White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (GF)

That is a long name for a cookie.  Let's call them WCMNC for this post, ok?  It will save me time typing, and save you time reading (I try to provide a diverse range of services here at New Recipe Night).

Back in my gluten-eating days, WCMNC was one of my top 2 favorite cookies (the other one being oatmeal raisin).  My favorite WCMNC were the ones you can get at Subway to go with your sandwich for $0.99.  I liked how greasy they were; you would put them on a napkin while you ate your sandwich, and then when you picked it up to eat it, there was a grease ring on your Subway napkin.  And the cookie was amazing.  Even when I was eating gluten, I tried a few times to find a WCMNC recipe that tasted like Subway's, and I made a few that were fine, but not like I wanted them to be.  I had a friend who was trying to help me find the perfect recipe, but we never could. 

So, fast forward to now, where I have this ATK cookbook (How Can It Be Gluten Free Vol 2), and this recipe is in it.  I tried it with a certain level of skpeticism, because it seems statistically unlikely that if I couldn't find a regular recipe that I liked for these cookies, that I would find a GF recipe that I liked.  But, my friends, this is it.  And there are 2 possible reasons. #1: the recipe really is fabulous and Subway wants me to start making them for their GF customers to have with their "Chop Salad" (the GF thing you can get there, provided you are careful about toppings and sauces) OR #2: my tastebuds don't remember the real thing and 3 years ago I wouldn't have been excited about this recipe but now I am.  So which is it?  Read on to see....

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (GF)
1 ¾ cups ATK All Purpose GF Flour Blend
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
¾ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Whisk flour blend, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt together in bowl. 

In large bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no lumps remain.  Whisk in egg, milk, and vanilla until very smooth.  Stir in flour mixture with rubber spatula until dough is completely homogenous (I used my kitchen aid for all this, and it was totally fine). 

Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 30 minutes (dough will be sticky and soft).

Adjust oven rack to  middle position and heat oven to 350.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I really used this, and the bonus is you don't have to wash the pan after...plus with sticky dough it usually is a smart move).  Working with about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough at a time, use 2 soup spoons to portion out dough and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, about 12-14 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking (I usually don't bother rotating the pans, but I did this time because I wanted these to be perfect ha).

Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Can be stored in airtight container for up to 1 day)(so yeah that's not very long...but it doesn't make that many so I don't think it'd be hard to eat them all, especially if you bring them somewhere).

So you probably noticed the first ingredient is the ATK GF flour blend.  And they say if you don't use it, you won't like the results.  But, they are not the boss of you, so you can try another blend if you have it already on hand (I do have the recipe for their blend on this blog, too, if you search up at the top for "ATK" you should easily find it.  I also did not use unsalted butter, because I just have regular butter.  But it was fine.

My husband is used to me saying, loudly, while he eats something "CAN YOU EVEN TELL IT'S GLUTEN FREE?? NO, YOU CAN'T."  And so I can't all the way trust his opinion on my GF baking anymore hahahaha PLUS I'm sure I've altered his taste buds over these last 2+ years, too.  So the best barometer is to take them somewhere and just see what happens.  So I took them to home fellowship last night (that's CC code for "small group").  My GF friend knew about these, because I texted her ahead of time.  And maybe I mentioned it to Becky, whose house we meet at, but I can't remember.  But that's definitely all.  And they were flying off the plate.  And so of course, as I see people happily munching, I had to say, loudly, "YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL THESE ARE GF CAN YOU????"  And everyone agreed that you couldn't.  And kept on eating (which they wouldn't have done if they didn't like them...maybe a couple people would but not everybody). 

To summarize, these were amazing and I'm so glad I found the recipe for them.  Even though macadamia nuts are expensive, I'm going to buy them again and make these again.