I recently ventured into the kitchen again and braved the heat to make a batch of White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. I love macadamia nuts in cookies- they add a really nice buttery, rich crunch and are perfectly paired with white chocolate. They also always remind me tropical places, which is why I set up this photo the way I did! I got the super cute zebra pattern plate from Pier 1, where I also picked up the leopard print ones. They are so cute and I am obsessed with anything animal print (minus REAL animal print….). I should also mention that HOLY CRAP MACADAMIA NUTS ARE EXPENSIVE. I was shocked when I got to the checkout and half a bag was 34 dollars…..I was not expecting that!!

White Chocolate Macadamia Monsters (Adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs or egg replacer equal to two eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. In a seperate, large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. One at a time, beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients, as well as the nuts and the chocolate. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto greased or line cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. (**I never add eggs to my cookies and it especially helps because I like to underbake my cookies so they are soft and chewy- the 13 minutes worked fine for me. Go longer if you like your cookies slightly more well done.)

Hey everyone! So I’m a little slow on posting this month’s Cookbook of the Month but I will be getting it up soon! In the meantime how about some orange marmalade cookies from the Joy of Cooking. I’ve made these a couple times before and I usually replace the eggs with Ener-G egg replacer and it works great. I’ve also tried this with apricot marmalade instead of orange and that works well, too!

Apricot/Orange Marmalade Cookies (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Ener-G egg replacer for one egg
• 6 tablespoons orange or apricot marmalade (or half and half!)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add Ener-G Egg Replacer and marmalade. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies are slightly golden. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool.

** Dropping by teaspoonfuls will give you 36 2-inch cookies