Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are downright freakin’ delicious with nutty brown butter, packed with pools of white chocolate, and toasty macadamia nuts. With a bakery-style essence, these cookies are perfect for that anytime cookie craving, holiday cookie exchanges, and everything in between!
Cookie season is here and I’m *thrilled* about it because me and cookies go together real bad. This time of year calls for the flour and sugar to be constantly hanging out of the pantry huh. In this week alone, I made three different cakes plus several batches of cookies, ha. These brown butter white chocolate macadamia nut cookies have me in a major hold, y’all.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies 😛
In my opinion, the best cookies have great flavor with a nice bit of texture going on. The combination of white chocolate and macadamia nuts is a genius pairing! In my version, we’re throwing in some nutty brown butter to elevate the flavor profile even more in ’em. These cookies have slightly crisp edges with a perfectly thick, tender center. They are sooo damn good, you can’t have just one!
I keep these white chocolate macadamia cookies + my malted milk cookies stocked in my freezer for baking off at a moment’s notice hehe!
Ingredients You’ll Need For These Cookies:
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)
- Butter: For these brown butter white chocolate macadamia cookies, you need dat butta 🧈. Trust me when I say that the brown butter element in these cookies makes them pop 10x! Brown butter is life I tell ya!
- Granulated sugar: Traditional granulated sugar, I know it’s in your pantry.
- Brown sugar: A combination of granulated and brown sugar in these cookies is chefs kiss. Brown sugar draws in moisture within the cookies because of the molasses and also makes them very rich and flavorful 👌🏾.
- Vanilla essence: I use vanilla bean paste but extract works, too.
- Eggs: A necessity for cookie dough texture and chewiness.
- Flour: Standard all-purpose flour for these, check.
- Baking soda & baking powder: The leavening agents for the proper cookie texture, structure, and taste. Fresh is best, always!
- Salt: To bring all the flavors together.
- White chocolate: I recommend bars that you chop up yourself.
- Macadamia nuts: One of the only nuts I like in cookies, they’re so good!
How To Make These Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies:
(Note: please see the recipe card directly below for the complete written instructions.)
- Brown the butter. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter melts, continue cooking until it turns deep brown and has a nutty aroma with brown bits on the bottom, about 8-10 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside.
- Bring the cookie dough batter together. In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla essence, eggs, and reserved brown butter. Whisk the wet ingredients well to thoroughly combine.
- In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then slowly add the flour mixture into the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Then add the chopped white chocolate and chopped macadamia nuts and use a rubber spatula to fold the chopped chocolate + nuts into the cookie dough batter until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Chocolate Bars vs. Chocolate Chips 🤔
Now, when it comes to the best cookies you’ll ever have, one of the components to produce said result is chopped chocolate. Listen, chocolate chips are fun and convenient but they have nothing on freshly chopped chocolate!
Chopped chocolate gives you a much greater surface area of chocolate within the cookie as opposed to chips. In addition to that, chocolate chips contain a coating on them called “bloom.” It’s the powdery/chalky coating on them that’s safe to eat but does affect the flavor and texture. With a pure bar of chocolate, you avoid all that and are rewarded with nothing but puddles of fresh chocolate in abundance. Yes, yes, yessssss!!! 🙌🏾
- Shape the cookies & chill. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to form the cookie dough balls. Simply scoop and then pop the cookie dough ball out onto the prepared quarter sheet pan. Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap or foil and transfer the shaped cookie dough into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. With the chilling process, it helps to control spreading by giving the cookie dough time to settle. The flour has time to hydrate and it improves taste/texture.
- Preheat the oven & bake. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the desired amount of cookie dough balls onto the sheet with some space between each one. Bake the cookies at 350°F until lightly golden brown, about 9-10 minutes.
How To Freeze Cookie Dough Balls:
Listen, having a stash of cookies ready to go in the freezer is a blessing. Freezing is also perfect if you don’t want to bake off all of your cookies at one time. Here’s how to do it: Prepare and shape the cookie dough as directed in the recipe card, below. Then refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, place the cookie dough balls in a large resealable freezer bag (it’s okay if they’re touching since they’re shaped) and store them in the freezer, the dough will last for up to 3 months.
