Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies

a close up photo of shortbread with white chocolate and macadamia nut on top.

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5 from 5 votes

Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies

Buttery and delicious, macadamia shortbread has a drizzle of white chocolate too!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Paige

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, unsalted and room temperature
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour, all-purpose, sifted
1 1/4 cups Macadamia Nuts, chopped fine
1/4 pound White Chocolate, melted about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips or squares

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13" square baking pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with baking spray. See Tips below.
In a medium bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until creamy and light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.
Add the sifted powdered sugar, then mix on medium low to combine the sugar and butter. Add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and mix for 30 seconds or so to combine.
Add the sifted 2 cups of flour, and beat on medium speed just until its combined, about 30 seconds more.
Add one cup of the chopped macadamia nuts to the dough, reserving the 1/4 cup for the tops of the cookies. Mix together to combine completely (clean hands are okay to do this part).
Press the dough lightly into the 9x 13" pan, just enough to help all the crumbly bits hold together as one.
Score the portions by using a pastry scraper or sharp knife to make 24 squares. Just lightly press the top of the dough to mark (score) the squares into 2" pieces. You can trim the edges if needed (see my photo in the step-by-step instructions) Note: The little end trims are a nice snack/taste test for you, or skip this step and just portion the whole tray in the size you'd like. :)
Bake the shortbread on the lower middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, wait 5 minutes, then cut into your scored marks again with the pastry scraper or knife, but this time cutting down to the bottom of the pan. Let the shortbread cool in the pan for about 20 more minutes. Don't skip this step, because if you didn't score the shortbread pre-bake, you won't get as clean of a cut once the shortbread has cooled.
Transfer the cut shortbread pieces to a wire rack that's sitting on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Melt the white chocolate on a double boiler on the stove (heat an inch or two of water in a saucepan, then set a heat safe mixing bowl inside the saucepan making sure it doesn't touch the water. Use medium heat and stir occassionally until the chocolate melts).
Alternatively, you can microwave the chocolate in a small heat-safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each microwave until it's melted.
Place the melted chocolate in a plastic freezer storage bag, snip off the very end corner and drizzle a little swirl on each cookie.
Follow-up with the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped macadamia nuts, sprinkling just a teaspoon or so over the top of each shortbread before the chocolate sets. Let them cool until completely, about 30 minutes.

Notes

* To prepare the baking tray, first spray a little bit of non-stick baking spray on the bottom of the pan, then place some parchment paper top. This will keep the parchment paper in place. When trimming the parchment paper to fit the pan, allow for several inches of overlay to hang off the sides, which will make it easy to lift the shortbread out. Before pressing the raw dough into the pan, spray it with a little more baking spray again for insurance that your shortbread won't stick.

* If you don't have non-stick baking spray, use a little olive oil instead, smearing it with your (clean) fingers.

* Scoring the shortbread before baking will make it easier to cut after baking. After you've removed the pan from the oven, let then sit for five minutes, then re-cut where you scored them using a pastry scraper (sometimes called a bench scraper) or a sharp knife while the shortbread is still warm in the pan. Let it cool completely before removing each cookie and setting it on a wire rack.

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