I saw this recipe and immediately thought of a platter filled with both these cookies and the rocky road cookie bark. One dark, one light, both free form cookies. Success! These are more chewy and dense than a regular cookie and the macadamia nuts really make them pop with flavor and texture. (Although they are good with out the nuts too.) I knew these would be especially good with vanilla ice cream (as usual) and I was so eager to try I actually had a little teeny tiny afternoon snack bite (I usually wait until after dinner…just like I tell my kids). But I couldn’t resist… and yum! These cookies are not too sweet – which is a nice change from the blondies which are very sweet (which I also love – I do like it all). I froze and brought a batch of these to our families for Thanksgiving and wow…my niece Alex ate them up sooo fast. Loved them and wanted the recipe. At 16 I’m happy to do anything to hold onto that love. And my niece Emily – who has a severe nut allergy was verrry happy on Thanksgiving with her nutless bark. She too asked for the recipe and was all smiles. So next time you need a pretty cookie platter make both these and the rocky road. Your friends and families will be in for a real treat! Enjoy-
triple chocolate macadamia nut cookie bark (adapted from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle):
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 ounces good quality white chocolate, cut up into small pieces
2 ounces good quality milk chocolate chips or cut into pieces
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or cut into pieces
3/4 cup toasted (if you can) and coarsely chopped unsalted macadamia nuts (if you can only find salted, just rinse with water and dry thoroughly)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Now is a good time to toast your nuts…I often do them in my toaster oven. 325 degrees on foil for 4-6 minutes. This really brings out their flavor.
Melt the butter and set aside to cool a bit.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
With the paddle attachment in your mixer, beat together the melted butter, the white sugar and brown sugar. Mix well – for a minute or two on medium high speed. Mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla and the egg and mix well again.
On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Then with a spoon, mix in the 3 types of chocolates and the cooled macadamia nuts.
Spread the dough onto the pan and flatten with a knife or your hands. Try to get the batter as thin as you can (This is messy).
Tish Boyle said to bake from 15-18 minutes, but my cookies took a lot longer. This might be because I had two sheet pans (I doubled the recipe) in the oven. I switched racks and turned often. And then I forgot to check the time when I pulled out! Sorry. So…check at 15 minutes…but if no where near ready, give it more time. Much more time. The bark should turn a nice light golden brown color and should still be quite soft to the touch. Try not to over bake as the cookie will firm up nicely as it cools.
Break bark by hand or cut erratically with a knife (this is what I did).
And enjoy!