Whenever you have a craving for a warm, fresh-baked cookie…the stash is waiting for you! You can bake the desired amount of cookies straight from the freezer as well- just add an extra 1-2 minutes to the baking time!
Reheating Your White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies:
To capture that fresh-outta-the-oven taste/texture with these brown butter cookies, simply pop them in the microwave for 5-7 seconds. This will get ’em all warm and gooey all over again, swoon! 😭
These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are the real deal, my friends. I tell you no lies, they’re fuggin’ delicious. Be sure to tag @butterbeready in your BBR recipe creations, I sure love to see it when you do. Until next time! 🤟🏾
More incredible desserts & sweets:
- Sweet Potato Pound Cake
- Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Peanut Butter Banana Cake
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- The Best Carrot Cake
Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 18
- Category: Desserts & Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are downright freakin’ delicious with nutty brown butter, packed with pools of white chocolate, and toasty macadamia nuts. With a bakery-style essence, these cookies are perfect for that anytime cookie craving, holiday cookie exchanges, and everything in between!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla essence (I use vanilla bean paste)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 11 ounces white chocolate bars, roughly chopped
- 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Instructions
- Brown the butter. In a small, light-colored (inside) saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will get foamy and you will hear it bubbling as it cooks. Then it will take on a clear, light golden color. Note: Do not leave the pot unattended for long during the browning process as it can burn very quickly. Stir the butter every so often, scraping up any bits as you stir, until it turns deep brown and has a nutty aroma with brown bits on the bottom, about 8-10 minutes.
- Once achieved, remove from heat. Set the browned butter aside to cool down slightly before we assemble the cookie dough batter.
- Build the cookie dough batter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla essence, eggs, and reserved brown butter. Whisk the wet ingredients well to thoroughly combine.
- In another medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients well to combine. Then slowly add the flour mixture into the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Then add the chopped chocolate and chopped macadamia nuts and use a rubber spatula to fold the chopped chocolate + nuts into the cookie dough batter until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Shape cookies. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to form the cookie dough balls. Simply scoop and then pop the cookie dough ball out onto the prepared quarter sheet pan (it’s okay if they’re touching)- do not roll the cookie dough balls in your hands. Repeat this process until all cookie dough balls are formed- you should end up with about 18 cookies. >> Pro tip: As you work through the dough, be sure to dot the top of the dough balls with pieces of chopped chocolate; this will give you those lush chocolate puddles on the surface of the cookie, too!
- Chill the cookie dough. Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap or foil and transfer the shaped cookie dough into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven & bake. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two (if baking all of the cookies) large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about 7-8 cookie dough balls (or the desired amount of cookies) onto the sheet with some space between each one as spreading will occur. Bake the cookies at 350°F until lightly golden brown, about 9-10 minutes.
- Finish & serve. As soon as the cookies exit the oven, gently drop/tap the baking sheet on the counter to deflate the cookies and encourage the chocolate to spread out and puddle- I like to do this about 2 times. Let the cookies stand for at least 5-7 minutes to cool slightly. Enjoy!
Notes
- Freezing cookie dough: Prepare and shape the cookie dough as directed. Then refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, place the cookie dough balls in a large resealable freezer bag (it’s okay if they’re touching since they’re shaped) and store them in the freezer, the dough will last for up to 3 months. You can bake the desired amount of cookies straight from the freezer as well- just add an extra 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
- Please read blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.
Recipe by: Quin Liburd- Butter Be Ready
Photography by: The Mindful Hapa
One Comment on “Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies”
Quin!! these look sooo good brown budda makes a cookie a coookieeee….question do you think I could add mashed sweet potato to this recipe and still get the same texture as this cookie? (don’t want it too soft) if so how much I know sweet potato would be soo good with these flavors but not sure…what do you think?