Monday, March 30, 2009

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Heaven

I decided to make the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie for my first blog post because it is spring and such a pretty cookie.  It reminds me of a more tropical climate which I would gladly take right now.
I used my basic Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. It really is one of the most versatile cookie dough bases to use.  I then added white chocolate chunks, and macadamia nuts. 




Usually when I use white chocolate I just buy a "chip". But this time I really wanted a decadent cookie so I used a quality white chocolate. I also wanted the more dramatic look of large chunks throughout the cookie. This Baker's chocolate comes in 6 1 oz squares which I just coarsely chopped.



Macadamia nuts are one of the more expensive nuts but well worth the extra money. Buying pre-packaged nuts off the baking aisle can either leave you spending more than you wanted and with nuts left over or not enough.  The best way to buy just the amount you need for one recipe, or even a lot for that matter, is to buy them in the bulk section at your grocery store.  You will save lots of money and get JUST what you need.

Macadamia nuts kind of look like someone has already  chopped them in half for you. I like to leave them a little larger so I roughly run a knife through them once more.




Then I chopped the white chocolate bars into chunks.





I am a firm bleiever in mixing  the nuts and the chocolate in by hand.

Notice that the dough balls are FULL of large chocolate chunks and nuts. This is good and not to be worried about. The cookies will look great when they are done.  In this picture the dough drops are very close together. DO NOT BAKE THIS WAY. You will end up with sheet cake. I just place them this close together to chill them in the fridge. When I bake them there are no more than 12 to a sheet.




There are so many ways to dress up cookies for delivery. I usually have on hand many different kinds of decorative plates,boxes, bags and ribbons. Any time I see something on major clearance or at the dollar store I buy some for the next time I give cookies away.  People love pretty presentation and it makes it just a bit more special and appetizing. A clear cellophane bag is my all time favorite. They are so cheap and can be easily decorated with a simple curling ribbon, satin ribbon, or cloth ribbon to match any season. Cookies should be completely cooled before stacked in bags or boxes.

1 comments:

The Cookie Scoop said...

Wow! Beautiful cookies.