White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies – seriously the BEST! The secret ingredient makes all the difference! Everyone raves about these cookies!! Butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, apple butter, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate chips. Can make ahead of time and freeze cookie dough balls for a quick treat later.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening, and sugars on medium-low speed until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well.
Add flour mixture and combine well. Stir in apple butter, white chocolate chips, and chopped macadamia nuts.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop into balls and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown.
Notes:
Why use shortening? Shortening makes the cookies crumbly, flaky, and tender. Shortening is 100 percent fat as opposed to butter and lard, which are about 80 percent fat. Using shortening results in especially tender cakes, cookies, and pie crusts.
Can I substitute butter? You can, but it will change the texture of the cookies.
I make the cookie dough in an electric stand mixer. You can mix the dough in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
One cup of all-purpose flour weighs 4.25-ounces. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir or whisk to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
Can Chocolate Chip Cookies be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the cookie dough or the baked cookies.
To freeze the unbaked cookie dough, scoop the dough and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the dough is frozen, transfer cookie dough balls to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer for3 to 6 months.
When ready to bake cookies, place frozen cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and simply add a few minutes to the cooking time.
To freeze baked cookies, allow the cookies to cool completely and place them in a freezer bag. Place the bag in the freezer. The cookies will keep about 3 months in the freezer.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.