Reduce to speed 1 (low), then add the dry ingredients and mix just
until no flour is visible. Tip the chocolate and nuts in and mix until
only just incorporated. Take the bowl off the mixer, scrape the dough
off the paddle and tip the dough onto your work surface. Give the
dough a thorough mix so any buttery seams from the bottom can be
mixed in well.

Buttery seams can cause funny spreadin’ cookies. Good to eat, just not a nice
round cookie.

Lightly grease a baking tray with cooking oil spray. Weigh nine balls
of dough to 165 g (6 oz) each, or a slightly heaped half-cup measure.

(This is NOT A TYPO! It is a huge cookie.)

If the size perplexes or horrifies you, that’s cool, just make the balls smaller
and bake for less time. You’ll just have to do a little test bake to get the
timing right.

Roll each ball gently but don’t compact the dough – it should be a
lumpy sphere. Place closely together on the tray. I like to cover and chill
for a minimum of 12 hours, but you can also bake these straight away.

The overnight hydrate/rest makes a better textured (a little less spread,
more hump and no external greasy feel post-bake) cookie, but you can bake
these straight away, too. If you do, they’ll only need 18–20 minutes and will
be a smidge flatter.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 160°C
(320°F). Spray a flat baking tray with cooking oil and line with baking
paper. Arrange the dough balls on the tray, spacing them a roomy
5–7 cm (2–2¾ in) apart, then sprinkle the tops with salt (totally
optional). Bake for 25–30 minutes until the cookies have settled with
a mild dome, have a crisp butterscotch-coloured upper crust and
soft sides, but are squidgy just under the top crust. Because these
are big’uns, and you may be nervous, take an internal temperature –
75°C (167°F) will give you doughy interior perfection.

Cool the baked cookies on the tray for 10–15 minutes for optimal
eating – the warmest, stickiest, softest cookie dough joy! When the
cookie cools completely it is also good, just not GOOD good.

Adaptrix
You can really go to Creative Town
(Population: you!) and swap the
nuts for another variety of toasted
nut and the chocolate for another
flavour.

The sugar amount above is balanced
to allow for the added sweetness of
white chocolate, and if we adjust the
sugar in the cookie base, it can alter
the dough, making it spread more.

So, to balance the sweet with more
bitter additions, roll the raw ball in
granulated sugar – raw or demerara –
to increase the sugar without
changing the base dough sweetness.

Thanks for the idea, Emma Osborne!
Emma’s please use up the
raisins flavour
When asked to use up a neglected
stash of raisins, Emma came up
with this combination and I gotta
tell ya, they are as good as the OG.

Swap out the macadamia weight
for 220 g (8 oz) toasted and cooled
pecans and 110 g (4 oz) raisins (the
quality squishy kind), and swap the
white chocolate for 330 g (11½ oz)
deep dark chocolate (70% cocoa),
chopped or buttons. Form the balls
and just before baking roll each one
in a shallow tray of granulated sugar –
I like demerara. Bake for the same
amount of time.

Sesame toffee crunch
Weigh 230 g (8 oz) of chopped white
chocolate and add 100 g (3½ oz)
of crushed Lazy toffee crunch –
Sesame Adaptrix (page 273).

Keep the macadamias the same.

So. Damn. Good!