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.
Those look AMAZING! I love coconut in everything. Oh- I am a baking machine during the holidays! Its so much fun
These look amazing!!!
Yum! These look and sound divine!
I’ve been looking for a good coconut cookie recipe! I should have known you’d have a good one 😉
I’m normally the baker! I have to find places to take my treats so I don’t eat them all 🙂
You can freeze the bake goods and slowly eat them until the New Year’s 🙂 For every dozen I bake, I’ll usually taste one and giveaway the rest during the holidays.
i am most definitely the receiver!
Ha ha, I sorta knew that 🙂
Yum!! I already love these cookies just by reading your blog post. I know what you mean about baking during the holidays – I go into baking overdrive as well and love every minute of it!
Thanks Bianca. Your chocolate pantry must be fully stocked during the holidays huh with all the baking?
Lea, that’s so smart to have a baking calendar! I always assume i have all the ingredients i need, only to come up short – last week I was short on eggs. And on thanksgiving I was short on butter. I need to have the foresight you have!
Thanks Roxan, that’s exactly the reason why I work with a schedule, because I’ve had mishaps in the past where I was ready to bake and find out I’m missing ingredients 😦
you had me sold on coconut and CHUNK!
I hope you try it 🙂
Those look delicious! I love baking. I’m going to make my first attempt this weekend to make some Christmas cookies to give to my co-workers. I’m excited! 🙂
Good luck with the baking weekend, have fun and stay cool 🙂
Mmmmmmmmm I feel the exact same way about baking!! Those cookies look deeeelish!!!!
I bake up a storm over the holidays. It brings me joy =)
These look super duper yummy. I need to bring more coconut into my life.
Same here, baking brings me joy too 🙂
OMG these look so delicious! Like you, I love everything coconut. There’s a new butter substitute on the market called “Melt” – its made with virgin coconut oil and its creamy delicious. Just wondering if you have had a chance to try it. Its organic and also high in Omega 3s.
Hi Cygnia, thanks for stopping by. No, I have not heard of this butter made of coconut. Where have you seen them? I have Coconut Manna that I use in my baking but I would be interested in using the coconut butter substitute too. Sounds interesting.
I am not sure where Melt is in your area – the website has a store locator you can type your zip code in – http://www.meltbutteryspread.com. You could also send an email …
Actually, I am pretty sure you can get it from Mother’s/ Jimbo’s/ Clark’s/ Henry’s/ Whole Foods – or they can order it for you … Its really good and i would be curious to see what you think of it.
Double- coconut cookies? Ah man Lea, you got me there 🙂 I know I can most definitely rely on you to provide me a good coconut recipe!
Enjoy your Wednesday!
never met anyone else as obsesed with coconut as I!! glad I found your blog!!
Lululucky..love your name 🙂
Yay for finding another coconut lover. Lets share recipes 🙂 I saw you are based in SoCal too, are you near Orange County? Where do you do your training runs?