Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Last week, I was unwinding upstairs in our TV room, flipping channels and reading my Twitter feed on my iPhone. I came across a tweet posted by the lovely Hannah of Honey & Jam, who said she was baking a batch of Coconut Chcolate Chip cookies. Well of course, I started craving them right that instant, but it was too late and I was too tired to go make the dough. So I tweeted Hannah to ask her where she got the recipe and she posted a link to another lovely blogger with whom I have become friendly over the past two years: Alice of Savory Sweet Life. I printed out the recipe and perched it on my cookbook stand along with several other recipes I have sitting there, waiting to be made. But cookie recipes always move to the head of the recipes-to-make stack because, well, they're cookies.
I spent the next day mostly in the kitchen. Peter was out of town for a few days on a guy's trip, so I made a big batch of soup to eat over the next few days, and I made these cookies, of course. I made the dough in the morning so that it could sit and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Thank goodness I had the soup-making to keep me occupied because I don't know if I would have had the patience to wait for the cookie dough to chill completely before baking them off.
While I'm always more than willing to try different chocolate chip cookie recipes, I kind of surprised myself when I found this recipe irrisistible. You see, I'm not coconut's biggest fan. I don't mind it, but I don't adore it either. You won't find me making (or eating) coconut cake or coconut cream pie, I'm not intrigued by coconut shrimp and although I do love coconut macaroons, they can't be too big (I won't finish it) or too sweet, and the coconut has to be toasted just enough (strangely, I like coconut better when it's toasted). Clearly, I'm picky about coconut. It's one of those ingredients that has an overwhelming flavor to me and too much of it sends me running for a pitcher of water to flush the taste off my palate.
My coconut neuroses notwithstanding, I somehow knew I would love it in these cookies and I was right. I played it safe and added only a slightly mounded half cup to make sure the flavor didn't compete with the classic chocolate chip cookie dough and I loved the results. The coconut's tropical flavor came through just as a hint and was delightful combined with the flavor of the chocolate chips. Because there is more brown sugar than granulated sugar in this recipe, the cookies have a chewy texture with just a slightly crisp exterior--a perfect combination, if you ask me. As always, I didn't bother to measure the chocolate chips because I like a chcolate chip-heavy cookie, so I poured them in with abandon. And if you are a bigger fan of coconut than I am, you can pour more of it in with abandon too.
Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life
Addition of coconut to recipe inspired by Hannah2 3/4 (12 oz.) cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy in texture, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Lower the mixer speed and add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the mixture until the eggs are completely incorporated, about 2 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in thirds, combining completely before each addition. Add in the coconut and chocolate chips and fold them in by hand using a rubber spatula, making sure they are incorporated evenly throughout the batter. Chill the cookie batter for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon measure, drop rounded, 2-tablespooon portions of the cookie batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. When cookies are finished baking, allow them to cool on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a baking rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
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