White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Welcome to early March - an unpredictable time of year, where days can feel an awful lot like Spring. In case this beautiful weather isn't enough reason to be excited about March right now, lots of significant dates are coming up quickly, including Pi Day (also known as a good excuse to eat or bake a pie day) on March 14, the Ides of March on the 15th and... St Patrick's Day! As someone who grew up skiing for March breaks, it seems a little bit strange to me that I was able to be outside for most of Sunday with no jacket, no boots, no snow to worry about, etc. The topic of March break brings us to the subject of this post, since my cousin Britt, (who just so happens to be Jo's sister), was home last week for her March Break from Med School. We got together to... you guessed it, bake cookies! 

We made White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - which turned out to be a chewy soft cookie that wasn't overly sweet (sometimes I don't enjoy white chocolate macadamia nut cookies because they can be so sweet). I'd never bought Macadamia Nuts before, and Britt and I had to search a few different areas of Loblaws before we found this organic brand, Central Roast, on the baking aisle. (Remember the days when local grocery stores had bulk sections? I miss that...) Some facts about Macadamia Nuts that I bet you didn't know: they are native to Australia, and have been grown as a commercial crop in Hawaii since the 1920s. Also, they aren't very easy to find in a Toronto grocery store... 

THE RECIPE:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then stir in the vanilla extract. 

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture into creamed mixture until all is incorporated. Stir in macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.

4. Drop dough by teaspoon full onto cookie sheets. Press the cookie down with the back of a spoon as this will help the cookie spread a bit and bake more evenly.

5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. 

Well dear readers, it's time for a confession: Jo is the one who comes up with some of (okay, most of) our creative and amazing food photography ideas. Since Jo wasn't free to join us in the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut adventure, that put a lot of pressure on Britt to take over her sister's creative genius... We made these cookies on a beautiful day - and so Britt had the idea to take these cookies out into the wild... and voila! Why wouldn't cookies belong outside in your favourite Anthropologie mug on a beautiful spring day?

Happy Spring! Happy Eating!

Caroline and Britt