Every November we go to a Firework Party at a friends house. It gets crazier and crazier each year; this year the highlight was an immense 150-shot firework which seemed to light up the entire city. It was probably best viewed from several miles away.... Next year we really should rent a field or something.
As we don't bring along fireworks (we really couldn't compete!), I usually bring along dessert. In past years I've brought brownies, tiffin, and my ultimate chocolate chip cookies. This year I wanted to do cookies again, but I was a bit bored with my usual choc-chip ones, so I thought I'd try something new. Jeanne made White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies for the first Sugar High Friday event which looked gorgeous. The recipe size was a bit too big for me though, so I made my own version based around the amount of butter I had in the fridge. I didn't use any brown sugar as I wanted a very blonde cookie with both the chocolate and nut flavours standing out. This made for a crisper cookie (adding brown sugar to cookies is a great way to ensure that they're chewy). I also added extra chocolate chips as I'm greedy.
The cookies were a big hit! We left with a box of twenty-five cookies and came back home with four. Alas, I forgot to take a picture of the big mound of cookies (it really was very impressive). Now I need to start thinking about holiday cookies for the next IMBB...
White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Makes about 25 medium-sized cookies
110g unsalted butter
155g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
170g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
½ teaspoon salt
175g macadamia nuts, chopped (I pulverised some completely and left the rest roughly chopped)
225g white chocolate chips (or chopped white chocolate)
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 / 190C. Line a large baking sheet with a teflon sheet, silpat or baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined and slightly fluffy. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Sift over the creamed mixture and stir in until a soft dough is formed. Add the chopped nuts and chocolate chips and mix till they're evenly distributed.
Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of dough onto the lined baking sheet. The cookies will spread, so leave 2" gaps between each ball. (I usually bake a single test cookie first to make sure that I know exactly how much time each batch will need in the oven.) Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden brown. Cool one minute on the sheet; transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Store in an airtight container.
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these look really good! they look quite chewy as well. everytime i try to do cookies, they flatten miserably and also turn out to be hard and crunchy!
1. Posted by becky on November 20, 2007
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Thanks Becky! They were very crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle. I make the mounds of dough nice and tall so that the cookies will remain fairly thick once cooked. Chilling the dough also helps with the thickness and chewiness but I didn't have time to do that with this batch.
2. Posted by Angela on November 20, 2007
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Delicious looking cookies, Angela! I can't wait to see what you come up with for the Cookie Swap!
3. Posted by Jennifer on November 20, 2007
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Hi Jennifer - thanks! I'm really looking forward to the cookie swap. It's a great excuse to go shopping for fun cookie-cutter shapes :)
4. Posted by Angela on November 20, 2007