Great American Cookies White Chunk Macadamia

When Arthur Karp shared his grandmother's favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with Michael Coles, the business partners knew they had a hit on their hands. They opened their first Great American Cookies store in 1977 in The Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, Georgia. Now with more than 350 stores in the chain, these cookies have quickly become a favorite, just begging to be cloned.

The chain bakes the cookies in convection ovens at the low temperature of 280 degrees for around 16 to 17 minutes. But since most of us don't have convection ovens and may have a hard time getting the oven temperature to this odd setting, we have made some adjustments. Just be sure, when you remove the cookies from the oven, that they appear undercooked and only slightly browned around the edges.

This will give the cookies the perfect chewy texture when they cool.

Recipe Ingredient
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut flakes, finely minced

1 egg1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces solid white chocolate, cut into chunks

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on high speed.

2. Add the coconut, egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.

3. In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until dough forms. Mix in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

5. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

6. Measure out about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and form a ball. Drop each ball of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Do not overbake! Cookies should come out of the oven appearing slightly browned, yet undercooked. When cooled the cookies will be soft and chewy like the original.

Makes 16 to 18 cookies.