Macadamia and chocolate chunk cookies

Who knew that the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia was a hot bed of macadamia nut growing?  I for one did not, and yet, I find myself in possession of a packet of macadamia nuts from Nutworks, thanks to my parentals and their recent visit to this part of the world.

I just love macadamia nuts.  They are so rich and meaty and make such good friends with chocolate.  They seem to be one of the fattiest nuts available, and this is pretty much in line with the rest of my tastes.  I always like the foodstuff that’s supposedly the worst for you.  Well, life just wouldn’t be any fun otherwise, would it.

Having attacked this packet of nuts over the past week or so and marauded it for idle snacking purposes only, I decided I really owed it to these fine little nuts to do something substantial with them.  The idea of a chewy biscuit and some good chocolate appealed.  Macadamia and chocolate chunk cookies it was.

I adapted this recipe from my go-to chocolate chip biscuit recipe, Cadbury’s own. I rather proud of myself because, as discussed in earlier posts, my biscuit-making can be a little hit and miss, but these were quite pleasant; sweet and chewy.

To make these, you will need:

• 70g butter, softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 t vanilla paste or vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Makes: 15

Set your oven to 160 degrees celsius.

Start by creaming the butter and sugars together until they are light and fluffy.

Whisk in the egg.  Add the vanilla paste or essence and mix this in too.

I include reference here to vanilla paste, as recently I decided to splash out and buy some of this stuff.  And it’s lovely!  It looks a little gloopy, but it adds a lovely flavour to one’s baking, and has those delightful little flecks of vanilla seed that make any dessert seem a little bit posher and gourmet.

Stir in the flour.

Chop up your dark chocolate – I used Whittaker’s 50% dark chocolate because I love it so.  I think you could go for even darker chocolate and it would still be lovely in these cookies.

Chop up the macadamia nuts too (which is a bit challenging because the little blighters roll away…watch your fingers!).

Add the nuts and chocolate to the mix and fold through.

Put teaspoonfuls on a greased tray and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.  I would urge you not to make them bigger than this – I got greedy with a couple, and they when they spread out they were a little unweildy.

Cool on a plate or rack and enjoy!