Levain Bakery-inspired White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Levain-Bakery-Inspired White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies - made dough August 27, 2016 from No Spoon Necessary

I’m not sure what Levain Bakery (my obsession with a New York City bakery I’ve never been to continues) has to do with this cookie recipe and it’s not really explained in the original blog post I got it from but I’m going to assume that Levain Bakery inspired this cookie because it’s meant to be oversized, chubby and freaking delicious.

In that case, inspiration hit a home run because that’s exactly what this was. I feel like I’ve been lucking out on some all-time great recipes for certain cookies. I found a new chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s become a favorite, I have new go-to favorite recipes for peanut butter cookies, double chocolate cookies and snickerdoodles. And now I add this white chocolate macadamia to the all-star list.

This was good from beginning to end. Not only is it easy to mix up but the dough is great to handle and portion into big cookie dough balls, not dry and crumbly or sticky but just right. Which makes portioning it out effortless. I like my cookies big (you knew that already, right) so I make generous scoops of dough and pat into thick discs. Then I freeze them overnight at least and bake them off from frozen dough. These do take a little longer to bake than the average cookie because of their size but 14-16 minutes ought to do it. I watched for the browning around the edges and took them out just when the middles were barely not raw.

You do want to let these set and cool completely or they’ll be too mushy. When completely cool, they’re be moist and chewy. If they had been “real” chocolate instead of being a vanilla-based dough, I would call the texture almost fudgelike. As it is, this is my new favorite white chocolate macadamia cookie.

3 cups (13.5 ounces) bread flour (do not substitute all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cold
3/4 cup + 4 teaspoons (5.5 ounces) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine; set aside.
2. Beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute or until creamy. Add both sugars and continue to beat at medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, for 1-2 minutes, until well combined.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, beating until just combined. 
4. On low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, beating until just combined each time. Do not overmix.
5. Add white chocolate and macadamia nuts, stirring in with a wooden spoon. Using a large ice cream scoop, portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and pat into very thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space frozen dough balls, 2 inches apart.
7. Bake cookies for 16-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look shiny or raw. Remove from oven, let cool for several minutes then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.