White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and Freezing Cookie Dough

Happy girl scout cookie season! I ordered some but they haven't come in yet. So I had to improvise.

Just kidding, these are not a replacement for girl scout cookies. I like my thin mints and I like my white chocolate macadamia nuts. They both have a place in my heart.

The reason I was so inspired to make these was twofold. One, I ran out of my chocolate chip cookie dough that I had in the freezer from a few months ago. And two, I love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies! Let's get into it.

This recipe is from All Recipes and I looked at what some of the commenters said before making them.

There were a lot of people saying they doubled the vanilla extract instead of doing half vanilla and half almond. I didn't have almond extract so that worked for me.

Some also said they did half butter and half shortening, but I did not have any shortening and also knew I would be freezing these so I didn't think it would matter too much. 

To make these, start by creaming your butter and sugars together. Then add in eggs and vanilla and beat again. Then add flour, salt, and baking soda and beat again. Finally add in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and stir until evenly combined. Regardless of if you are planning on baking these right away or freezing for later, I recommend refrigerating the dough for an hour because it can get pretty greasy.

To freeze these, roll into balls the same size you would for baking. (Note: you may want to flatten the dough balls slightly before freezing. Not a requirement, but the cookies from frozen bake up more round than from defrosted dough.) Freeze them on a plate or piece of parchment paper for one hour so they can firm up. Make sure that they are not touching in the freezer or you'll have to break them apart. Once they've chilled individually for an hour, you can transfer them into a freezer safe bag labeled with the date and cooking instructions. 

To bake cookies from frozen balls, reduce the oven temperature by about 25 degrees and add 1-2 minutes onto the bake time. 

To defrost dough, place dough balls in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you want to bake.

I love having frozen cookie dough around so that I can have fresh warm cookies any time I want. I love to bake up a few in the evening as a little treat.

Recipe (from All Recipes):

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat for 1 minute until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla extract.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture in two parts, beating after each addition.

5. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

6. Roll into 1-inch balls. If baking now, bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

7. If freezing dough, place balls on a parchment paper lined plate or cookie sheet and freeze balls for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer safe bag and label with date and cooking instructions.

To bake dough from frozen, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!