Gather the ingredients.

OPTIONAL: Toast the pecans. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the pecans on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake them for up to ~7 minutes, checking on them frequently, and shaking the pan to ensure even roasting. Allow to cool.

Place one cup of macadamia nuts into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until they are finely chopped.

Repeat step three for the pecans. If you don’t have a food processor, you can finely chop the nuts by hand.

Cream the butter for about a minute or two to ensure that it’s nice and soft. I use a stand mixer, but a handheld mixer will work just as well.

Add powdered sugar in two batches. Stir slowly at first to allow it to incorporate, then mix at medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy. Scrape the bowl halfway through.

Add vanilla and egg yolks, then mix again until well incorporated. Scrape the bowl again.

Whisk together flour and salt, then add to the mixing bowl along with the nuts.

Mix on low speed until just incorporated.

Roll the dough out between two layers of plastic wrap. Place onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.

Roll dough out to 0.25 inch (6mm) thick. Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes, and transfer cookies to parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. I used heart-shaped cookie cutters that were about 2 inches (~5 cm) wide.

Chill cookies for at least 15 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. (Larger cookies needed ~11 min, but smaller cookies were ready by ~9 min. Keep an eye on them!) Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes, then remove.

Make the dipping chocolate by microwaving the chocolate chips and shortening in short (15 second) bursts and stirring well.

Dip or drizzle the cookies with the melted chocolate. Allow to dry completely before storing in a sealed container at room temperature for up to one week.