We are headed out to visit my parents this weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. I always seem to make a dessert he adores to make him smile. Mom's birthday falls two days after the first of the year, so everyone is all holiday-ed out by then and she never seems to have much of a celebration. This year dad will get his special fruit tart, but I made these scrumptious cookies for my coconut-lovin' mom. The recipe came from Smitten Kitchen... here. I've just pared down the text and photos for a simpler look. If you need super, crazy, detailed instructions, go to her post. You'll find any/all answers there.
The coconut: Use "chipped" coconut that's unsweetened. I found mine in a middle eastern market in town. IF you can't find this, any unsweetened coconut flakes will work. The chips are meatier and larger and really make these cookies out-of-this-world!
The browned butter: For this recipe, you'll need 1 cup of browned butter. Do this a day ahead or early in the morning, as it has to solidify again after it's browned before you mix up your cookie dough. Here's what ya do...
- 2 sticks of UNsalted butter, into a pan
- melt, and turn up the heat a bit to a low/medium setting and WATCH it carefully
- it foams up, then turns clear, then browns
- STIR as this is all happening, not constantly, but to keep butter moving so not only one area browns
- when butter takes on a golden brown color and smells nutty, you're done!
- pour all the butter and browned bits into a pyrex measuring cup
- then add about 2 Tbsp. of water to bring volume back up to 1 cup
- refrigerate for a while (a few hours) till it solidifies again
- done!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
- 4 cups dried, unsweetened coconut chips
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Into a mixer bowl scrap in all your browned butter with all the bits of browned solids with it
- Add both sugars and cream them together till light and a little fluffy
- Add vanilla and egg and mix, scraping sides as needed
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt to combine
- Add to a slow mixer in two batches (scrap sides and bottom of bowl to be sure all is combined)
- Add coconut chips to slow speed mixer in two batches as well
- Dough will be thick and very coconut-laden!
- Drop tablespoon to 2 tablespoon lumps of dough onto cookie sheets
- LEAVE LOTS OF ROOM AROUND THEM... they really spread out and get much bigger than you'd think!
- Use fingers dampened with water to flatten dough out a bit before baking
- Bake for about 13-14 min or until cookies are nice and deep gold/brown
- Allow them to rest out of the oven ON cookie sheet for about 2 minutes
- Move cookies to cooling racks till no longer warm
- Stack em up, or eat em right away
Enjoy! They are crispy and nutty and toasty and chewy and perection. Give them a try! They really are super simple. Remember to get the butter going way ahead of time so it's refrigerated and back to its solid state before you start making the dough. Mmmmmm.
That's all I can say. I'm staying out of the kitchen for a while for fear I'll lose my mind and eat them all in a frenzy.
