I love a good chocolate chip cookie.
However, I admit I’m a bit of a snob – I really only like my own chocolate chip cookies.
You can keep your Tate’s Bake Shop and your Entenmann’s, and although I used to house Chips Ahoy like no tomorrow, I won’t even touch a bag of those now. I’ll certainly take chocolate chip cookies baked from scratch by others (I always love a treat I don’t have to bake myself!), but if I’m really craving a chocolate chip cookie – well, none of these will do.
It’s all because I’ve found The Recipe. *cue angelic music as light shines from above*
Once you find The Recipe to make your favorite kind of chocolate chip cookie, there’s really no going back. Every other cookie just pales in comparison.
I feel like picking your favorite chocolate chip cookie is like picking a mate; everyone has their personal preferences. Some like ‘em thin and crispy; others, thick and loaded with chips; some even like chipless chocolate chip cookies (admittedly, a personal favorite since I’m not the world’s biggest chocolate fan). The variations can go on and on.
That’s why it’s so amazing when you find the perfect chocolate chip cookie…FOR YOU. The Recipe makes my favorite kind of cookie – soft and chewy, but with crispy edges. The secret is using white sugar and brown sugar in the dough, along with a heaping tablespoon of vanilla extract for great flavor. Whenever I’m jonesin’ for a CCC fix, it’s THIS exact cookie that I’m dying to get my hands on.
I’ve made The Recipe so many times that I could make these cookies in my sleep. And, in fact, I kinda do. This is the recipe I recite to myself whenever I have trouble falling asleep.
Yup. I don’t count sheep; I count cups of flour.
That said … there’s something to be said for variation on a classic, don’t ya think?
These Macadamia Nut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies were inspired by a recipe I found on the Pioneer Woman. She made a similar cookie using white chocolate chips, and they looked delicious, except for one big problem: I hate white chocolate. I put it down to the fact that I devoured a good half-pound of white chocolate fudge in about 30 minutes when I was a kid. I subsequently spent the entire next day with the worst stomachache ever. I haven’t touched white chocolate or fudge since.
So, I took my tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe and finessed it up a bit, subbing in dark chocolate chips for my usual milk chocolate, and decadently adding some chopped macadamia nuts. Side note: Have you ever looked at the price of those nuts?? (That’s what she said.) Holy schmegeggies.
And, although I’ve thus far resisted the urge to sprinkle my desserts with salt, I finally succumbed to the fad and added flaked sea salt to the cookies as soon as I pulled them from the oven.
The result was heavenly. There was my usual, chewy cookie that I love, but this time it was nestled around melty morsels of bittersweet dark chocolate. The deep cocoa flavor really allowed the brown sugar’s caramelization to shine, and I loved the unexpected snap of the buttery macadamia nuts dotted throughout each cookie.
And, the finishing touch: sea salt flakes sprinkled delicately over the top of the still-warm cookies, allowing them to sink slightly into the melted chocolate so that each bite was infused with that sweet-and-savory combo.
I’m not usually a nuts-in-baked-goods fan, but these Macadamia Nut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies could make me a convert. Grab a few of these treats, along with a glass of cold milk and an exciting new thriller to read, and I’d say you’ve got a pretty darn good night ahead of you.
Macadamia Nut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (whole)
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped raw macadamia nuts, divided
- Sea salt flakes, for sprinkling
Instructions
PREP INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roughly chop your macadamia nuts. Set aside 1 ¼ cups in a small bowl, and set aside the remaining ¼ cup in another bowl.
- Roughly chop ¼ cup of dark chocolate chips, and add these to the reserved ¼ cup of nuts.
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS
- In a stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and well combined. Mix in the eggs, one by one, and the vanilla extract. Beat well until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 tsp salt, and baking soda.
- Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, a few spoonfuls at a time and stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat until all ingredients are combined, but do not overmix.
- Add the 1 ¼ cup (whole) dark chocolate chips to the bowl and mix for about 3 seconds. Then add the 1 ¼ cup of chopped macadamia nuts to the bowl and mix for about 3 seconds.
- If using a stand mixer, remove the bowl from the base. Continue mixing the chips and nuts into the dough by hand until they are incorporated, but do not overmix.
- Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheets. These cookies spread in the oven, so start with 5 scoops per sheet until you see how they bake up.
- Press pieces of reserved chopped chocolate chips and nuts into the tops of the dough scoops.
- Bake cookies at 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until mostly golden brown.
- Remove cookies from the oven to wire cooling racks and immediately sprinkle the cookies with the sea salt flakes (the amount you use is up to you!).
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
This is really helpfull information. Thanks a lot for your post keep it up. Thank you so much!
Thanks, Stella! I hope you have a chance to try my recipe. 😊
Hi there. I found your blog from a comment you made on Instagram – I didn’t like the book Commonwealth either so I thought maybe I would like similar books (I know it’s a different approach to start with the common books you don’t like but maybe!) Anyway, I have my own chocolate chip cookie recipe that I LOVE and can make almost in my sleep but I might give this one a try – sounds delish! Off to poke around the rest of your blog. My favorite things – books and cooking!
Hi Gina! Welcome to the Tart. 😊 I’m so glad you found my blog…and you’d be surprised by how many book friendships I’ve formed over a dislike of certain books or authors! Dislikes are definitely as powerful as likes when it comes to reading, lol. I hope you find some books I’ve reviewed on here that you’d like to read…and some recipes you’d like to try! Would love to hear how my choco chip cookies hold up to your favorite recipe. 😊
Just made your cookies – while the dough is dry, if you are patient with your stirring the recipe works. The cookies are fantastic.
Woot! Thanks so much, Liz! And, yes, this recipe definitely calls for some patience with the stand mixer, haha. But it’s all worth it in the end! I’m so glad you loved the cookies.
Made these cookies to take on a 400 mile trip . I only brought 18 with us and froze the other half. Didn’t have sea salt so I put 3-5 granules of kosher salt on them. My new favorite recipe! Thanks!
Hi, Marie! I can’t believe you went on a 400 MILE TRIP…and only brought 18 cookies with you!! That is what I call WILLPOWER. 🙂 I’m so glad you loved the recipe and that the cookies kept you happy on your trip!
Hello! I just wanted to let you know I made these the other day and this is hands down the best cookie recipe I have ever made. I split the cookie dough and did some with just dark chocolate chips and the other half was your recipe with white chocolate chips added in. Thank you so much for this incredible recipe ❤
Hi Katelyn! Thank you so much for your comment!!!! These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies, and I’m so glad you love them, too!!
It’s interesting to read your post here, I love Macademia nuts as well, but not a fans for white chocolate chips. So, this recipe fits me perfectly. Plus I will add some dried cranberries as well.
By the way, I can freeze the left over cookie dough for future use, right?
Hi Lillian! So glad this recipe fits your needs! Yes, I believe if you flash-freeze scoops of raw cookie dough, the scoops will keep in the fridge for around 2-3 months, if properly sealed and stored. I use this blogger’s guide to freezing cookie dough: https://www.acozykitchen.com/how-to-freeze-cookie-dough
I’ve also frozen baked cookies for a few months, and they defrost wonderfully on the counter or with a few seconds in the microwave.
I made the cookies but they are dry. I thought 31/2 cups of flour was an awful lot but made them anyway. I followed the recipe exactly. Don’t know where I went wrong. They didn’t have
Much taste either.
Hi Linda, I’m sorry to hear the cookies weren’t to your liking! The recipe does use quite a bit of flour, but the cookies should turn out moist and chewy due to the brown sugar. It sounds like you might have overbaked them; that’s the only thing I can think of that would make these cookies turn out dry. Maybe your oven is running hot, or maybe you made smaller cookies that didn’t need to bake for the full recommended time? It’s helpful to get an oven thermometer to see what temp your oven is REALLY at so you can achieve that perfect bake!
Thanks. Actually I tried the cookies today and they are delicious. Maybe I was just tired, but they really are very good. I will definitely make them again!
I’m so glad you gave the recipe another chance! And that you enjoyed the cookies the second time around. 🙂
No jump to recipe? Not going to use your site.
That’s a petty attitude to have, Mary, for someone who’s getting free access to a recipe. If you’re not going to use my site, make it because I called you out on being rude, not because there’s no “jump to” button. Take care!