All purpose flour, as the name suggests, is a standard baking ingredient and is usually my flour of choice when it comes to baking cookies. It isn’t the only type of flour you might have in your pantry, however, and I find that it is handy to have recipes that are designed to work with other flours, as well. These Self-Rising White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are chewy, delicious cookies that are packed with creamy white chocolate and crunchy macadamia nuts – and are made with self-rising flour instead of all purpose.

Self-rising flour is flour that has a leavening agent – usually baking powder – and salt added to it prior to packaging. To look at it even more closely, self-rising flours are typically made with a lower protein flour than all purpose flour (approx 11%), making them more like cake flour (approx 8%). The lower protein content leads to more tender baked goods, such as biscuits, cakes and – in this case – cookies. I used White Lily flour in my recipe (a favorite for biscuits!), although there are other brands out there to choose from that will yield good results.

This cookie recipe starts out like many others, but the flour is added at the end and you don’t need to worry about sifting it with the leavening agent since it is ready to go. White chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts are also mixed into the cookie dough. When it comes to the white chocolate, I always recommend using a high quality white chocolate made with real cocoa butter and not other vegetable fats. I also highly recommend using toasted macadamia nuts, which retain the light and buttery flavor of macadamia nuts while bringing a little more texture to the cookies.

The cookies themselves are tender and chewy, with a nice balance of sweet and salt. Even though the flour contains salt, you’ll notice that I added a pinch more to the recipe because cookies – particularly those made with sweeter ingredients, such as white chocolate – benefit from a little extra salt for contrast. The white chocolate is creamy, the nuts are crunchy and the cookies are downright addictive. I made these cookies slightly smaller (just under 1-inch balls) than usual, which is a great size for snacking. If you want to make them a bit larger, simply increase the baking time by a minute or two. The cookies will keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days after baking.

Self-Rising White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (pref White Lily)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped, toasted macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in the flour until completely incorporated, followed by white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Shape dough into small 1-inch balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet with about 2-inches between cookies
Bake for about 11 minutes, or until cookies are set around the edges and have a hint of golden brown to them. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

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