White Chocolate-Macadamia Snowballs with a Dough Shortcut!

"Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today!  That way, at least you'll get one thing done."

~Little Truths

Oh my gosh...I LOVED these!  This is one of the easiest, excellent cookies you will ever have.  They take two minutes to mix together and they were fantastic.  You can thank my mother for the recipe. 

My mother has always had great magazine subscriptions.  Ever since leaving home, one of the first things I do when on a visit is plop on her couch and start pouring through her magazines...many of them filled with recipes.  The golf ones get tossed aside.

This is what golf does to my brain

So last week on a visit, as per the usual routine, I took a look at her Taste of Home and a few recipes jumped out and bit me.   This was one of them.  They start with a log of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough.  A few changes and they were all that I imagined. 

 The original recipe called for the dough to be wrapped around a Hersey's White Chocolate Bliss candy.  That was a problem.  They have a "meltaway" center and I don't go for things with gooey centers.  You couldn't pay me to eat a Cadbury egg, for instance.  

A little substitution of white chocolate chips and they came out great.  Instead of icing the cookies as the recipe dictated, I dipped them in melted white chocolate chips before dipping them in the coconut.  I wanted the cookies to remain crisp on the outside and sometimes icing softens them.

For such a great result, these were amazingly easy.  They look pretty and most important...they tasted GREAT!  We were gobbling them up all night.  Good enough to give as gifts.  In fact, I left some without the topping because Mom doesn't like coconut and I want to give her some.  

She loves white chocolate.   Thanks, Mom!  

White Chocolate Macadamia Snowballs

Inspired by a Taste of Home recipe

Makes 18 2-inch cookies  

One 16 ounce log of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips, divided (half for cookies, half for frosting)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Let dough sit at room temperature for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Slice open log of dough and empty into a large bowl.  With an electric mixer, beat in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat in chopped nuts and 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips.  Dough may look crumbly.  With your hands, gather it together a little, but don't overwork it.

Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on the parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Melt remaining 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water.

Pour 1/2 cup coconut into a small shallow bowl.  Spread tops of cookies with a little white chocolate and then press tops into loose coconut.  Let set for 10 minutes.