White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies – a copycat recipe of the popular Byron Bay cookies found in cafes all across Australia! The combination of white chocolate with the soft creamy crunch of macadamia nuts in a big, thick, buttery cookie is a match made in heaven.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Byron Bay cookies changed the Aussie cookie market forever when they first came out. They were known for their size (big!), the buttery crisp-but-melt-in-your-mouth texture and most importantly, the generous amounts of “stuff” inside. Big chunks of chocolate (here’s the Choc Chunk version!), nuts, M&M’s.
Nobody eats a Byron Bay cookie and is left feeling dissatisfied!!
They’re now found in cafes all across Australia, and as popular as ever. They also come with a fairly hefty price tag of $4.00 each.
So it was inevitable that I’d pursue a copy-cat version with a vengeance!
This recipe is a copycat of Australia’s most popular cafe cookie – Byron Bay cookies!
Byron Bay Cookie recipe – what you need
This recipe was developed using Shortbread Cookies as a base which has a similar texture and flavour, then tweaked by referencing the ingredients listed on the Byron Bay Cookie jars in cafes (I cheekily took photos of the labels to reference back at home!).
Just a note on a few ingredients:
Rice flour – this makes the cookie crumb a bit “silkier” than when made with just flour, to mimic the texture of Byron Bay Cookies (it’s listed in the Byron Bay ingredients). Can sub with normal flour;
Brown and white sugar – both used to achieve the balance of texture, flavour and colour. White sugar makes cookies crisper, brown sugar makes cookies chewier, browner and a touch more flavour; and
Macadamia nuts and white chocolate – the base cookie is the same for all white Byron Bay Cookies so feel free to sub this with other “stuff” of choice – choc chunks, M&M’s (the Dotty Cookies!), other nuts, dried fruit, caramel bits etc.
Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.
How to make it
This recipe is one of those recipes where you form a log which is refrigerated to firm up, then sliced. In the spirit of Byron Bay Cookies, I make these BIG and THICK!!
I use a hand held beater here but it can be done with a stand mixer or even with a wooden spoon and a bit of an arm work out.
It cost about $12 for all the ingredients, and this recipe makes 13 cookies (because it would be asking too much for any recipe I invent to make a nice even number like 12 cookies). So at $4 a pop, this makes $52 worth of cookies.
So I’m feeling very smug right now. I know I know, I’m soooo immature!!! 😂 – Nagi x
PS These cookies keep very well, staying the same texture rather than going soft like some cookies do. The record so far is 4 days. I’m holding onto 1 cookie to see how long much longer it will last.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 175g / 5.5 oz butter, unsalted, softened (11 US tbsp)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar , caster/superfine best
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks (Note 6 for using leftover whites)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1 1/2 cups flour , plain/all purpose
- 1/2 cup rice flour (sub with plain) (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 100g / 3.5 oz macadamias , roughly chopped (Note 2)
- 125g / 4 oz white eating chocolate , chopped into pretty small pieces (not baking chocolate, Note 3)
Instructions
- Beat butter, sugar and salt on medium (speed 5) using a hand held mixer for 1 minute until smooth.
- Add egg yolks and vanilla, beat for 1 minute or until smooth.
- Add baking powder, rice flour and half the plain flour. Beat with mixer on medium speed until flour is incorporated.
- Add remaining flour and beat with mixer until flour is incorporated. Add macadamia nuts and chocolate, then mix through with a wooden spoon (dough gets a bit too hard to use mixer).
- Scrape mixture onto a work surface, press together and shape into a 22cm/9″ log.
- Roll up in baking paper or cling wrap, twist ends then refrigerate for 2 hours.
Slice and bake:
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Line 2 trays with baking paper.
- Remove log from fridge, unwrap and slice into 1.75cm / 3/4" thick slices (12 – 13 cookies).
- Place 6 on each tray, bake for 10 minutes.
- Turn oven down to 170°C/340°F (150°C fan), switch the trays between shelves.
- Bake 15 minutes, remove from oven and cool cookies on tray.
- Cool fully before serving.
Recipe Notes:
- Initial high temp “sets” the cookie so it doesn’t spread everywhere, then we lower it to finish cooking through without the cookie going brown
- Bake time time is longer than usual recipes because these are BIG thick cookies!
- Cookies do not spread or rise very much
- For smaller cookies, reduce the cook time of the lower temp
- Different measures in different countries – recipe has been written to cater for different cup sizes in different countries. Only exception is Japan – please use weights.
Nutrition Information:
More cookie / cracker copycats
Other recipes I’ve created in the past for the same reason as these Byron Bay cookie copycat recipe (ie because I love ’em but they’re expensive!)
