Nutrageous Gift Pack: Brazil Nuts and Macadamia Nuts

I think the brazil nuts and macadamia nuts are considered, like the grand-puba of nuts.  You do not see these nuts every day in just any ol’ dessert.  When you buy the packages of mixed nuts, you will be lucky to get even a scant palm full of these nuts.  These nuts are special (read expensive).  When these nuts for these recipes, I had to pay two arms and a leg at my local favorite grocery store.  I swear the price of brazil nuts have gone up by 2 dollars a pound since the last time I bought them!

Nonetheless, I wanted to include some nut treats MLJ probably does not have on a daily basis and nut treats I have never made for her.  After all, this is her Birthday and she deserves something special.  I decided to make the Toffee Nut Cookies which I have blogged about before and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, which are a classic.

I used one base recipe, similar (if not exactly the same) as my base chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I then separated the batter into two halves.  For the Toffee Nut Cookies, I stirred in approximately 1 cup of Health Toffee Bits and 1 cup of chopped brazil nuts.  Last time I made the cookies, I ground the Brazil Nuts with the Flour into almost a fine meal.  This time, I left the nuts in chunkier pieces and ground them alone.  I like this version better because of the texture; the larger sized nut pieces give the cookies a nice crunch.

For the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, I stirred 1 cup of white chocolate chips and 1 cup of macadamia nuts into the batter.  I left the macadamia nuts whole, as I purchased them from the store.  I would suggest a very rough chop next time, however.  For me, the large pieces of macadamia nut were a little overwhelming and I could not taste the white chocolate as much as I would like.  If the nut pieces were smaller, I think it would balance the flavor better, while keeping the crunch I adore.

These two cookies were definitely a step outside of the traditional nutty box.  I hope MLJ enjoyed the grand-puba of nuts.