macadamia cinnamon cookie
Macadamia nuts are a fairly new crop in Malawi and they do well in the African sun. I love the buttery white balls and used them in my variation of the classic mtedza cookie from Malawi. Since macadamias have a higher fat content than peanuts the cookies spread out a lot when you bake them. When I saw them melt in the oven I was so disappointed. I had not meant that to happen! But when I tried them they were delightfully crunchy and brittle. The Macadamia cinnamon cookies bake a beautiful light brown and the taste is rich and caramel-like. But if you prefer a firmer cookie, just add ± 30 grams of flour to the dough so the cookies keep their shape better and taste more like shortbread. I won’t do that the next time I bake them because I am a great fan of the first ‘failed’ crunchy version!
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Macadamia cinnamon cookies
for about 20 cookies
125 grams (⅔ cup) shelled macadamias
125 grams (1 cup) soft butter
pinch of salt
100 grams (⅓ cup + 2 tbsp) sugar
150 grams (1 cup) flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grind the macadamias in the small bowl of the food processor. Keep 3 tablespoons for sprinkling on the cookies later.
With an electric mixer beat the butter with 1⅓ cup sugar until light and creamy in ± 5 minutes.
Mix in a pinch of salt, the flour, nuts, vanilla extract, cinnamon and cloves
Quickly bring the dough together into a ball.
Form sticks of ± 20 grams of the dough and place on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper. Leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Mix the last of the nuts with the rest of the sugar and sprinkle over the cookies.
Bake the macadamia cinnamon cookies in the middle of the oven for ± 20 min. until light brown and done. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool on the cookie sheet.
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