Chewy Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies

 Recipe taken from Gooseberry Patch Christmas 2009 Magazine, p. 50

½ cup  all purpose flour

½ tsp   baking powder

½ tsp   baking soda

½ tsp   salt

½ cup  butter

½ cup  sugar

½ cup  brown sugar, packed

1          egg

1 tsp    vanilla extract

1 cup   shredded coconut

1 cup   quick-cooking rolled oats

1 cup   sweetened, dried cranberries*

½ cup  almonds, chopped*

*I used fewer cranberries, about ¾ cup, and soaked them a little, as seen here. And I used sliced almonds and crushed them a little with a rolling pin.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In stand mixer, or separate bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir in coconut, oats cranberries and almonds (if you are using a stand mixer you will likely have to mix the last couple by hand).

The recipe says to drop by tablespoons 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Be careful to put only about a tablespoon measure (not a soupspoon), these cookies will expand a lot! Bake at 350˚F for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Melt white chocolate in the microwave in a glass measuring cup. Dip half of each cookie into the white chocolate, place on a parchment lined baking sheet to allow chocolate to harden. Makes about 5 dozen – no joke!

These cookies are delicious and festive with the red cranberries and white chocolate! They are chewy and crunchy, and sweet. I might recommend not dipping them all in chocolate, as the white chocolate is really sweet, and Reggie found (as he devoured about 2 dozen alone) that he preferred them without the white chocolate as it tasted too sweet.

And Day 4 is complete. I will be back tomorrow with a vegan alternative to a classic cookie as well as some holiday baking tips, so be sure to check in!

xox

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