We were supposed to drive to Houston today to meet my aunt and cousin. The two of them had flown in from CT earlier in the week to stay with my grandmother. Unfortunately, my grandmother just called to say both of them were sick and that it we should probably stay home. This leaves us with a big gap in our schedule which we plan to fill with shelf building, painting and cookie baking; me, only participating in the latter.
In the meantime, here’s the recipe for the Butterscotch Macadamia cookies I made for my grandmother and which will now be eaten by us. This recipe is a twist on the previous and in my opinion, tastes a little better. Here, I halved the first recipe, used browned-and-set butter, milk instead of Bailey’s, a mix of all-purpose flour & cornstarch, more vanilla and butterscotch chips instead of vanilla. These are crunchy/crispy around the edges and tender but not cakey in the middle. They taste like the look in the picture.
Butterscotch Macadamia Cookies
8 tablespoons butter (I used salted)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped, toasted macadamia nuts
1 cup butterscotch chips (morsels)
First, brown the butter. Place butter in a saucepan and heat over medium until the butter melts, smells good and turns brown around the edges. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Butter might foam up a bit. Remove from heat and pour butter into mixing bowl. Place mixing bowl in refrigerator for two hours or until butter is just set but still kind of soft. If you leave it in longer, you’ll need to soften it again.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add both sugars to mixing bowl with butter, and using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, vanilla and milk. Stir together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until incorporated. Stir in toasted macadamia nuts and butterscotch chips.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined pan. Bake for 12 minutes (11-13 – check at 11).
Makes about 2 dozen