It's been a few weeks since we got back from Hawaii and I'm doing just about anything I can to hang on to the sunshine, warmth and delicious food! I was lucky enough to pick up a bag of these beautiful Hawaiian macadamia nuts from the local market before leaving. One of the hubby's favorite cookies is a white chocolate mac nut cookie so no better time than now to tear into this bad boy!
I adapted the recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar's Compost Cookie but reductions on sugar and different drop-ins. I am in love with how crispy the outside is and chewy the centers are. They also result in a very THIN cookie. This makes it fun to eat with ice cream or on their own.
A few tips before starting... use an ice cream scooper for shaping your cookies. This is a very soft dough so don't bother using your hands to roll them. Also, keep in mind these cookies spread quite a bit in the oven so space them out properly. You can also bake two sheets at a time just make sure to rotate them (turn and switch racks) about 75% of the way through.
Pre-bake: space out 6 cookies per sheet.
Post-bake: cookies spread considerably!
Kona Coffee White Chocolate Mac Nut Cookies
Adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar, makes about 2 dozen 4 inch cookies
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or 2 tablespoons of glucose
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped into small chunks (I used 2 Ghirardelli baking bars)
- 1 cup of macadamia nuts, roughly chopped (to same size of white chocolate)
- 2 teaspoons ground coffee (do not use instant coffee)
1. In your stand mixer bowl, add butter, sugars and corn syrup. Cream sugars and butter together using the paddle attachment on medium high for about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl then add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat again on medium high for another 6 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, add your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together to ensure they are well mixed together.
3. Your egg, butter sugar mixture should be very light and pleasantly whipped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and turn your mixer to low. Start adding your flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time. Turn off mixer once the dough comes together. Shouldn't be more than a minute.
4. Now add the white chocolate, mac nuts and ground coffee to the dough. Again, only mix until all the dough comes together (about 30 seconds) and do not over mix. Scrape the dough together with a spatula.
5. Prepare 1 large baking sheet with parchment paper and grab your ice cream scooper. I like to use a 1 and 3/4 inch scooper which results in about a 4 inch cookie. Remember the larger scooper you go, the more you'll need to space out your cookies for baking. Start to scoop cookie domes to the baking sheet until all the dough is gone.
6. After all the cookies have been scooped, wet the back of your scooper and lightly press down each cookie so you flatten out the tops a bit. Next these cookies will need to chill for at least 1.5 hours or up to a week in the fridge. Wrap the baking sheet tightly in plastic wrap and go enjoy something on Netflix.
7. When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 F.
8. Place the chilled cookie domes on parchment lined baking sheets spaced at least 4-5 inches apart. (See images above) You can fit about 6 cookies on each sheet and bake two sheets at a time. Keep cookies that aren't going into the oven yet in the fridge.
9. Bake for 16-18 minutes. about 13 minutes in, rotate the pans and switch levels if you're baking two sheets at a time.
10. Cookies are done when the outsides are a nice golden brown and the centers are still a bit blonde. Remove from the oven and cool cookies on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. If you try to move them too soon they'll completely fall apart.
11. Pour a glass of milk, or if you're like me, almond milk, and enjoy! Keep remaining cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days.
