Lime-Coconut White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Kate and I are in sunny Orlando right now, so I thought a little taste of the tropics would be appropriate today!  White chocolate macadamia nut cookies are one of my favorites and I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect recipe for a long time now.  I recently saw a photo on our friend Tessa’s blog that caught my eye; they looked so amazing.  I was about to make them, but the moment I saw the recipe I realized that I already knew it.  In fact I had it memorized- it was the dough from my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies (duh, why didn’t I start there a long time ago?!)  So I started out planning to just toss in some white chips and macadamia nuts but decided to take it a different direction when I saw the limes on my counter.  And now?  I might have a new favorite cookie.

Let’s bake.

One of the things I love about these cookies is that you don’t have to worry about softening butter, just nuke it!  But make sure you don’t rush things and stir it in hot- if you do, your dough will be really soft and you’ll wonder what’s wrong, and then you’ll think it needs more flour, so you’ll add some, and then you’ll complain my recipe sucks, and I’ll tell you it doesn’t and it’s actually your fault and then we’ll have to bake each other cookies to make up.  You get the picture, right?  Cool the butter down.

Combine some brown and white sugars

and then pour in your melted butter and stir it up.  Nice and gooey…make sure to at least stick your finger in there once.  Twice if no one is looking.

Add one whole egg and one egg yolk plus a giant splash of vanilla.

And after those are mixed in, stir in the dry ingredients.

Now come the secret ingredients- first, macadamia nuts.  I toast them to bring out the flavor and enhance the texture.  Just pop them in the oven you’ve already preheated and let them cook until they’re golden brown.  You can see toasted nuts below on the left, and untoasted on the right:

Generally I just toss coconut in my cookies, but I decided since I was already toasting, may as well toast the coconut.  You can do it either way; I think un-toasted adds a little more chew, and toasted adds texture.

And then finally, some fresh lime zest.  I happen to looooove lime zest so I put quite a bit in.  Feel free to play around with that, but at least add a nice big tablespoon or you won’t taste much of it.  I used at least 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Toss all that fun stuff in the dough along with some white chocolate chips.

Scoop the dough balls onto parchment lined cookie sheets and pop them in the oven.

Make sure you keep an eye on these cookies so you don’t overbake them.  The edges should be set, and the centers puffed up, but the middles should look a little undercooked still.  Let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Funny- I just noticed I used a zested lime in my photo.  You’d think I would have noticed that.  I was probably too busy trying not to eat the cookies I was supposed to be photographing.

Anyway… you get creamy chocolate, buttery macadamia nuts, sweet and tangy citrus, and a little crunchy coconut chew- all in one bite.  They’re divine.

Enjoy a little piece of heaven.