White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

This cookie dough recipe is the same base that I use for my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. Actually, it’s my go-to recipe for the perfect cookies, period. You can use this recipe as a basic cookie dough base, and add in anything you like. The BFF and I made these white chocolate macadamia cookies today, and they’re seriously amazeballs. She actually made them all by herself. I just provided the recipe and encouragement. Aren’t they just so pretty? Great job, BFF!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature (1.5 sticks)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 (3.4 ounce) instant vanilla pudding mix, dry
a pinch of salt
1 cup of white chocolate chips (or more if you’re feeling extra sweet)
3/4 cup of coarsely chopped macadamia nuts (or more if you’re feeling extra…nutty)

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer with the paddle attachment), add butter and both sugars and beat until creamed.
Add vanilla and egg and beat until the egg is no longer visible.
Add one cup of flour, baking soda, pudding mix, and salt and beat until just combined.
Add the last cup of flour and beat until well-combined.
Scrape the sides down, add the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, and beat on low until the chips and nuts are well-distributed.
Chill the dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
Make sure the top rack is placed in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Scoop out about 1.5 Tbsp (or use a medium-sized cookie scoop…I love mine!) of dough, roll into a smooth ball, place on a Silpat, and press down slightly to flatten just a bit. I find that 9-12 scoops of dough per mat is the perfect amount for spacing purposes, depending on the size of your mat, of course.
Place the mat directly on the oven rack and bake for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove the mat from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes.
Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.

This recipe makes about 25 (3-inch diameter) cookies. The magical ingredient is the pudding mix. This ingredient is what helps give the cookies an amazingly soft and chewy texture that can sometimes be difficult to achieve. Also, I like to add a few white chocolate chips by hand to the tops of the cookie dough balls before baking. This helps the chips stand out instead of just getting lost in the dough. This is mostly for aesthetic purposes, but it does add more white chocolate to the cookies, and that’s never a bad thing, right?

If you don’t have a non-stick baking mat like a Silpat, you can use a greased cookie sheet. However, I highly encourage you to pick one up. It really is worth the $10-$20 investment. I got mine here at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $14.99. (Here’s a two-pack on Amazon for around $13!) They hold up extremely well, they’re easy to clean and store, and they’ll last for years. Please be careful when using the baking mat alone, though. They are flimsy, and you need to pick it up just right (and move quickly) to keep your cookies in place. If you’ve never used one before, practice with it before placing any food onto it just to get the feel of it down. You’ll see what I mean about holding it right.

As with any other recipe, keep a check on your cookies while they’re baking because oven temperatures do vary. You would much rather have an undercooked cookie than an overcooked one. You can always put them back in for a few minutes at a time. For me, 10 minutes at 350F on a baking mat directly on the middle-placed oven rack produced the cookies ever. They’re soft and chewy in the middle with slightly browned bottoms and sides, yet they’re still sturdy. I hope you try them and agree.