Since the macadamias are rich in fat, the heat from the whirling blade will help extract the oils and it will take just a few minutes to turn those buttery nuggets into a smooth butter. Once combined with your typical cookie ingredients (no additional butter or oil necessary!), I found the dough to hold together well, yet just slightly tacky to the touch. It only took a 10 minute rest in the refrigerator and we could easily roll the dough into balls.The tops of the cookies are dipped in crunchy granulated sugar and then the balls of dough are give a criss-cross pattern (think peanut butter cookies) on top with a fork. Just a small amount of fresh grated nutmeg give the cookies a subtle, yet fragrant special note that keeps you asking "Mmmm, what is that?!". The fruity dried cranberries acted as a nice counterpoint to the crisp and slightly chewy-in-the-center cookies. Bake these sturdy cookies until the edges are golden and the cookies have puffed up, but take them out when the centers are still more tan to keep that chewy quality.
Mmm..what an interesting combination of flavors! The cranberry adds a little valentine-like cookie for this week---thanks! I've never attempted a cookie recipe that was based on just the nut butter adding all of the fat.
ReplyDeleteI made these just before Christmas and was really happy with them. My first bite I felt they were unusual and didn't know what to think. But as I kept eating them I really fell in love with them.
ReplyDeleteJEP - usually there is added butter, but none needed for these cookies!
ReplyDeleteIan - I know what you mean, a little different at first, but totally enthralling the more you eat them!
Wow macademia nut butter, what a delicious extravagance.
ReplyDeleteA week or two ago I stumbled on your Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake post from 2005 ... I just wanted to let you know that I baked one up (with some vegan adaptations) for a Super Bowl party and it was a huge success. Thank you for the great idea!
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I had been wondering about these. Glad you made them first. I'll have to put them on my list :)
ReplyDeleteThese look quite good. I love macadamia nut cookies.
ReplyDeleteKatie - Definitely... they can be fairly expensive, so I don't use them often!
ReplyDeleteGail - Fantastic! I'm glad it worked out well!
Lori - Do give them a try!
Emiline - Thanks!
i tried it and it smelled absolutely heavenly.. something like freshly baked muffins.
ReplyDeletebut i replaced the cranberries with dried blueberries instead. which amplified the smell even more. yums.
but the downside of it was.. it came out really sweet and i just sprinkled sugar on top just in case and it was still just as sweet.
could i reduce the sugar in anyway? and the macadamia was woah, overwhelmingly decadent!
Elaine - I don't remember them being overly sweet! I'm not sure you could reduce the sugar too much, but it is worth a shot!
ReplyDelete