White chocolate macadamia nut cookies: recipe challenge

I made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies a couple years ago for a co-worker's birthday, but I have no recollection of what recipe I used. I have a vague memory of being adamantly opposed to just using a chocolate chip cookie recipe and swapping white for semi-sweet chocolate and macadamia nuts for walnuts. For some reason, I felt strongly that white chocolate macadamia nut cookies must be a jumble cookie.

But I'm fairly certain that the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies I ate recently and almost died from did contain brown sugar.

So: a challenge. I shall make one version in a jumble and one in a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Recipe 1: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Jumbles
adapted from Beatrice Ojakangas' recipe for Old-fashioned sugar jumbles in Great Old Fashioned American Desserts

Makes two dozen cookies.

1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup shortening, at room temperature
3.5 oz (1/2 cup) sugar
1 large egg (1.7 oz)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4.5 oz (1 cup and 2 Tb) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz good white chocolate (Callebaut), chopped
3 oz macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375° and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light. Mix in egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and add to creamed mixture. Stir in white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons, two inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake approximately 8–10 minutes, until pale gold in color and still soft. Rotate the baking sheet half-way through for even baking. Cool on baking sheet until set enough to transfer to a wire rack (about two minutes).

Recipe 2: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Butter Drops
Adapted from a variety of recipes

Makes two dozen cookies.

1 stick butter, at room temperature
2 oz packed brown sugar
1.5 oz granulated sugar
1 large egg (1.7 oz)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4.5 oz all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

6 oz good white chocolate (Callebaut), chopped

3 oz macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375° and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the butter and sugars until very well combined. Mix in egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda and add to butter-sugar mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons, two inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake approximately 8–10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Rotate the baking sheet half-way through for even baking. Cool on baking sheet until set enough to transfer to a wire rack (about two minutes). 

Results
Oh my goodness. I just tried to do a blind taste test by myself and ate the entire samples with my eyes closed with no way to verify which was which. I'm a dummy. I'll try again.

I officially can't tell the difference. Bites within individual cookies taste more different from each other than bites between the two cookies (no matter which cookie it came from, a bite with a big chunk of white chocolate tastes like…white chocolate). I think the jumble recipe looks more appealing (it's the one on the left in the photo). We'll see which variety goes faster at the party.

Edit: Everyone was drunk at the party. Not a good audience for a taste test.