Amazingly Awesome Cookies!
These cookies are irresistible. Sweet, salty, nutty, chocolatey goodness, with a very unusual ingredient. I found this recipe at my new dentists office. When I saw the Bon Appetit magazine in his waiting room, I knew I chose the right dentist! These cookies are a ‘take’ on the Pepperidge Farm SAULSALITO.
Bon Appetit calls them, MISO WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA COOKIES. OK, so now you know the surprise ingredient: Miso!
WHAT IS MISO? It’s a traditional Japanese seasoning and the main ingredient in Miso Soup (which I just made this week and will send you the recipe another time, as I am trying to use discipline by blogging one recipe at a time…it’s not easy!) Miso is generally used in savory dishes. The flavor is salty, earthy, a little funky–the ultimate rich umami flavors. It is made with fermented soybeans, salt and koji, which is a fungus. That does not sound appealing, but really adds just the right edge to these cookies.
I served them at my weekly card group and the ladies loved them. Here is my friend, Joyce Prim enjoying a bite.
Once you’ve assembled all your ingredients, start by toasting the macadamias for about 5 minutes. Place them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Swirl the pan or stir often as you don’t want them to over-roast or burn; just get golden. The toasting enhances the nutty flavor. Let them cool and then roughly chop. Do not chop too finely as you want to taste fairly good sized pieces of the macadamias. Here they are chopped.
Next, brown the butter in the same pan stirring with a rubber spatula until the butter foams up and gets slightly brown; about 4 minutes. Scrape the butter into a large bowl.
The brown butter gives these cookies a very rich caramel flavor. Add the miso, sugars, kosher salt and whisk breaking up any clumps of miso until all is dissolved. It does not really come together until you add the eggs and vanilla. Now add the flour in 3 batches and whisk vigorously. It’s finally starting to look like cookie dough.
When you take them out of the oven gently push on the top of each cookie with an off-set spatula. This gives them the perfect consistency. While still hot top with flaky salt, like Maldon or Fleur de Sol. I had neither so used chunky Kosher salt. The flaky salt would definitely be better as I love how it melts in your mouth.
The dough needs to set up in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to a day, which puts these cookies in the “do-ahead” category. They bake longer than most cookies (14 to 16 minutes), but still perfect for serving warm at your next dinner party or card game!
Miso White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies AKA Sausalitos
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, slightly packed
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt Or 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal salt
- 1 lge. egg At room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. white miso
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips Either bittersweet or semi-sweet. I used semi-sweet Ghiardelli.
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tsp. vanilla Always use good quality vanilla; like Nielsen Massey.
- Flaky sea salt Like Maldon or Fleur de Sol
Instructions
- Whisk the flour and baking soda in a small bowl to combine. Set aside.
- Toast the nuts in a dry small skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often until golden; about 5 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a cutting board. Let cool. Very coarsely chop. You want to keep the pieces quite large.
- Heat the butter in same skillet over medium heat, swirling and scraping the bottom of the pan often with a rubber spatula until it foams and browns; about 4 minutes. Scrape into a heatproof bowl. Add the miso and let cool.
- Add the brown and white sugars, and kosher salt to the brown butter. Whisk, breaking up any clumps of miso until sugars are dissolved. Whisk in an egg and vanilla. Working in 3 batches sift and add the dry ingredients, folding after each addition until no dry spots remain. Add nuts, and both white and dark chocolate chips and fold until just combined. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour and up to a day.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a #20 scoop (or about 3 Tbsp.) portion out the dough about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies, rotating half way through baking until golden around the edges, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and, using a spatula, lightly press down on cookies. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes. At this point the cookies are fragile and can break if you remove them too soon. Transfer to a wire rack and top with the flaky sea salt.
Notes
ENJOY!
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