Last year during the holidays, my friend Megan and I exchanged Christmas gifts. Her package arrived the day before I took mine to the post office, so once I packed up everything to send her and taped on the shipping label, I took a peek inside of her box.
It started with a fun holiday card: a mouse sitting on top of a flour canister holding an old-fashioned hand mixer over a pot, with the words “Maybe there was a creature stirring after all” above its head. How cute is that??
Inside the card, she wrote a sweet message and mentioned that I should open one of the two gift bags inside right away, while the other could wait until Christmas morning. I took a peek inside of that festive red bag and found…
A package of homemade holiday cookies! I immediately smelled the cardamom as I pulled them out of the gift bag, and when I gently reached for one, I spotted white chocolate chips, pistachios, and almonds… Plus a sprinkling of sea salt on top.
After thoroughly enjoying that first cookie, I planned to save the rest to share with my family when I flew home for Christmas… But that plan completely flew out the window. Those cookies were just too good!
As I slowly savored the last one a week later, enjoying every morsel of white chocolate and sea salt and buttery cookie, I realized that despite blogging and sharing recipes for over seven years, I’ve never actually posted a recipe for classic white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I sat up straight in my chair, completely startled. How did that happen??
So I immediately set out to rectify that, and after lots of testing and retesting, I’ve finally perfected this recipe for The Ultimate Healthy White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies! They’re buttery and tender, just like traditional recipes, with lots of sweet white chocolate morsels and crunchy macadamia nuts… But these are just 105 calories!
One of my neighbors told me that her favorite cookies are white chocolate macadamia nut… And when I shared a plate of these with her and her family, she exclaimed this healthy version was the best she had ever eaten!
Let’s go over how to make these healthy white chocolate macadamia nut cookies! I’ve learned a lot about the science of cookies over the years and how to produce the best flavors and textures… So I’m sharing that information with you so your cookies turn out perfectly!
Nerd Alert #1: Flour and Cornstarch
To make these ultimate healthy white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!) and cornstarch (like this!). Yes, white whole wheat flour actually exists—and it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour!
White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, closer to that of all-purpose flour, which really helps with the soft and chewy texture of these cookies. Yet it still has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour. Win-Win!
The difference between white whole wheat flour and regular whole wheat flour is similar to the difference between red and green grapes… They have the same health benefits but a slightly difference taste!
As for the cornstarch, it plays a big role in keeping your cookies soft and tender! The cornstarch molecules absorb liquid (just like they do when used to thicken sauces!), and they also prevent the flour’s gluten from forming extremely long chains. Too many long gluten chains = a tougher or more elastic texture… Rather than the soft and chewy texture that we want!
Nerd Alert #2: Butter
Unlike many traditional chocolate chip cookie recipes that call for creaming softened butter and granulated or brown sugar (or both!), we’re doing something else… We’re using melted butter!
There are a few reasons to use melted butter (although not all of them scientific!). First, it’s faster and easier. How many times have you wanted to bake cookies but forgotten to set out the butter to soften, then had to wait for what feels like ages? I’ve done that too many times to count… Second, it means fewer dishes to wash. If you don’t need softened butter, you can just use a fork to make these cookies—and that can go directly into the dishwasher!
But most importantly, melted butter makes cookies chewier. When you beat softened butter with sugar, that incorporates lots of air into your cookie dough. That extra air can often lead to airy (duh, right??) and cakey cookies, rather than the chewy texture we’re aiming for.
Nerd Alert #3: Eggs
To make these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies healthier, we’re just using the egg white, not the egg yolk. Often, cookie recipes call for adding an extra egg yolk to keep the cookies chewy. Since we’ve already melted the butter and added cornstarch to produce that soft and chewy texture, we can skip it! The other reason I omitted the egg yolk is to reduce the total calories and cholesterol.
As for the egg white, it adds protein to the cookie dough. That protein is what allows the cookies to maintain their shape once they’ve finished baking and are cooling on the cookie sheet and wire racks.
Nerd Alert #4: Vanilla Extract
While this is always an ingredient in chocolate chip cookies, vanilla extract is a key ingredient in this particular recipe! Since you’ll use less butter than in traditional recipes, you’ll also mix in a bit more vanilla extract than in those classic cookie recipes. This is because additional vanilla enhances butter’s rich flavor, which makes these cookies taste just as rich and buttery as traditional ones!
Nerd alert #5: Sweetener
In these healthy cookies, you’ll use coconut sugar (like this!) as the sweetener. Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like—an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts! However, it does not actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, which adds to the rich flavor of these cookies.
Tip: If you don’t have coconut sugar, brown sugar will work just fine!
Nerd Alert #5: White Chocolate and Macadamia Nuts
They’re the most important parts of these healthy cookies! I debated using chopped up bars of white chocolate… But in the end, laziness won out and I used these white chocolate chips instead. They have a wonderful flavor that tastes better than the yellow bags of white chocolate chips I grew up eating!
When chopping your macadamia nuts, aim to make them the same size as the white chocolate chips! Slightly smaller is also fine. This ensures your cookies bake evenly!
Nerd Alert #6: Chilling
You’ll briefly chill your cookie dough before baking. Only 30 minutes—I promise it’s not that hard to wait! Chilling is important for a few reasons: (a) it stiffens the cookie dough, which makes it easier to work with later, (b) it allows the flavors to meld a bit more, and (c) it re-solidifies the melted butter.
When the butter melts after you put your cookies in the oven, it creates that very tender and chewy texture, and it also causes your cookies to spread. If the butter was still warm from being melted earlier, the cookies wouldn’t have the best shape or flavor.
Nerd Alert 7: Baking
Because these healthy cookies don’t contain as much butter as traditional recipes, they won’t spread as much while baking… So you need to give them a little “spreading head start” by flattening them some with a spatula!
Remember to remove your cookies from the oven when the centers still look and feel slightly underdone! The centers will continue to cook through and set while they rest on the warm baking sheet without the edges turning overly dry. This little trick really helps with the soft and chewy texture, too!
Did you survive all of my nerdy baking tips? Are you ready to bake your own ultimate healthy white chocolate macadamia nut cookies?? ? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your cookies!
| The Ultimate Healthy White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) nonfat milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp (28g) white chocolate chips, divided
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) chopped macadamia nuts, divided
- optional: sea salt, for serving
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg white, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Reserve ½ tablespoon of both the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Stir in the rest of each. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a spoon and a spatula. Slightly flatten using a spatula. (The cookies should spread some but not a lot!) Gently press the remaining white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Optional: Sprinkle with sea salt shortly after removing the cookies from the oven.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
For the gluten-free option, I recommend the following: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft and chewy. You may omit it, but the cookies won’t have quite the same texture.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Light brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
These are the white chocolate chips that I used. You can also substitute chopped white chocolate. For the best results, make sure your chopped macadamia nuts are no larger than the size of your white chocolate chips.
You can easily add more white chocolate chips or macadamia nuts if you prefer.
I absolutely love sprinkling these cookies with sea salt! It makes a huge difference and really makes the flavors pop. I highly recommend it!
This recipe is easily doubled! The baked cookies also freeze well.
For more information about the ingredients and instructions, please read my blog post above!
{gluten-free, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Sugar Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Gingerbread Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Sugar Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Gingersnaps
Is 1.5 tablespoons of macadamia nuts correct or is that an error?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Jude! The amount is correct. However, you’re welcome to add more if you prefer! (I’m not a big fan of nuts in my cookies, so I generally don’t add very many. 😉 ) I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you end up making them!