Macadamia chocolate chip shortbread cookies
Another portion control alert recipe. I had made this and the the same weekend so you can imagine my sugar overload then. But it was worth it.
I love shortbread anyway 鈥� all that sugar-butter-vanilla goodness is hard to beat. I didn鈥檛 think I would like it with the chocolate chips since I tend to be a vanilla purist. And you know I don鈥檛 care for nuts in my cookies. But this one beat the odds by being an exception to my pickiness and overcoming my prejudiced taste buds. Because it was good. Like 2-cookies good. Granted, the cookies are small but still. They warranted a second cookie between my jaws.
What鈥檚 different about this cookie is it uses raw cane sugar or turbinado sugar. Don鈥檛 be tempted to substitute regular granulated sugar! Run out to Target or Trader Joe鈥檚 and buy the real deal. Why? Because that鈥檚 what made these cookies so good. Turbinado sugar isn鈥檛 as refined as granulated sugar so it didn鈥檛 absorb into the dough or melt as much during baking. Consequently, it added a nice sweet random crunch to the cookies, somewhat like when you roll sugar cookies into large sugar crystals for added sweetness and crunch but these are inside the cookie. Pair with the buttery-salty flavor from the macadamia nuts and you have a winner of contrasting/complementing tastes and textures.
The dough tended to be a bit dry and crumbly so you do need to beat it a fair amount to get it to come together. Make sure you beat the butter first to nice, soft, creamy submission before you add the dry ingredients. If your dough isn鈥檛 coming together, add a dash more vanilla or vanilla bean paste but you don鈥檛 want聽 this dough soft or sticky. Once it comes together, it鈥檚 easy to shape into little thick discs. They hardly spread so they鈥檒l end up mostly the size you shape them in. I like the look of having them be small but hearty-thick discs. That way you can also eat two of them and console yourself that two is okay because 鈥渢hey鈥檙e not that big鈥�. Go with it.
Macadamia chocolate chip shortbread cookies
From
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup macadamia nuts, finely crushed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1. Beat butter and sugar together until blended. Add vanilla.
2. Whisk together flour and salt; add to butter mixture, mixing until incorporated and dough comes together.
3. Add macadamia nuts and mini chocolate chips.
4. Portion into 1-inch dough balls and shape into thick discs. Chill for at least an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Space evenly on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Do not overbake or you won't get the soft texture. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
