Hawaii and Macadamia Cookies

Many years ago my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Dad loved Hawaii and wanted to see it with his children. So Mom and Dad planned and paid for a wonderful week in Hawaii for their 6 children and  their spouses--no one complained. It was fun to get away from family responsibilities and live the tourist life. We stayed at a nice hotel that had a lovely cafe with outdoor seating. It was December, Hawaii was decorated with thousands of Poinsettias. Every morning Mom and Dad would eat breakfast with Greg and I at the out door cafe. Dad thought is was quite a novelty that he was eating breakfast outside in December! I of course loved the food. Every morning there was a yummy sweet bread made with Macadamias. What a wonderful way to start the day. Thus began my love affair with macadamias.

Today's cookie make me think of Hawaii, Macadamias and my Father--who has been gone 6 year this week. I'm so glad we were able to take that one last trip with Dad. It meant so much to him. Mom and Dad traveled often but Mom will always say that her favorite trip was spending time in Hawaii with all her children.
So this cookie just screams Hawaii! It is just a version of my food processor cookie, just replace the nuts with chopped Macadamias and use white chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet.

Macadamia and White Chocolate Cookie
1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter (softened and cut into 8 pieces)

1 T vanilla (yes, this is a tablespoon, not a teaspoon.  Use real vanilla, of course, not imitation.)

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chopped macadamias

1/2 cup oatmeal (regular, not instant)

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Buzz first 5 ingredients in processor 30 seconds.  Scrape down and buzz 5-7 seconds more.  Distribute flour, salt and baking soda over mixture in processor.  Scatter nuts, oats and chips on top of that.  Buzz on/off 10 times.  Don't over mix.  Just give a swipe with a spatula to any flour that looks unmixed (it really will be okay).

Drop by teaspoonful 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

Let stand 1 minute on sheet.  Remove and cool on wire racks.