Soft yet crunchy pistachio, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies that are sweet, nutty, and utterly irresistible.
Baking fresh homemade cookies is incredibly easy and they taste so much better when you make them yourself using simple, uncomplicated ingredients. These white chocolate chip cookies have a deliciously soft center, but then the pistachio and rich macadamia nuts give them a nutty crunch too as well as delicious flavor.
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Why these are the best cookies
- The texture: These are such soft cookies, with gooey chocolate chips, crispy edges and crunchy nuts. Cookie texture heaven.
- The flavor: I often find white chocolate too sweet, but the pistachio and macadamia nuts in this white chocolate cookie recipe temper the sweetness and balance the flavors perfectly.
- The simplicity: This simple cookie recipe is really easy to make, and just needs a short rest in the fridge before being baked to perfection. There are no special ingredients or equipment needed, it can all be done by hand.
Ingredients
Baking homemade cookies is not hard, you can knock up this macadamia nut, pistachio and white chocolate cookie recipe in minutes before leaving it to rest in the fridge and bake when needed. Here are the ingredients you will need:
- Plain flour or all-purpose flour: A medium-strength flour ideal for baking.
- Baking powder: A leavening agent.
- Baking soda: Another chemical leavening agent that works in a slightly different way.
- Salt: To balance the sweetness in this pistachio, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie recipe.
- Unsalted butter-Always use unsalted butter in baking to control the salt levels.
- White granulated sugar: For that sweet kick!
- Brown sugar/golden sugar-Brown sugar interacts differently with baking soda which is why we need it.
- Egg and egg yolk: The eggs in cookies give moisture and structure, act as a leavening agent and help to bind all the ingredients together. Always use room-temperature eggs in baking.
- White chocolate chips: Use good quality white chocolate chips to get the best flavor and texture.
- Pistachio nuts: You can buy pre-shelled pistachio nuts or do it yourself. They add delicious flavor, a light crunch and pretty green color too! Pistachio nuts are small enough to leave whole in the cookie batter.
- Macadamia nuts: Macadamia nuts have a really creamy flavor and a more dense texture, adding more complexity to your cookie.
See the recipe card for all the quantities and full instructions.
Instructions
Cookie batter
- Weigh your ingredients using a digital scale - baking needs precision.
- Roughly chop the pistachio and macadamia nuts into small pieces, or you can leave them whole to give a chunkier cookie texture.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together so they are thoroughly combined.
- Soften the butter by taking it out of the fridge 30 minutes before use.
- Cream the butter and sugars together with a spatula until they are thoroughly combined and no grainy crystals are visible.
- Slowly add the egg and egg yolk to the creamed butter and sugar whilst stirring to incorporate it completely. You will end up with a rich, thick and gloopy batter.
- Now add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt mixture to the wet mixture whilst stirring to thoroughly combine. It will thicken and become much stiffer.
- Add the white chocolate chips and chopped nuts and stir until you have smooth and slightly sticky cookie dough.
- Turn the cookie dough out onto a piece of plastic food wrap/cling film and shape it into a long log. Wrap it up and chill in the fridge for 4 hours.
Expert tip
Using both baking powder and baking soda in baking cookies works so well, it creates the perfect texture and the right amount of lift.
Baking white chocolate pistachio cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/355 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice the cookie dough log into 1-inch thick pieces. Place the pistachio, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie dough slices on lined baking sheets with a gap in between each one.
- Press each cookie down slightly with a fork or your hands to help them to spread as they bake.
- Bake the pistachio, white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies for 10 minutes or until they are golden and crispy at the edges but still slightly gooey in the middle. Leave them to cool for 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Hint: You can use a cookie scoop to portion your white chocolate, macadamia and pistachio cookie dough if you prefer. I like to shape my cookie dough into a log as it makes it incredibly easy to chill or freeze and doesn't take up much space. Both methods give perfectly round cookies.
How to enjoy these cookies
I love to eat these pistachios, white chocolate chip and macadamia cookies with a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk. These brown butter pecan cookies are delicious to make too if you're on a cookie roll.
Equipment
A good set of digital scales is essential in baking - don't try and bake without them!
You will need a large mixing bowl to make your white chocolate chip cookie batter and a silicon spatula and a wooden spoon for stirring and combining ingredients.
I always sieve my flour to get the finest possible texture and avoid any lumps.
Cookie sheets or low-sided baking trays are an essential bit of equipment for baking cookies, as they don't build up too much steam around the cookies as they bake. I always bake with silicon baking mats as it reduces kitchen waste and they are nonstick too!
A cooling rack allows the white chocolate chip cookies to come down to room temperature without any condensation forming underneath them, making them soggy.
How to store cookies
Store your pistachio, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies in an airtight container and consume them within 3-4 days.
You can freeze cookie dough logs or cookie dough balls easily, wrap them securely and defrost them thoroughly before baking.
FAQ
You can freeze cookie dough very easily, but I do not recommend freezing cookies once baked as they can go soggy when defrosted.
Macadamia nuts are a medium size, pale-colored nut from the evergreen Macadamia tree. They have a creamy dense texture and rich taste.
Eggs play several roles in baking so it is important to make the right swap. There are several egg substitutes you can use and I recommend reading this article if you want to bake without eggs.
Cookies are baked when the edges look golden brown and crispy but the center is still slightly gooey looking. The residual heat will continue the bake once they are out of the oven and you'll avoid overbaking.
Other recipes to try
Pistachio, White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies
Equipment
- 1 set of digital scales
- 2 Mixing bowls
- 1 silicon spatula
- 1 wooden spoon
- 2 silicon baking mats
- 2 baking trays or cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 85 grams unsalted butter
- 150 grams all purpose flour or plain flour
- 110 grams brown sugar or golden caster sugar
- 60 grams white granulated sugar or caster sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg use a medium size egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 50 grams white chocolate chips
- 50 grams pistachio nuts
- 50 grams macadamia nuts
Instructions
- Roughly chop the pistachio and macadamia nuts into small pieces.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together so they are thoroughly combined.
- Soften the butter by taking it out of the fridge 30 minutes before use.
- Cream the butter and sugars together with a spatula until they are thorougly combined and no grainy crystals are visible.
- Slowly add the egg and egg yolk into the creamed butter and sugar whilst stirring to incorporate it completely.
- Now add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture whilst stirring to combine.
- Add the chocolate chips and chopped nuts and stir until you have smooth and slightly sticky cookie dough.
- Turn the cookie dough out onto a piece of plastic food wrap/cling film and shape it into a long log. Wrap it up and chill for 4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/355 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice the cookie dough into 1-inch pieces and place on a lined baking tray with a gap in between each one. Press down slightly to help them to spread.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until they are golden and crispy at the edges but still slightly gooey in the middle. Leave them to cool for 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Kris says
This was way better than classic white chip macadamia! We absolutely loved the touch of pistachio. Will make again!
Molly says
Such a delicious flavor combination with both nuts and white chocolate! These will be part of my holiday cookie tin for sure!
MacKenzie says
This is my new favorite cookie recipe. Plan on making again next week. Absolutely delicious.
Glenda says
Holiday perfect! These cookies are absolutely scrumptious and they'll be great for gifting at Christmas time.