Chewy Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies Recipe

Nothing like homemade! The first time I tried this recipe which I got from Sally, 
I was instantly in love.  Soft, chewy, thick, and rich in chocolate chips, 
it’s every cookie lover’s dream.

Made an addition of macadamia nuts to add to the chewy choco chip cookie experience (if you don’t like nuts, you can simply exclude them from your recipe), and instead of chocolate chunks I used mini chocolate chips (you can use either or BOTH, for extra yumyum points!).

Using REAL butter is a MUST for best results (when you’re buying, read labels carefully–  skip the butter compounds or worse, the margarine. But if you absolutely have no choice, use them. But this recipe works best with real butter). And the proportions of the ingredient must be accurate (less butter / less vanilla extract will result in harder, drier, less chewy cookies).

I’ve passed this around friends and co-workers– it’s a crowd favorite. I kept getting requests to bake these again, and at least one or two have volunteered to pay for them! Ain’t that cool? :-)
So without further blah-blah, here’s the recipe! Enjoy, fellow bakers!

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP AND MACADAMIA COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (this adds chewiness to the cookie!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170 grams) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) light brown sugar, loosely packed (dark brown sugar will also do)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (the extra yolk add to the thickness)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (180 grams) chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:

Toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain.

Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick.

Fold in the chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough.

Cover the dough and chill for 2 hours, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory – it makes the dough extra thick.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees (150 deg C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper/wax paper/glassine/silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Roll the dough into balls, about 1-2 Tablespoons of dough each. The dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will allow the balls to stay intact.

Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will bake up to be thick. But balls of cookie dough can also work, depending on the texture of your cookie dough

(Sometimes, with less butter than what is required in the recipe, the dough will come out a bit harder and crumblier than desired– by rolling them tall, you might end up with literally tall, cylindrical cookies. To flatten, simply roll the dough into balls so that when they bake they will come out flat)

Put 8 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chips/chunks on top of the dough balls for looks, if desired.

Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies stay soft and fresh for 7 whole days at room temperature. Cookies may be frozen up to 3 months. Rolled cookie dough may be frozen up to three months and baked in their frozen state for 12 minutes.

*Room temperature egg + egg yolk are preferred for even disbursement.  Typically, if a recipe calls for room temperature or melted butter, it’s a good idea to use room temperature eggs as well.  To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, simply place the whole eggs into a glass of warm water for 5 minutes.