white chocolate & macadamia nut cookies

I love Sundays.

It's a day of rest in our home.

We attend church . . . snuggle and nap . . . watch movies . . . play games . . . and take a break from our weekly routines.

One of my favorite Sunday afternoon activities is baking cookies. We enjoy them right out of the oven, even if it happens to be right before dinner.  It's a Sunday tradition that I hope our kids remember into their adulthood.

My recipe for Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies is a favorite Sunday bake, but I thought I would make something extra special over the weekend, since Valentine's Day is just days away . . . and white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies are one of my sweetheart's favorite cookies. 

We enjoyed them right out of the oven with milk and Valentine inspired paper straws. 

This recipe bakes up 72 yummy, golden, soft, and chewy cookies!

Ingredients

makes 72 cookies

1 ½ cups butter, room temperature

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar

1 ½ Tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs, room temperature

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

2 cups chopped macadamia nuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F 

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips and nuts.
Refrigerate dough for up to an hour. 

On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by tablespoonfuls or a cookie/ice cream scoop 2 inches apart.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes, and then remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

LET'S STAY in touch!

Simply Suzannes at Home 

on Facebook

white chocolate and salted caramel crumble bars

Gooey CARAMEL, creamy white chocolate, and a perfect short bread base . . . make up this yummy crumble bar.  

Add a scoop (or two) of a cinnamon, or pumpkin, ice cream . . . and you have a DREAMY dessert!

  
Caramel can make an ordinary dessert, simply delicious! 

And the best part . . . it's so easy to make! I smile when friends are impressed that I make my own caramel sauce. It's only 4 ingredients, and probably the easiest topping you can prepare from scratch. 

So when I decided to add CARAMEL to this crumble bar, along with WHITE Swiss chocolate . . . I knew it would be a new favorite dessert.  I promise you'll fall in love with it too!

Here's what you'll need . . . 

INGREDIENTS for shortbread crust

2 sticks butter, softened, plus more for the pan 

 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour  

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

  1/2 cup light brown sugar  

1 cup rolled oats  

  1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt  

1 egg, beaten 

2 - 100 gr Lindt Swiss Classic bars, chopped

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon gray sea salt, crushed or kosher salt

2 tablespoon all purpose flour

Salted Caramel Sauce PREPARATION
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Heat saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil, without stirring. If necessary, use a wet pastry brush to wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil until the syrup is a medium amber color, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the unsalted butter, and salt. Add flour and stir until smooth.

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish.
Add the flour, both sugars, oats and salt to a bowl in your stand mixer. Add in the butter and egg and beat at low speed. Stop the machine and scrape the bowl down a couple of times. Keep processing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Keep 2 cups crumb mixture aside.
Press the remaining crumb mixture on the bottom the prepared pan. 
Par-bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Once removed, scatter chopped white chocolate atop the hot crumb bottom.
Evenly spread melted white chocolate, set aside.
Prepare Salted Caramel Sauce.
Once sauce is prepared, slowly pour over the white chocolate and evenly spread.
Crumble the rest of the oat mixture over the caramel sauce
Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!

LET's STAY in touch!

Simply Suzannes on Facebook