These gluten free white chocolate macadamia cookies are a DREAM. Full stop. Background for this flavor: I never used to be a fan of white chocolate (Kendra, on the other hand, loved the stuff growing up!). When given the choice between milk, dark, and white, I would always opt for the bars that actually tasted like chocolate, and thus white chocolate got left by the wayside. The higher % the better, really – I had a phase when 90% dark chocolate was all I’d eat (and I still love it! It’s like eating chocolate dirt, in the best possible way you can imagine that). But this all changed when I decided to level up my baking and try making caramelized white chocolate. To do this (and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s a challenge-seeking baker), you have to get high-quality white chocolate with preferably at least 30% cocoa butter which will allow for even melting and caramelization. This, friends, was the tipping point into the world of white chocolate appreciation: good quality white chocolate is a revelation. It wraps you up in the silkiest, butteriest embrace and melts into pools of sultry vanilla-y, caramel-y delight in ways that milk and dark chocolate can only dream of. So of course now that I’m on my cookie recipe development adventure, I had to do at least one with white chocolate, and what better combo than white chocolate and macadamia nuts!
Tips for cozy gluten free white chocolate macadamia cookies!
- Cream the butter + sugars for at LEAST 3-5 minutes. It’s wild how important this step is and how much your butter and sugar will transform after beating it with an electric mixer for minutes and minutes. It’ll change color (become much lighter), look actually creamy (hence the term), and be a bit fluffy. That’s what you’re going for!
- Use your favorite white chocolate! As I said above, sometimes it’s mind blowing to level up your baking and use the high-quality option for a few key ingredients. It makes such a difference with chocolate especially!
- Chill that dough! I recommend at least 1 hour. If you end up chilling it longer than a couple of hours though, be sure to let it rest at room temp for about an hour because it will be too cold/hard at that point and the cookie dough won’t spread as much.
- Don’t overbake those cookies! This is basically the biggest key to getting that chewy center: if you overbake, the center will be just like the edges, crispy and crunchy with no chew. You want the cookie dough to be still soft/look a bit underbaked (they’re safely baked, don’t worry) in the center and as the cookies cool, the center will settle into that glorious chewy bit.
- Let those cookies cool!! Because the key is to not bake them to a crisp/cakey disc, the center of your cookies will be very very soft until they cool and set, so let them hang out on the counter (I know, the temptation is real), for at least 15-20 minutes!
- For perfectly round cookies, use a large round cookie cutter to carefully push the edges of the cookies into a circle RIGHT after they come out of the oven!
Here are a bunch of other gluten free cookie recipes that are super easy, fast, and DELICIOUS: triple chocolate cookies, banana nut cookies, chocolate ginger cookies, funfetti cookies, s’mores cookies, coffee walnut chocolate cookies, tahini chocolate chunk cookies, pistachio chocolate chunk cookies, chewy molasses cookies, nutter butter cookies, caramel cornflake cookies!
Gluten Free White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
- 1 Cup room temp salted butter 227g
- ¼ Cup packed light brown sugar 58g
- 1 Cup white sugar 238g
- 1 large eggs plus one egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 15ml
- 2 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix that contains xanthan gum 338g (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum add 1/2 tsp (1g) now)
- 1 Cup cornstarch (cornflour in the UK) 130g
- 1 tsp baking soda 6g
- ½ tsp. salt 4g 4g
- 1 cup chopped white chocolate 180g
- 1 cup chopped salted roasted macadamia nuts
Instructions
- First, make your cookie dough! In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until lighter and fluffy (3-5 minutes – don't skimp on this step!). Add in the egg plus egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth, another 30 seconds. Add in the flour, starch, baking soda, and salt and mix by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula until fully combined (it will be fairly stiff). Finally, add in the chopped white chocolate and chopped (halved) roasted salted macadamia nuts and stir to combine. Scoop dough into a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Once the cookie dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (180° C, no fan) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out the cookie dough and rolling it into 2-inch round balls. Then place 4-5 balls on the cookie sheet (~4 inches apart) and top with 1-2 pieces of white chocolate and chopped macadamia nuts (optional) and bake for 9-10 minutes (do not flatten the balls!) – it's better to just-underbake your cookies if you want chewy centers!). Let cookies cool COMPLETELY before removing from the cookie sheet (15 minutes or more), then eat!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
