You see these cookies? Bursting with butter and sugar and coconut, they are the slightest bit crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside…and they’ve become a serious problem in my life.
Let me explain…
You see, I’ve always loved to bake. I cook simply because there are mouths to feed over here and I have to, like, keep people alive and stuff, but I bake because I just love everything about it.
I love measuring precisely. I love being alone in my kitchen, cranking up the music, and singing loudly to cheesy 80’s songs (this also helps to keep people out of the kitchen). And in the fall and winter, this little island that I live on is dark, cold, and rainy and I love being inside my warm house with the smell of fresh cookies in the oven.
But something happened recently that has never happened before…I think I found my kryptonite. I decided to try a new cookie recipe and it has resulted in the complete loss of my self-control.
Now, I like sweets as much as anyone, but I’m aware of the rules of normalcy…eating a cookie or two after dinner, not a problem. Eating SIX cookies before 10:00 am? Now it’s getting weird.
And it’s gotten WAY weird with these cookies. My first mistake was making far too much dough. My second mistake was that I miraculously didn’t make ANY of my usual mistakes and they cooked perfectly. My final downfall was keeping dozens of these cookies on my counter in a clear glass dome dish.
And every single time I walked into the kitchen there they were, just taunting me with their deliciousness. Once I realized that me and these cookies had a little problem, I tried ignoring them.
I tried avoiding eye contact with the dome. I would be doing chores in the kitchen, stealing glances at them out of the corner of my eye like a high school crush. I willed myself to win just this one battle and leave the kitchen empty-handed.
But I found myself shamefully defeated EVERY single time. When I opened the dome to take this photo I LITERALLY PUT A COOKIE IN MY MOUTH AND IT WAS HANGING THERE while I snapped away.
By the time my kids got home from school and asked to have a cookie I was like, “YES! Have a cookie! Have FIVE cookies! Pack them in your lunch and pass them out at school! Bring them to the neighbors! PLEASE JUST MAKE THEM GO AWAY!”
Thankfully, the cookies are finally gone and life resumes as normal with the exception that I can’t button any of my pants. But that’s ok, pants with buttons are so 2019 anyway.
P.S. Fun fact: Did you know that no less than three people that I know who insisted they HATE coconut LOVED these cookies? It took some persuading to even get them to try it, but I was determined to bring them back from the dark side and I DID. Or maybe they were just trying to get me to shut up about these cookies.
CRISPY CHEWY BUTTERY COCONUT COOKIES:
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
Directions:
Combine flour, salt, baking soda in a medium bowl.
Cream together white sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a large bowl.
Mix in the egg and vanilla.
Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
Add the coconut and mix together.
Drop dough onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes (I recommend using parchment paper if you have it).
Take them out when they just start to brown…they will be soft but will crisp up after they sit out a bit!
(Slightly modified from the original recipe posted here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9589/chewy-coconut-cookies/)
Let me know how you like them!
Janene
