Gluten-Free White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

These soft, chewy gluten-free macadamia cookies are loaded with white chocolate & salty macadamia nuts. With their golden brown edges, chewy centers, and plenty of goodies in every bite, they’re pretty much the perfect cookie!

One of my first jobs as a teenager was as a “sandwich artist” at a sub shop. In addition to quickly making hundreds of sandwiches every day during the summer lunch rush, I was often on bread & cookie baking duty. I quickly got sick of sub sandwiches, but I LOVED getting a warm cookie to take home with me at the end of my shift. I ate (shall we euphemistically say) “a lot” of cookies in my summers working there, and it was always a toss-up for me between a gooey chocolate chip cookie or the soft, chewy white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies. YUM.

Plenty of years (and a gluten intolerance) later, I no longer get sub sandwiches or bakery cookies on the regular, but I still love getting to bake my own. And this gluten-free option is perfect when the nostalgic craving strikes.

With golden brown, slightly crispy edges and soft middles, this easy gluten-free white chocolate macadamia nut cookies recipe is a FABULOUS option when you’re craving a classic but want to go beyond a basic chocolate chip cookie.

Our gluten-free macadamia cookies definitely deliver on both texture and flavor, thanks to a few key ingredients, techniques, and tricks that deliver consistent, delicious results every time.

Here’s what you need to make gluten free white chocolate macadamia nut cookies…

Start With Simple Ingredients

This classic cookie calls for a lot of staple ingredients, which keeps things easy. Let’s take a look:

• Softened Butter. We’re creaming the butter & sugar for these cookies, so you want the butter cool (not greasy looking), but slightly softened. Your finger should be able to make an indent in the butter, but not go all the way through the butter.
• White Sugar & Brown Sugar. I use a slightly different balance of the sugars in this recipe than in my other gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes, and it’s EXCELLENT here. The white sugar helps the edges get golden, while the light brown sugar adds moisture, keeping the middle of this delicious cookie nice and soft.
• Room Temperature Eggs. Using room temperature eggs helps keep the butter properly softened and will help your dough get the right chewy texture. (PS – Try this trick for getting eggs to room temperature fast!)
• Vanilla. We use lots of pure vanilla extract for these macadamia nut cookies. It really highlights the other flavors–the vanilla notes in the white chocolate + the salty crunch of the macadamia nuts. (Vanilla bean paste also works!)
• Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour. I love to keep things simple, so we use a gluten-free 1:1 flour blend for our gluten-free white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour is our all-time favorite and gives really delightful, consistent results without any weird aftertaste or gritty texture. (If you use another blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum & know your cookies may turn out slightly differently)
• Cornstarch. Another cookie secret! Just 1 tablespoon of cornstarch adds extra chewiness to the cookies and gives the tops a light, golden texture that’s divine.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder. Baking staples for the perfect amount of spread & puff. Check your baking powder & baking soda for freshness in seconds with this quick test.
• Salt. Enough to balance the flavors, but to overwhelm.
• White Chocolate Chips. One of the star flavors! White chocolate is a classic pairing with macadamia nuts, and makes for a fun change of pace. We followed this taste test results, and have been loving the Hershey’s white chips lately (cheaper in store!), but our other favorite brands are Guittard or Ghirardelli. You can also chop up your favorite white chocolate bar into chunks, if you prefer larger pieces!
• Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts. They wouldn’t be gluten-free macadamia cookies without macadamia nuts! Roasted, salted macadamia nuts work best for these cookies. The saltiness is the perfect balance to the extra-sweet white chocolate chips, and roasting brings out the best flavor. Mauna Loa and Royal Hawaiian are two great brands, but store brands and Costco can be another way to save money if you prefer to buy in bulk!

How To Make Gluten-Free Macadamia Cookies, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Cream The Butter & Sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
2. Finish Wet Ingredients. Scrape down the edges of the mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next egg. Add in the vanilla and mix until blended.
3. Add The Dry Ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add gluten-free flour blend, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until *almost* all the way incorporated and there’s just a little powdery flour left in the batter.
4. Fold In The Chocolate & Nuts. Add the white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts and stir them in just until they’re evenly distributed.
5. Chill At Least 2 Hours. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for 2 hours (up to 24 hours). Do NOT skip the chill time, or the cookies will spread too much!
6. Preheat The Oven & Prep Your Pans. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper so you can alternate pans between batches.
7. Scoop & Bake Cookies. Use a large (3 tablespoon) cookie scoop to scoop 6 balls of cookie dough onto a prepared baking sheet. (Bake just 6 cookie dough balls at a time so they don’t crowd the pan and run into each other.) Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown and the centers look slightly underdone. (Return the rest of the dough into the refrigerator while the cookies are baking.)
8. Cool & Repeat. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat baking process with remaining cookie dough, alternating between cookie sheets so you don’t put cold dough on a hot sheet pan (which can impact the spread and the evenness of the bake). Enjoy cooled cookies right away, and store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days (or freeze up to 2 months).