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
I was very unsure about using the melted butter in this recipe but I have to say it made making the dough soooo much easier to handle and mix. I went by the recipe for everything but I did add more white chocolate chips and substituted hazelnuts and pecans for the macadamia nuts.
I was also unsure about leaving them on the cookie pan for 5 mins but decided to try it.
The cookies came out perfectly golden brown with chewy centers.
They are a perfect combo of chocolate chip and sugar cookies that I was looking for. A+++
I made these cookies, but skiped the step about putting them in the refrigerator for two hours, and then rolling them out, I didn’t understand why that had to be done. They came out perfect just dropping them on the cookie sheet right after mixing them up. Maybe it’s because I live in a cold climate? Not sure, but I did not need that step.
Hi Sally! I just made these and they turned out great! This recipe is a keeper! I’m just wondering why you melt the butter instead of just creaming softened butter?
Hi Grace you can see details about the “why” behind this recipe in the post above. See the section titled Re-Testing This Recipe for details.
I would recommend adding more butter or an extra egg. I followed the measurements exactly and once combined the dough was pretty dry and crumbly.
These are SO SO GOOD!!!
These cookies came out absolutely PERFECT!!
Made them for the first time ever, and boy, they taste phenomenal.
These are SO good! The ratios are perfect, the right amount of dough, chocolate and nuts. I will definitely make these again.
Hello! Any idea how the recipe would change if I used two whole eggs, rather than a second yoke only?
Hi Lou! The extra egg white may make the cookies spread too much.
Thank you!
The flavor is amazing! But mine look like biscuits. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Amber! How did you measure the flour? Too much flour in the dough will make the cookies more thick and dry like biscuit. Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Could this recipe be made into bar cookies?
Hi Darcy, you could try these as bars in a 9×13 inch pan. We are unsure of the best bake time.
I love all your bakikg recipes and never had an issue with any. But for soem reason I have made this recipe twice now and both now times it has come put more like banana bread and dense not like cake? I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong? It tastes amazing but does not look like cake like in your picture. What could I be doing wrong? Thanks
Hi Amanda, you’re commenting on a cookie recipe. Are you asking a question about one of our cakes?
I made these today for our Bible Study they were delicious and just like you described them, crispy edges and chewy centers. They were a big hit.
This is a fabulous recipe! I have made it with just the macadamia nuts and white chocolate and with half white and semisweet chips and both are always a big hit! Thanks Sally
Why does it have cornstarch in it? The other cookie recipes that are from Sally’s Baking Addiction don’t have this in it.
Hi Lennon, We like to add a little cornstarch to many of our cookie recipes for a little extra softness. You can leave it out if you prefer.
My cookies came out much harder and crispier than I like – I prefer a cakier/soft cookie rather than a thin crispy cookie. I thought when the description called it “chewy” that was what this was going for but maybe I misunderstood. Still taste good of course but not my preferred cookie texture.
My cookies came out hard and way too crispy. I followed the directions and weighed my flour. Baked them for just under 11”. They look beautiful but are hard and crisp. Darn it.
Hi Catherine, do they seem to be over-baked? Your oven may be running a bit hot, we always recommend using an in-oven thermometer to make sure it’s the right temp.
I love your recipes so much and this one is no exception. It was soooooo easy and turned out perfectly! I chose to scoop the dough into balls THEN refrigerate to avoid having to struggle with cold dough. If you have space in your fridge to chill the pre-scooped dough, scoop then chill it is so easy that way! Thank you Sally for another delicious recipe.
Excited to try this! I do have a question about the corn starch. Do you have a suggestion for substituting it? My sister-in-law is allergic, so I try not to bake with it.
Hi Kristen, you can simply omit the cornstarch if needed.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I ran out of white chocolate chips, so I used white, milk and dark combined with sea salt macadamia nuts and it was perfection! Ran out of all 25 in 1 evening haha! Awesome recipe!!
I have yet to make something from your site that wasn’t a hit, both at home and at work! Several of my coworkers have asked me to bring these in again, one of whom said that these are the best cookies that she’s ever had.
These are perfectly moist and slightly chewy in the centre while having a slightly crisp and crunchy edge. The flavours meld beautifully, especially if you use toasted, salted, macadamia nuts, dark brown sugar, and weigh the majority of the ingredients.
The hints and tips you offer make it so that these cookies turn out perfectly every time. I usually make a double batch, measure and scoop them, roll into balls, and freeze the majority so I can enjoy fresh baked cookies whenever I like. Hard to beat these warm from the oven while the white chocolate chips are still warm and gooey.
Thank-you so much for posting all of these scrumptious recipes and taking the time to add all the tricks and tips, it is extremely helpful!
This is my favorite cookie recipe. I upped it a notch by adding a heaping 1/4 cup of Heath Toffee Bites to the dough before chilling. Delicious! My son browns the butter first..
Definitely a recipe to use again and again! I didn’t have unsalted butter so just omitted the salt in the dry ingredients. I also used a block of white baking chocolate and smashed it up for some big chunks and added some dried cranberries. Cooked up half the dough and the rest is in the fridge for a second fresh batch tomorrow
I live the recipe but I think next time I won’t put it in the frig, I even let the dough sit out a bit but it was still hard and crumbly, the cookies didn’t flatten very well and just didn’t turn out the best looking
I actually followed to a t. Measured out the iingredients as written. Very crumbly after 1.75 hours. Did not flatten. I used quality Ghirardelli chips, real butter,King Arthur flour, etc.
Can I half this recipe and use one egg?
Hi Ares, that should be fine.
I love these cookies and have made the tweak of adding half a cup of white chocolate chips and half a cup of butterscotch chips which turned out amazing but I have the question of do you think you could use this recipe to make them into bars instead of individual cookies. Making cookie balls is my least favorite task of an entire cookie making experience so I’ve been looking more towards bars
Hi Krish, you could try these as bars in a 9×13 inch pan. We are unsure of the best bake time.
This is the best recipe!! I follow it exactly and they are so delicious!
Yum
hello! could i add oats into these cookies?
Hi Jude, we’d recommend using these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Cookies instead.
Just did them yesterday and they were SO good and SOOOO tasty!! amazing!
Hello, would it still work if i leave out the eggs?
Hi Neia, no, we don’t recommend leaving out the eggs for these cookies.
I followed your tips and WOW ! Awesome This is replacing my other recipe, and will be my go to for all from here on out. Thank you so much !
Hi! I want to make these cookies but modify the recipe so they are thin-crispy cookies rather than a chewier cookie. Would it work if I used softened butter and slightly more white than brown sugar, cooking on a lower temperature for slightly longer time?
Hi Maya, it will definitely take some tweaking and trial and error to get a thinner cookie. You might find it helpful to take a look at our crispy chocolate chip cookies to see how we make those a crispier cookie. Hope this helps!