"White Chocolate" Macadamia Shortbread Cookies

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My older sister is completing her summer internship next week, and then in a short three days she will be returning to school to complete her final, senior year in university.  Congrats V!  Since she is so busy and lives an hour away, she can only visit every few weeks or so.  And even though she isn't a sweet tooth (I guess it's not the dominant gene in my family), I know she can't resist a couple of desserts:

     One, Tiramisu

     Two, White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Since Tiramisu is a daunting task for a healthy baker, I chose to make the cookies instead.  Plus, she can bring cookies home or to work without any spilling or Ladyfingers turning soggy.  So why is "white chocolate" in quotations?  Well, I used cacao butter in the recipe to provide the chocolate flavor instead of real white chocolate for two reasons:

     One, my sister doesn't like how sweet white chocolate is

     Two, I wanted to taste-test the cookies before giving them to her to see if they were good enough...

And I can't find white chocolate that I'm not allergic to.  Every brand I find contains either dairy or soy, or both.  But that didn't get me down, I successfully healthified her favorite cookies without making them taste healthy at all!

These cookies are chewy, buttery and sweet just like regular shortbread cookies, except these have wholesome ingredients and nutritional benefits.


"White Chocolate" Macadamia Shortbread Cookies:  [eggless, sugar free, GF, vegan]
(makes ~15 cookies)

    1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
    13g (2 tbs) Ground Flaxseed
    56g (1/4 cup) Cacao Butter*, melted
    128g (1/2 cup) Raw Macadamia Butter
    1 tsp Butter Extract
    50 drops Stevia Extract**

    120g (1/2 cup + 2 tbs) Granulated Erythritol (or dry sweetener of choice)
    90g (1/2 cup + 1 tbs) Brown Rice Flour
    34g (1/4 cup) Quinoa Flour
    1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
    1/2 tsp Baking Powder
    1/2 tsp Baking Soda
    1/4 tsp Salt

*Use food grade cacao butter.  I have seen people use cacao butter and coconut oil interchangeably but I have not tried that.  If you use coconut oil, add chopped white chocolate to the batter (please use all natural white chocolate)
**You can probably omit this if you don't like sweet cookies.  As a reference this is equal to 5-7 tbs of sugar.  You can increase sweetness by adding white chocolate chips or spreading icing on top of the cookies.

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
2.  In a small bowl, stir together the almond milk and flax and set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, stir together the melted cacao butter, macadamia butter, vanilla paste, butter extract and stevia.
4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the erythritol, rice flour, quinoa flour, xanthan gum, baking powder+soda and salt.
5.  Heat almond milk/flax mixture for 25 seconds, or until warm, then pour over the cacao/macadamia mixture (it should look similar to pudding;  feel free to add 1 tsp of vanilla paste/extract here)
6.  Add the dry to wet while stirring (the dough should look moist/crumbly, but able to compress into a ball if you tried;  feel free to fold in some chopped macadamias)
7.  Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough.  Drop on prepared cookie sheet about 2-3" apart.  Flatten the cookies with a piece of wax/parchment paper and press the cracks that form on the edges together.  Bake for ~12 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.  Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool.

Store in an airtight container at room temp for max 3 days.  Although these keep for a few days, they have the best texture the day of baking.

Oh, and if you like dough ball cookies feel free to skip the annoying cookie-flattening step:

I honestly like these so much better.  They're adorable!  Most importantly, my sister loved the cookies in both forms.  Also important, she didn't notice the three missing cookies that I ate before she arrived  ;)