Big Mac...White Chocolate-Macadamia cookies

I have an admission....I hope this doesn't ruin my credibility as a baker!
I'm one of very few cooks in the country that does not own a food processor. I do all of my chopping, mincing, grating, etc. the "old fashioned way"...manually. That being said, I HATE to chop nuts, esp little round nuts that roll all over the cutting board...like macadamias. So, the macadamias in my recipe are essentially whole...which I think is fabulous!

This is another classic, one of my all-time favorites. I'll stop typing...I can tell your mouth is watering and you want to start baking!


Big Mac cookies:


Ingredients:

2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 lb butter, at room temperature
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) vanilla flavor instant pudding
2 ( large) eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 C macadamia nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 C white chocolate chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together first 4 ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add instant pudding, mixing well. Add eggs then vanilla extract, mixing until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Slowly add flour, mixing well. Stir in macadamias and white baking chips, blending well.

Using a standard ice cream scoop (2 oz) or rounded tablespoon, drop dough on to an un-greased, parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

For 2 oz cookie, bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. For rounded tablespoon-sized cookies, bake 12-14 minutes. After one minute, transfer from pan to wire rack to cool.

Yield: 22-24, 2 oz cookies. 36-40 rounded tablespoon size cookies.