There are days I walk past a bakery cake showcasing whimsical cupcakes, scrumptious scones, beautifully decorated layer cakes, and various giant cookies the size of a large breakfast pancakes, perfectly lined up in a row. The excitement I get from just looking at these freshly baked goods is (sometimes) as satisfying as being lured into buying one. Then there are those days I crave a really good baked good. Knowing exactly what I want, if I cannot find it in the bakery case as an impulse buy the only other option is to bake it at home.
Yesterday as my son and I walked past the Honey Bear Bakery case after an afternoon well spent at the library, all I really wanted was a satisfying coconut cookie. Too bad the bakery doesn’t sell coconut cookies. My mind was made up and a baking mission was born in that moment. 10 minutes after we left and came home, my oven was preheating and my Kitchenaid mixer was already creaming the butter and sugars. I didn’t care that I would have to leave the house again in 30 minutes to pick up my daughters from school, no matter what I was going to get my cookie.
It’s funny, when I have a serious craving for something, I can get a bit obsessive. But with this obsessiveness, a certain measure of creativity flows out of me which is truly a form of self-therapy. Therapy with a satisfying sweet treat as a reward always makes my day better.
What started out as a strong craving for coconut cookies resulted in adding pecans and a few white chocolate chips to make these cookies super-awesome-good. The texture is dense but soft with caramel flavored edges, almost like butterscotch. Using a medium cookie scoop (approx.. 1 tablespoon in volume), I was able to get 30 medium sized cookies from this batch – which was perfect in my opinion to last our family through the weekend.
If you love a really good cookie, like the type of cookie that actually has the power to give you a sense that all is right in the world, this is the cookie for you. Have a great weekend!
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup old-fashion oats (not quick or instant)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until it looks like the consistency of whipped frosting.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to cream for 1 minute.
- Reduce the speed to medium and add the flour, coconut, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until the dough has absorbed all the flour.
- Add the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Spoon the dough in 1 tablespoon amounts (medium cookie scoop) on a cookie sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and honey colored in in the middle.
- Remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool on top of the pan for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
My kids saw all the different ingredients and said NO WAY were they going to like cookies with nuts and coconut and oats in them… they were gone in 2 days and my family is begging me to make them again. Absolutely delicious!
I like your adaptions! I’m going to try them like this some time. Thanks for sharing!
I didn’t have coconut but I made them anyway and use coconut flavoring and increase the amount of oatmeal and nuts and they are scrumptious. I will make them again and use coconut when I get a chance to get to the store
Almost forgot I also added some dried cranberries.
These look really good! I will definitely be trying out this recipe soon, my family loves cookies and they make great snack. I recently tried some really amazing cookies from a Michigan cookie company, http://www.cooperstreetcookies.com/
I’ve made these about 5 times now, and they are a sure fire hit every time! I’m going to the lake this weekend and baking more tonight. They’re soooo easy too!
It doesn’t hurt to add a bit more white chocolate morsels, coconut or almonds (maybe not more of ALL three but I tend to add a few more white chocolate morsels).
I am probably going to make this recipe for Easter, my family will love it!
White chocolate is at its best when alongside toasty coconut and pecans in a biscuit. These look gorge.
Gorgeous and I could get a serious craving for these….
30 cookies. Family of four. 1 weekend. Wouldn’t last that long at my house when they look that good!
They look lovely! The white chocolate is an interesting change; I bet it combines beautifully with the vanilla and pecan.
These look fantastic! My favorite flavors all in one 🙂 I will most likely be making these soon!
I hear what you are saying. These cookies look like they would set my world right for sure. YUM!
These are wonderfully filled with goodness! Yum!