This might just be our team’s favorite cookie from AK Cookie Week 2021.
Yup, I said it.
These white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles are crispy on the outside, perfectly soft on the inside, and have melted white chocolate and buttery macadamia nuts in every bite. Did I mention they’re also made with rich, nutty brown butter? Uh huh honey.
Just like the traditional snickerdoodle cookies you know and love, the dough balls are rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture before baking to cookie perfection. You seriously need these cookies in your life! Bring them to your cookie exchange this holiday season and watch everyone devour.
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Ingredients in these white chocolate macadamia nut snickerdoodles
These aren’t your average snickerdoodles, kids. We’re mixing in rich brown butter, lovely roasted macadamia nuts, bites of white chocolate and plenty of cinnamon sugar flavor. Here’s everything you need to make them:
- Flour: you’ll need regular, all purpose flour to make these white chocolate snickerdoodle cookies.
- Cream of tartar: don’t skip it! Read more about the magic of cream of tartar below and why it’s essential for good snickerdoodles.
- Cinnamon: you’ll need plenty of cinnamon for the batter and for rolling the dough balls.
- Sugar: we’re mixing in both white, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar in the dough, and you’ll need some more granulated sugar for rolling. Learn how to make your own brown sugar right at home with this tutorial!
- Eggs: you’ll need one egg and one egg yolk.
- Baking staples: baking soda, vanilla & salt are a must!
- Mix-ins: take your snickerdoodles to the next level with white chocolate chunks (from a white chocolate bar) and roasted macadamia nuts.
Why use cream of tartar?
You’ll only need 2 teaspoons, but cream of tartar is what makes snickerdoodles actually taste like snickerdoodles instead of a regular cinnamon sugar cookie. Cream of tartar is potassium bitrate, and is actually a byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine!
No, we’re not adding wine to these cookies. But cream of tartar adds the distinct, slightly tangy taste that snickerdoodle cookies have, and also gives them their signature chewiness.
Customize your cookies
There are a couple of ways I like to make these white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles extra special:
- Try them with walnuts. Yes! I tested them with walnuts as well and *may* have liked them even better.
- Sprinkle salt. There’s nothing I love more than sprinkling freshly baked cookies with a little sea salt. YUM.
Can I make them gluten free?
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend a gluten free substitute for these white chocolate snickerdoodle cookies. Feel free to try my Grain Free Snickerdoodles and add some white chocolate chips or chunks!
The magic of brown butter
Adding brown butter to the dough takes these white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles to the next level. Learn exactly how to brown butter with our tutorial here!
How to make perfect white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles
- Mix the wet ingredients. Once you’ve browned your butter (and cooled it) you can mix it in a stand mixer with the dark brown and granulated sugar. Then, add in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, you’ll whisk together all of the dry ingredients before slowly adding them to your electric mixer with the wet ingredients. Beat the mixture until just combined, then fold in the white chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts.
- Shape & chill dough. Roll your dough into balls, place them on a plate or platter, cover and chill the dough ball in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. You can also freeze them for 15-20 minutes to speed up the process.
- Roll & bake. Preheat your oven and let the cookie dough balls sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then roll each dough ball in the mixture, add them to a prepared baking sheet and bake until the edges turn barely golden brown.
- Cool & enjoy. Finally, cool the snickerdoodles on your cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes, then let them finish cooling on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Don’t forget the best cookie baking tips
Remember to download our Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking for all of our best tips & tricks for baking cookies, and start with these ones for amazing snickerdoodles every time:
- Do not use substitutes. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing the flour will greatly affect the taste and texture of these cookies as will leaving ingredients out.
- Make sure your ingredients are room temp. After you brown your butter you’ll want to make sure that it is cool so that it doesn’t coagulate the other ingredients. The same goes for your eggs and egg yolk — simply run the eggs under warm water for about a minute (or place two eggs in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes) before cracking one egg and separating the yolk out of the other egg.
- Use fresh baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is fresh to ensure that these white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles bake up properly.
- Measure your flour correctly. Do you know the best way to measure flour without a scale? Get my tips & tricks in this video!
- Don’t skip the chill time. Be sure to refrigerate the cookie dough balls for at least 1 hour before rolling the cookies in cinnamon sugar and baking them. This helps the butter solidify a little and ensures that the cookies have the best texture!