Byron Bay Triple Choc Fudge Cookies – Chocolate cookies with white AND dark chocolate, these are seriously chewy and seriously chocolatey!
Byron Bay Choc Chunk Cookies – the same cookie dough as this recipe, but loaded with choc chunks!
Gourmet Fruit & Nut Crackers for Cheese – homemade version of the rather expensive fruit and nut crackers to serve with cheese! Homemade is incredible – the flavour is so much better than the store bought. Plus it’s way WAY cheaper!
Muesli Cookies (Breakfast Cookies / Granola Cookies) – copycat of the thick, chunky, chewy muesli cookies sold in cafes across Australia. A healthy breakfast option because it’s like a bowl of oatmeal in cookie form – refined sugar free, low fat, gluten free, keeps you full for ages but it tastes like a sweet cookie!
Life of Dozer
Executive Producer Dozer, reporting for duty!
Hi Nagi
Hope you are over the jet lag…
Made these beauties but subbed white chocolate for dark and pecans for macadamias – they were amazing!!!
I’m just about to make a batch of ‘similar to Byron Date & Ginger cookies’ but have bought fresh instead of dried dates. Any tips on converting dried to fresh?
Love your blog and have cooked many of your recipes.
Thank you … 🙂
Hi Nagi, I look forward to your emails as I find them entertaining and full of such yummy looking food. Dozer is such a versatile dog!! and your love for him is heart warming!
I feel like we are friends and you just drop by to chat …. if only we could share a coffee!
Keep sending me your latest recipes and comments.
That’s so sweet Cheryl! ❤️
Thank you Nagi for this delicious recipe. I’ve used normal flour only, no chocolate because I did’t have any but increased the sugar instead and doubled the macadamia. I baked them straight away in 170°C fan forced. All I can say is yum yum yum 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them Mai!!!
Hi Nagi, I refridgerated the dough for 2 hours and then took it out to cut into slices, but the dough crumbled around the nuts when I tried to cut through. Is it becos I didn’t chill it long enough or it wasn’t compact enough when I rolled it into the log shape. I cut the nuts into 4 pieces. Were they took large.
Dear Nagi,
Here is not the place to write about how important your website is in my life. But it is.
I tried this recipe but failed to do it justice: the cookies crumbled when I flipped them, and the lower tray cookies was burnt by the element in the oven.
Anyhow, I’m going to try again with smaller chunks of chocolate and nuts, as per your instructions.
Thank you Nagi
Hi Daniel, sorry to hear you had trouble with these ones! You don’t need to flip the cookies at all when cooking, simply switch the two trays around so that they each get even heat. What temp did you have your oven on? – N x
Hi Nagi
Wondering why eating chocolate is used instead of baking chocolate. Also, if I reduce the amount of sugar, will that affect the overall consistency of the cookie or just the sweetness?
Thanks.
I have been Google searching on-and-off for a few weeks for Byron Bay Dotty cookie copycat recipe. I found a couple that looked similar, but they just weren’t quite right. Then I had another Google search today, and yours came up! I can’t believe the timing. I’m going to try it with lots of tiny chocolate chunks throughout and Smarties on top to make the dotty cookies. Also, 3 questions before I make these: How much do your two egg yolks weigh? Did you use cups or weight to create your cookies? and what do you mean by “switch the trays between shelves”? Thanks 🙂
Hi Claire, yes these make great spotty cookies (I’ve tested that too). I usually use large eggs when baking & I have both the cup and weight amount there. If you’re ever unsure, use the weight as that won’t differ between countries.
When baking the cookies, you’ll have two trays, switch them half way through the bake as the top of the oven is usually hotter than the bottom. I hope you love tham and I can’t wait to hear what you think! – N x
Hi again, was hoping you could help with my queries in my comment above as I’m going to attempt these this week. Thanks!
Hi again, was hoping you could help with my queries in my comment above as I’m going to attempt these this week. Thanks!
Thanks for your reply! I will be sure to share the results. Also about the weight, I was actually just wondering if you personally used weight to make these? (I prefer weight myself). Regarding the eggs, are out able to please tell me how much a whole egg (with the shell) weighs from your kitchen? I’ve found that going by egg sizes “large” or “medium” can differ depending on brand, so I will do my best to match whatever you use. I’m a very precise baker and am so excited about these I want them to turn out perfect 😂
Tasted fantastic, , easy to make. Can you make a recipe, when one is eaten, another one magically appears. Neverending cookies, especially these cookies. On our way to WA from Sydney, they are going to run out. Very sad.
Haha I hear ya Alana!!
Really looking forward to making these! I’m thinking they’d make fantastic presents wrapped in cellophane and a ribbon.
Yes, definitely!
