These Macadamia Nut Cookies are seriously the perfect substitute for the classic peanut butter cookies, especially if you are not a fan of peanuts or have peanut allergy. They are sweet and buttery, with that signature buttery macadamia nuttiness. They have a slight crunch too from the additional chopped macadamia nuts folded in.
I tested these at least 4 times in my kitchen to make sure they come out perfect for you. During my testing, I discovered something pretty interesting about macadamia butter that I will note down below if you want to read more about it.
Trang’s Recipe Highlights
- FLAVOR: These macadamia cookies have a clean bright sweetness. They are buttery with a delicate macadamia nut flavor.
- TEXTURE: These are crispy on the edges, soft and chewy in the middle, with a slight crunch from the chopped macadamias folded into the dough.
- EASE: This recipe is on the easy scale. There is an extra step if you are planning to make homemade macadamia butter which is also very easy to do, but you can skip that step and use store bought.
Key ingredients
The photo below shows everything you’ll need to make this macadamia nut cookies recipe. As always, for the full list of ingredients with quantities and step-by-step instructions, you can skip right ahead to the recipe card.
Below are some notes and substitution tips for some of the key ingredients:
- Two types of sugar – I used both granulated sugar and brown sugar in these macadamia nut butter cookies. Granulated sugar adds to their crispiness while brown sugar adds to their chewiness as well as depth of flavor. Light or dark brown sugar will both work. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can use all granulated sugar, and vice versa. It won’t throw off the recipe too much.
- Macadamia butter – I used my homemade honey macadamia butter, because this is literally the reason I made macadamia butter for. But like I mentioned, you should be able to substitute store bought. It is much easier to buy macadamia butter now, compared to a few years ago. I see them at Sprouts, near the bulk nut section, and you can also get them online. However, it may be more economical to buy bulk nuts and make your own nut butter at home.
- Macadamia nuts – Similar to how I make my peanut butter cookies and my pistachio butter cookies, I folded in half a cup of more finely chopped macadamia nuts for extra texture. I don’t recommend skipping this step because it does add to the entire macadamia butter cookie experience. You use either raw macadamias or roasted and unsalted macadamias.
Testing notes on macadamia nut cookies
The first couple times I tested this recipe, the cookies were tasty but they were really really soft, they fell apart in my hands and in the storage container. I played with wet/dry ingredients ratio and still got the same result. I almost gave up! Because to be honest this recipe is probably not going to be my money making recipe. 😝
But I kept testing because my husband said his coworkers liked them, even the fall-apart-too-soft version. And they mentioned that these are great if you love peanut butter cookies but can’t have peanuts! So hopefully this recipe will be helpful to someone out there.
I always knew macadamias have a higher fat content than peanuts, 1.5x higher! But I didn’t consider how that would affect the texture of these cookies during the first couple tests. I just took my peanut butter cookie recipe and replaced macadamia butter in a 1:1 ratio. But the additional fat from the macadamia nut butter weakens the cookie structure.
To fix this, I reduced the amount of added butter so that the total fat content in the macadamia cookie dough falls inline with the peanut butter cookie dough. This super simple adjustment gave me the perfect cookies!
Why am I telling you this? 🤔 Because macadamias are pretty darn expensive, one of the most expensive nuts! So if you would like to recreate this recipe using a different kind of nut and nut butter, you can, but you’ll need to pay attention to the fat content of your substitution.
Gimme more macadamias!
- Stuff a scoop of Coffee Macadamia Ice Cream between two of these macadamia cookies for the ultimate macadamia ice cream sandwich.
- Need a quick breakfast? Grab one of these Oatmeal Mango Cookies with Coconut and Macadamias or one of these Chewy Toffee Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies, cuz oatmeal! 😆
- If you prefer a classic hit, these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies give a little something extra with brown butter.
Hungry for more?
Macadamia Nut Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- ½ cup macadamias, raw or roasted and unsalted, 72 g
- 2 oz unsalted butter, 55 g, room temperature
- ½ cup macadamia butter, 121 g
- ½ cup brown sugar, 100 g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, 48 g
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 169 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Roast the macadamia nuts – In a skillet over medium heat, roast the macadamia nuts for 3 – 5 minutes until toasty and fragrant. Spread the nuts on a cutting board to cool and chop them finely. Set aside until ready to use.½ cup macadamias
- Cream butter with sugar – Add softened butter, macadamia butter and both types of sugar to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat on medium low to medium speed for at least 2 minutes.2 oz unsalted butter, ½ cup macadamia butter, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add remaining wet ingredients – Add the egg, vanilla extract, and continue beating for at least another 2 minutes until creamy.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Incorporate dry ingredients – In another mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the kosher salt and give it a good mix to distribute. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl, stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- Add macadamias – Add the chopped macadamias set aside earlier, stir to distribute evenly. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure good distribution of macadamias throughout the cookie dough.½ cup macadamias
- Divide cookie dough – Portion the cookie dough with a small cookie scoop (1 ½ tablespoon) and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before baking.
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 12 dough balls on a large lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake 1 batch at a time for 13 minutes, until the outer edges of the cookies start to turn golden.
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 10-15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store your macadamia cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days.
- Storing cookie dough: portioned cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, and frozen for 3-6 months.
- Baking frozen dough: you can bake frozen cookie dough directly without thawing, simply increase baking time by 30 seconds to 1 minute. Just note that cookies may not spread as much if baked from frozen.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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