Josh's White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies

These cookies nail the bakery-style white chocolate macadamia combination that’s been a fan favorite since the ‘90s. The dough uses both butter and shortening, which gives you the best of both worlds: butter for flavor and shortening for that soft, chewy center that doesn’t spread too thin.

A full tablespoon of vanilla extract (not the usual teaspoon) makes a real difference here. It adds a deep, warm fragrance that complements the sweet white chocolate and rich macadamia nuts. The combination of granulated and brown sugar creates a cookie that’s crisp on the edges and chewy through the middle.

Mixing the white chocolate chips in by hand at the end is deliberate. Machine mixing can smash the chips and distribute them unevenly. Folding by hand keeps them whole so you get intact pockets of melted white chocolate in every cookie.

Watch these closely during the last 5 minutes. White chocolate chips and macadamias both burn faster than dark chocolate and walnuts, and the high sugar content means the bottoms can go from golden to scorched quickly.

Pro Tips

• Chop the macadamias into varied sizes. Some large chunks for texture, some smaller pieces that distribute more evenly through the dough.
• Drop by rounded tablespoons and space them well apart. These spread during baking.
• Pull them from the oven when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. They firm up as they cool on the sheet.
• Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack.

Variations

• Add ½ cup of toasted coconut flakes for a tropical cookie that tastes like a Hawaiian vacation.
• Swap macadamias for cashews if you want a similar buttery nut at a lower price point.
• Drizzle cooled cookies with melted dark chocolate for a black-and-white contrast.