I’m behind on Christmas. I’ve been behind on everything since Thanksgiving. Every one of the baby’s naptimes through the weekend are currently booked with baking plans, and once that’s done, I’ll start preparing for our trip to visit family over the holidays. And at some point, I should probably buy some presents.
These aren’t on my Christmas baking list, but maybe I should rethink that. I’d always considered white chocolate macadamia cookies bland before these – white chocolate mostly just tasting sweet, and macadamia nuts mostly just seeming rich and fatty without offering much flavor. But the addition of cream cheese adds some tanginess to counter the sweetness. The milk powder keeps the cookies soft and tender.
They’re straightforward to make; browning the butter adds an extra step, but it isn’t a difficult one. With a long shelf-life, they can hold up to being shipped to your friends and family across the country. Most importantly, they’re one of the best cookies I made last year.
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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (rewritten but not adapted from Joy the Baker)
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (14.4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup instant milk powder
1½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups coarsely chopped white chocolate
1. In a medium not-nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until the milk solids brown and sink and the butter smells nutty. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, milk powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Break the eggs into a small measuring cup, whisk them lightly, and mix in the vanilla.
2. Place the cream cheese and the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer). Beat on medium-low speed until the butter and cream cheese are smooth, then add the salt and both sugars. Continue beating on medium-low until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the browned butter and beat until evenly combined. With the mixer running, gradually add the egg mixture. Once the eggs have been added, scrape the sides of the bowl once, then continue mixing on medium speed for about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing it’s mostly combined. Add the nuts and chocolate and mix until the flour is completely incorporated and the nuts and chocolate are evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are browned around the edges and do not look wet on top, 8 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
I’m sure this is a good recipe, but it also illustrates why one of my favorite pieces of advice is: “If you can’t cook, for heaven’s sake don’t use a cookbook”.
It never says what to do with the butter you’ve browned. I assume once it’s cooled, you mix it in with the sugars, along with the other butter. Or maybe you mix the cooled browned butter in with the eggs and vanilla. It may not make a difference, but it might.
Also, I don’t see the point in trying to whisk the eggs and vanilla in a small measuring cup. There’s no measuring involved at this point, and the whisking is bound to be more difficult in a small cup than it would be in a small bowl.
One other small thing, I like to mix my chips and nuts and other “mixture” ingredients with my creamed butter, vanilla, and eggs before I dump in the flour. This coats all of the ingredients with the butter/sugar/vanilla really evenly, and then they collect flour evenly also. Usually you don’t want the flour over-mixed, and if you add the flour before you put in the nuts, chocolate chips, (or raisins, coconut, whatever you’re mixing into the cookie batter) you run the risk of over-mixing your flour. This is not unlike the way you mix for biscuits or pie dough.
It would also be nice to know in advance approximately how many cookies this recipe will produce. That would help you decide whether you need to double the recipe to get a desired quantity of the cookies.
Respectfully and grateful for what looks like a good cookie recipe,
Scott
These look awesome! Thanks for sharing! And don’t worry about catching up on holiday chores. You’ll find time for the most important things and the rest will work itself out. Just enjoy baby’s first Christmas! 🙂
Scott – Thanks for letting me know I didn’t add the browned butter to the mixing directions. I’ve updated the recipe.