White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies & 100th Post

It’s my 100th post! Yay!

I don’t know what but the number 100 sounds like a big deal, huh? It’s like reaching a milestone. It did take me a year to reach 100 posts but still, it is some sort of an achievement considering that I’ve had homepages in the past that I haven’t attended to after the novelty wore of… However this time, I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow this blog, at least, not for a very long time.

This past week turned out to be eventful for us -- an action packed, hair-raising thrill of an experience. I’m not talking about the Twilight movie (which was neither scary nor suspenseful) but rather, I’m talking about our REFGRIGERATOR CATCHING FIRE!

Yep, we had fireworks right in my own kitchen. Imagine the horror of having our fridge burst into flames right before me? You don’t see that everyday, do you? We had power outtage one evening, and the surge of current when the electricity came back on apparently was too much for my old, faithful fridge that she gave up on us. She went out not just with a bang but with fireworks to boot… literally!

Thankfully, the fire didn’t catch any paper, plastic or cloth nearby (there wasn’t any, whew!) so it went out immediately just as instantly as it happened. But of course, I already screamed “FIRE!” to the top of my lungs that Mr. J must have leaped from upstairs going down to the kitchen as he was there in an instant. Scary thing, huh? Once again, I am just so grateful that nothing worse happened – it could have razed our house to the ground, you know.

Well, this leaves us with no choice but to get a new fridge! Yipee! And who wouldn’t want a new fridge? Yeah, I wish that the timing was better (with what’s going on in the economy, I don’t think we should be spending on anything right now), but this case is an exception. We gotta do what we gotta do, right?



After all that excitement, I certainly needed something to calm me down .. something familiar, comfortable and easy but yummy - like this white chocolate macadamia cookies.

This is Mr. J and I's all-time favorite cookie. It's especially good for me as I need to stay out of caffeine, which dark chocolates (or regular ones for that matter) have plenty of. Though technically, white chocolate is not really chocolate - but it's a good enough subsititute for me. I'm willing to be fooled, if it's this good.

So, do you like your cookies crunchy or soft? Well, I'm kind of in between. I like them not to crunchy - I like them a bit softer, so I underbake them a little bit (about 2-3 mins), and just leave them a minute or two on the cookie sheets before removing them. Also, I feel like it's better to toast the nuts before mixing them in the batter as it helps heighten the flavor of the macadamia in the cookies.

Keep these away from you... They're dangerous. You don't want to eat them all at once, do you?



White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
10 ounces white chocolate* (chips or bars cut in chunks)
1 cup macadamia nuts*, chopped into chunks

1. Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt with electric mixer until creamy.
2. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, and the baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture,beating until well blended.
3. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Make sure to space them evenly to allow for spreading, about 1-2 inches apart.
5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (Edges are golden brown and center is set.)
6. Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

*NOTE: Use good quality chocolate like Ghirardelli, Callebaut or Godiva. It makes a difference. If you're toasting the nuts, make sure that you cool them first before adding on to the batter. If you can't find macadamia around, probably a good substitute would be cashew nuts. As mentioned above, undercook slightly for softer cookies.