Monday, May 21, 2007

Chocolate, Coconut & Almond Cookies

These BIG chocolate chips are well-suited to be baked into a batch of BIG cookies. They really live up to the “smoother, meltier” hype that the package promises, too. I adapted a basic cookie dough recipe and added in the chocolate chips by ¼ cups until the dough had just the right amount of chips...not too few and not too many. A heaping ¾ cup of these super cookie chips was the perfect amount. For good measure (and in a continuing effort to clean out my pantry), I also added a heaping ½ cup of shredded sweetened coconut and a heaping ½ cup of sliced almonds (after I toasted them, of course). The end result was a plate full of BIG, thick and delicious a la Almond Joy cookies. These toothsome cookies have just the right amount of chocolate in them, they're moist and chewy from the sweetened coconut and the toasted almonds add a subtle crunch. Definitely a well-rounded cookie that ranks among the best of all the batches of cookies I have ever made. They’re so good, I made another batch this morning just for me (and me only). Kurt liked these so much that he asked me to email the recipe to him so he could send it to his mom up in Michigan. Since I didn't stay up all last night trying to think of a more clever name for these cookies, I just named them after the three main ingredients. (Genius, I know.)

Chocolate, Coconut & Almond Cookies

1 cup plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 T. granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (heaping) Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Super Cookie Chips
½ cup (heaping) sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup (heaping) sliced almonds, toasted and cooled

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, cream together butter and the sugars on medium-high speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Beat in flour mixture. By hand, fold in chocolate chips, coconut and almonds.

Form dough into large mounds (about 1/4 cup in size) and place 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake cookies in middle of oven 11-13 minutes, or until golden. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely.

Cookies keep in an airtight container for 5 days.

Yield: Makes 12 (very) BIG cookies (or 24 regular-sized cookies).

Note: You can use regular semisweet chocolate chips in place of the Super Cookie Chips.

 
 
 

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