Two ways to freeze snickerdoodle cookies
These white chocolate macadamia snickerdoodles are perfect for baking up a big batch and freezing the dough OR the baked cookies for later. Check out our full post here to see exactly how to freeze them two different ways.
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Grain Free Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup S’mores Chocolate Cookies
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Coffee Tahini Date Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
- Incredible Gingerbread Oatmeal Cream Pies
Get all of our amazing cookie recipes here!
I hope you love these white chocolate macadamia nut snickerdoodles! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter (unsalted also works!)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the mix-ins:
- 1 heaping cup white chocolate chunks (chop it from a white chocolate bar – we used Lindt!)
- ¾ cup coarsely chopped roasted macadamia nuts (or sub walnuts)
- For rolling mixture:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- First, brown your butter: add butter to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a medium bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
- Once brown butter has cooled down a bit, add all (including the brown bits) of it to the bowl of an electric mixer, along with the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes
- Next, add in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined, smooth and creamy; about 1-2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the electric mixer and beat on medium-low speed just until combined. Next fold in the white chocolate chunks and chopped macadamia nuts.
- Grab about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on a plate or platter, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour or up to overnight. If you are super eager, place it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Let your dough balls sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes while your oven preheats so they are not overly cold when you go to bake them.
- Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl. Roll dough balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Bake longer if you like crispier cookies, but I do not recommend.
- Cool the cookies on the sheets for at least 5 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 20 cookies.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
22 comments
This recipe for snickerdoodle-white chocolate macadamia nut cookies looks great. Since I bake large quantities for the holidays, could I just refrigerate the bowl of batter instead of rolling into the balls first? Thanks . Also, I love all your recipes!
Hi! You can refrigerate the full bowl of batter before rolling, I just find them harder to roll when they’re chilled because the dough is harder. Up to you, though!
Hi, can these be made with gluten free flour?
I haven’t tried subbing the flour so I’m not sure, sorry! Let me know if you try it.
i’m not even a white chocolate fan but these cookies changed my mind – so delish! i subbed GF flour and had no issues.
Right?! It’s so good in these! Happy to hear the GF flour worked well 🙂
Another perfect recipe! These are great with or without the cinnamon sugar. My husband loves them and says they are way better than Costco’s white choc macadamia cookies (which are his fav)
Omg that’s amazing to hear, I’m so glad you both loved them! Thanks so much for leaving a review ❤️
Hi there! I don’t have a stand mixer, but I have an electric hand mixer. Could I use that instead?
Certainly! That will work just fine 🙂
Made these today! Super soft and gooey. Taste delicious, a little too sweet for me though – good to know to go east on the chocolate next time
OMG these were some of the best cookies I’ve made! Simple and easy recipe, but they pack so much flavor!! Please make these you won’t be disappointed. Definitely follow the instructions and let them warm up a bit after chilling, otherwise the cinnamon sugar mixture won’t stick to them.
This recipe combines my two favorite cookies, so it was an instant must try. Then you add in brown butter?! Chef’s kiss! These are amazing and exceeded expectations! Will definitely be remaking these time and again 🙂
Aren’t the flavors just so good?! So happy you loved them 🙂
My cookies barely spread, any suggestions on how I can get them to spread better?
The cookies are still delicious!
Hmm it’s possible they had a little too much flour in them (see how I measure flour here) or they needed to come to room temp after chilling. Hope that helps!
These cookies are hands down the best cookies I have ever made in my life. My new go to recipe when making cookies for friends and family. Browning butter is an added step but really makes a huge difference in the flavor profile of these cookies. I also used walnuts as suggested instead of macadamia nuts and found that I liked them better this way.
Ahh I’m SO glad you loved these, Chelsea! Thank you for the sweet review! 🙂
AMAZING!!!! I only use Ambitious kitchen recipes. Seriously. The best. Thank you for everything. I used to despise cooking but now I love making any recipe you create. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your comment Britt! Happy to hear you’re finding new favorite recipes here 🙂
Hi, how long are do these last for in an airtight container on the counter? How long do they last for in the refrigerator?
Hi! They should last about 3-5 days in an airtight container at room temp, and up to 1 week in the refrigerator. I also have easy freezing instructions in the post!