Hi Nagi. Can I use glutinous rice flour on this recipe? Thank you. 😊
Hi Faith, glutinous rice flour has a different texture when cooked so won’t be suitable in this recipe unfortunately – N x
Hi Nagi why white eating chocolate instead of white cooking chocolate
I made these tonight for my partner Sharron. Macadamias are her favourite nut so I decided to make a batch of these cookies to give to her for Easter. I have not tried the original Byron Bay cookies to compare but this recipe is really good. The cookies are crisp and taste wonderful… the mix of brown and white sugar gives them a lift. Thank you Nagi, another winning recipe from you.
Wahoo! I hope Sharron love them too!
Sharron loved the biscuits. She gives them a five-star thumbs up!!
Hurray! 🙌
THese were fantastic! Best biscuits (cause I’m an Aussie lol) I’ve ever made. After cooling I found mine were a bit soft in the middle so I popped them back in the heated oven and turned it off to cool. Nice and crunchy now, happy days!! I’m working my way through your entire recipe collection. Loved every one.
I’m so glad you loved them Deborah!!
Great cookies! Good tip on the oven temperatures too. I’ll be doing that with some other refrigerated roll cookie recipes, too. I’d imagine extra batches of these cookie rolls could be double-wrapped tightly and frozen for 2-3 weeks, then defrosted as needed and baked? It would be nice to have a bunch of these handy for special occasions, or even as rolls or half-rolls to bake fresh quite often!
Yes you can definitely freeze them for later! They are sooooo handy to have on stand by – N x
I am commenting on you question about my move!! Well movers are coming on May 7th! And I am so bad, because I have not even started packing up my things! 😱. I can’t seem to get started!!! I have been here for 8 yrs. and I think as excited as I am I am also a bit sad!!! But better get my but in gear so I can finally use your great recipes for my housewarming!! Thanks again for your work and a hug to Dozer 🐶!!
I will have to try these soon! I made peanut brownies just last week by rolling them into a log, chilling and slicing them like these, but I chopped up extra peanuts quite finely first and rolled the log in them, so the edges were extra peanutty and crunchy and they came out great!
I also tragically lost a recipe for lime (zest) & cardamon macadamia shortbread – it was the sort that was so buttery it had to be pressed into a tin and then cut while warm biscuit but it was SOOOOOO good. Such a simple recipe too, I wish I could find it again!
I bet these are just as amazing, I can’t wait to try them!
Oooh yum I love the sound of that flavour combo Chris! N xx
Made a batch on Saturday, and made them smaller so that I got about 20 biscuits. Monday morning, I went to the cookie time to try one….All gone. We only have 3 people in the house. Guess what I am making this afternoon.
LOVE HEARING THAT!!! N xx
Amazing recipe!! Just realised I read the cooking time incorrectly. I only baked it at 200C for 15mins. The biscuits came out perfectly!
Anxious to try these but just curious about a couple things. What is the purpose of lowering the oven heat between bakes? The oven temp seems high to begin with and 25 minutes total baking time seems like a lot.
Hi Nancy! It’s a pretty specific step in this recipe – the high temp “sets” the cookie so it doesn’t spread everywhere, then we lower it to finish cooking through without the cookie going brown 🙂 The bake time time is longer than usual recipes because these are BIG cookies! N x
Hi Nagi,
I can’t wait to try these! My son loves big cookies and WCMN cookies are his favorites. Perfect combo.
Love seeing Dozer so happy on his vacation with you.
I go away without him too often, I need to start taking him! N xx
Hello Nagi,
Looks delicious. Can you please specify if it should be salted or unsalted butter? Please let me know. Thanks.
Sorry Emmie, forgot to say I updated the recipe to say unsalted! N x
Hi Emmie! Unsalted 🙂 In cooking, the default butter is unsalted. It’s assumed that salted butter is for eating or if used in cooking, it’s the exception so people specify to use salted butter! N xx
Aaargh! I’ve just put my batch in the fridge and used salted butter!
It’s my first baking job and didn’t know the convention – plop! Any tips on stopping the mix going everywhere when using a hand mixer, mine was spitting mix everywhere, I swear I lost a cookies worth 😬
Hi Jason! Salted is fine actually. Every baking recipe benefits from a bit of salt! If you use medium speed it should be ok. that’s the exact reason why I put in half the flour first – to avoid a flour dust storm! 😂 Did you use a deep-ish bowl like pictured in the video? N x
My oartner loved them although, after baking them I remembered I like soft cookies. I’ve sussed my mixing problem – my butter wasn’t soft enough. Room temp here is likely a wee bit lower than yours, especially considering the time of year!
I’ve used my remaining macadamias and white chocolate to make a Frankenstein version of your soft cookies and they are amazing!!
Oooh! You mean the soft choc chip cookies?? N xx