Salted White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

White chocolate and macadamia nuts are a great combination. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Creamy, smooth white chocolate, with its mild vanilla flavor, is a great match for the buttery, crunchy and slightly sweet macadamia nuts, as neither element overwhelms the other.

One thing that I’ve found that can make the combination even better is to add a little bit of salt to the mix. These white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are sprinkled with salt before baking, cutting a little bit of the sweetness of the cookies and making them even more addictive. It’s the same concept that is used for these Salty Oat Cookies and Salted Caramels. You can use regular table salt for these or a coarse sea or kosher salt. If you use table salt, use a pinch to sprinkle over the cookies. If you use salt with large crystals, you’ll want to use less salt overall because the bigger crystals have a more lasting salty flavor and you don’t want to entirely overwhelm the cookies. A smaller pinch, and perhaps a more careful distribution of the salt crystals, is best.

In addition to the salt on top, I also used salted macadamia nuts in the cookies and added a little bit of salt to the dough. As always, I started with unsalted butter for these. If your macadamia nuts are unsalted, that is fine, although I do recommend lightly toasting them for a better flavor.

These cookies bake up to be slightly chewy in the center and crisp on the edges. They spread out a bit during baking, so be sure to leave a little bit of room between the balls of dough on the baking sheet. If you prefer your cookies to be crispier, bake them for a few additional minutes, until they have turned light brown all over.

Salted White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 white chocolate chips
3/4 cup salted, toasted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
additional salt, for topping

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, then gradually add in the flour mixture, followed by the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. If your macadamia nuts are unsalted, add an additional 1/4 tsp salt to the cookie dough.
Drop tablespoonfuls of dough (1-inch balls) onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to turn a light golden color around the edges. Bake an additional minute or so, until slightly more golden, for crispier cookies. Cool for about 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet until cookies are completely set, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 2 dozen.