Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love baking. Whenever I am in the kitchen baking, I go to my relaxing place, where I have the music in the background and I breathe the sweet aroma swirling around me.

I bake all year long. But throughout the year, I bake mostly healthy treats like batches of snack bars here and there, all sorts of homemade granola, cupcakes or muffins during special occasions and cookies on the healthier side.

But during the holidays,  my baking schedule goes on steroids and I also bake more decadent treats.

I make treats for parties, I bake for friends and families and it’s not unusual for me to have a separate “baking schedule” on my google calendar. Yes, I make a schedule so I can plan ahead for ingredients, plan ahead so I’ll have butter at room temperature when I get home and I plan ahead so my cookie dough can chill a few hours or overnight before putting them in the oven.

Last week was the start of my holiday baking spree and I finished my first batch of cookie giveaways to friends.

This is one of my favorite cookies.  The recipe was adapted from Cooking Light.

These cookies taste nutty from the toasted coconuts, it’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1  cup  flaked sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup)
• 1/2 cup white flour (lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup)
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 3/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  large egg
• 2  ounces  semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60%), chopped
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Arrange coconut in a single layer in a small baking pan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once. Set aside to cool.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.

4. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire racks.

If you like, you can also add melted chocolate on top of the cookies and add a sprinkle of sweetened coconuts right after you take out the cookies from the oven.

Do you like to bake during the holidays? or are you the one receiving the treats?