Step 1: Preheat and Prepare
Position your oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Having everything ready before you start mixing makes the process smooth and ensures even baking. Set aside.

Step 2: Whisk Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Whisking ensures all the leavening agents are evenly distributed throughout the flour, which means your cookies will rise uniformly. Set this bowl aside—you’ll add it to the wet ingredients later.

Step 3: Cream Butter and Sugars
In a large bowl using your stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the room-temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale in color. This creaming process is crucial—it incorporates air into the dough, creating cookies that are tender rather than dense. Scrape down the bowl sides occasionally with a spatula to ensure everything mixes evenly. The mixture should look almost doubled in volume and noticeably lighter when properly creamed.

Step 4: Add Eggs and Vanilla
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition (about 30-45 seconds per egg). The mixture might look slightly curdled after adding eggs—that’s completely normal and will come together once you add the flour. Add the vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bowl sides again to catch any unmixed bits.

Step 5: Incorporate Dry Ingredients
With your mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks of flour remain and the dough comes together. Don’t overmix once you’ve added flour, or your cookies will be tough! Stop mixing as soon as everything is incorporated. The dough should be thick, soft, and slightly sticky.

Step 6: Fold in Mix-Ins
Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the white chocolate chunks and chopped macadamia nuts until they’re evenly distributed throughout the dough. Make sure every scoop will have plenty of both mix-ins—that’s what makes these cookies so special! Reserve a small handful of white chocolate and nuts if you want to press extras into the tops before baking for a professional bakery look.

Step 7: Shape the Cookies
Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop dough into balls about 2 tablespoons each (roughly the size of a golf ball). Place them on your prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart to allow for spreading. If you reserved some mix-ins, press a few pieces of white chocolate and macadamia nuts into the top of each dough ball for beautiful presentation. Don’t flatten the dough balls—let them bake as rounded mounds.

Step 8: Bake to Golden Perfection
Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through (swap top and bottom, front to back) for even browning. The cookies are done when the edges are golden brown and set, but the centers still look slightly underdone and puffy. They’ll look too soft—that’s exactly what you want! They continue cooking on the hot baking sheet after you remove them from the oven. Overbaking is the enemy of chewy cookies, so err on the side of slightly underdone.

Step 9: Cool Properly
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes—this cooling time is essential for them to set properly without falling apart. After 5 minutes, use a spatula to transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. They’ll firm up as they cool while maintaining that perfect chewy center. Try to resist eating them all warm, though I completely understand if you can’t!

Step 10: Repeat and Store
Repeat the baking process with remaining dough, allowing the baking sheets to cool slightly between batches (or use additional baking sheets). Once cookies are completely cool, store them in an airtight container where they’ll stay fresh and chewy for up to 5 days—if they last that long!