolate makes a noticeable difference in this classic cookie.
- Don't overbake: These cookies will look underdone when you pull them. That's correct. Overbaking is the only thing that stands between you and perfectly chewy cookies.