White chocolate and macadamia nuts (a favorite combination of Erin Clarkson from the blog Cloudy Kitchen) come together for a browned butter-twist in these Browned Butter, White Chocolate, and Macadamia Cookies. The crunchy and salty macadamia nut pieces pair wonderfully with the smooth and silky white chocolate. The browned butter cookie base is beautiful and toasty from the browned butter bits and muscovado sugar. Use nuts that have already been roasted and salted to add a depth of flavor to the cookie.
Browned Butter, White Chocolate, and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Makes about 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (165 grams) firmly packed muscovado sugar*
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (100 grams), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) vanilla bean paste
- 2½ cups plus 2 tablespoons (330 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon (3.75 grams) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda
- 7 ounces (198 grams) white chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1â…“ cups (150 grams) roughly chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts
- Flaked sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan frequently, until butter turns a medium-brown color and has a nutty aroma, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer; let cool slightly.
- Add sugars to browned butter. Using the paddle attachment, beat at medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla bean paste. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat until lightened in color and thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat at low speed just until combined and a few streaks of flour remain. Beat in white chocolate and nuts until combined, about 10 seconds. Using a 2-tablespoon spring-loaded scoop, scoop dough (about 45 grams each) six times; roll into balls, and place 3 inches apart on a prepared pan. Cover remaining dough with plastic wrap.
- Bake until centers are puffed and edges are set, 11 to 12 minutes. (If cookies have lost their round shape in oven, use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than cookie to nudge back into a circular shape.) Sprinkle with sea salt (if using). Let cool on pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, baking one batch at a time. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
*If you do not have muscovado sugar, the same amount of dark brown sugar can be used instead.
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[…] White chocolate, Macadamia Cookies were not going to be passed up when we noticed them in the Bake From Scratch Holiday Cookies 2020 Issue. The classic combination of macadamia and white chocolate (we’ve tried it before here) is […]
This is a very good cookie! Normally I’m all about adding a finishing salt, but with the salted mac nuts in the cookie it was a bit too much. Definitely will make again!
First time making these cookies and I will have to say, it’s the best white chocolate mac nut cookie I’ve ever tried! Brown butter cookies are top tier, will never go back to regular butter. Very easy to follow the recipe and love how I can just keep extra dough in the freezer and bake them fresh whenever.
Why do you use room temperature butter if you are going to melt it anyways?
That doesn’t make sense
Hi Dina,
You can use cold butter for this. It will change the time for browning the butter to be a little longer, but the butter doesn’t have to be room temp. Happy baking!