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Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

mac nuts and chocolate chunks 

Traveling gives you the chance to try all kinds of new foods and local favorites. Having friends who travel can give you some of the same opportunities, provided they’re kind enough to pick up some of those local favorites and bring them back to you. Some of my friends brought back a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts from a recent trip to Hawaii and, after thanking them profusely, I decided to turn them into a batch of cookies so that I could share them in return.

I turned to a recipe for White Chocolate Madacamia Nut Cookies that calls for macadamia nut oil, hoping to enhance the flavor of the chocolate-covered nuts with the extra boost of mac nut. It worked a little too well, and I ended up cutting back to a combination of macadamia nut oil and vegetable oil to create a more balanced flavor. The chocolate from the nuts was creamy and smooth. It was milk chocolate, but still stood up to the richness of the oil remarkably well.

Now, if you aren’t lucky enough to have a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts on hand to use in these cookies, you can add chopped mac nuts and chocolate chunks separately. Leave the macadamia nuts in fairly large pieces and use a 1/3 cup mac nut to 2/3 cup chocolate ratio to mimic the makeup of the chocolate covered nuts. Also, you might want to try using milk chocolate in this recipe, as that is what most of the chocolate covered mac nuts I have encountered use and it works well with the rest of the cookie.


Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp macadamia nut oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil*
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped chocolate-covered macadamia nuts

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
In a small bowl, whisk together macadamia nut oil, vegetable oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour into flour mixture and stir until almost combined. Add the chopped chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350F, or until cookies are just set and beginning to turn light gold.
Cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

*All veg oil ok if you can’t find macadamia nut oil. All mac nut oil will result in a more strongly flavored cookie.

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3 Comments
  • kimmy
    June 27, 2007

    What kind of camera do you use? Your pictures are always clear, crisp and beautiful.

  • Abby
    June 27, 2007

    Ohhhhhh my. Those look heavenly!

    If I buy the mac-nut oil … what else do I use it in?

  • V
    June 27, 2007

    Looks dee-lish!

    Is the maple flavor strong in this cookie? My husband and I don’t like the taste of maple, so if it could be omitted (or substituted with something else) this would be the perfect recipe for us.

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