Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies: I made these for conference weekend and they are great!

 

Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cook Time: 8 mins

Yield: 24

 Description

These are like chocolate chip cookies, taken up a notch with the nutty aroma and chewy texture of shredded coconut flakes. Be sure to chill the dough prior to baking. 

Ingredients

·         1 cup all purpose flour*

·         1 tsp cornstarch

·         1 tsp baking soda

·         1/2 tsp baking powder

·         1/4 tsp table salt

·         1/4 cup butter, just softened to room temp (not at all melty)

·         1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

·         1/3 cup granulated sugar

·         1 large egg

·         2 tsp pure vanilla extract

·         1 1/2 cups finely shredded/flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

·         1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Instructions

1.        In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2.        In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together the butter and both sugars until fluffy and light, scraping down sides and continuing to mix, for about 4 minutes – do not skimp on this step, as it’s super important for achieving correct texture. You can use an electric hand whisk if you don’t own a stand mixer.

3.        Add egg and vanilla extract, mixing until incorporated and smooth; scrape down sides as needed.

4.        On low speed, gently mix in the dry flour mixture just until incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed; do not over-mix here. Add coconut and chocolate chips and slowly mix just until combined; again, do not over-mix.

5.        Use rubber spatula to scrape down sides of bowl and form a large dough ball. Transfer entire dough ball onto a sheet of cling wrap and wrap it up airtight; chill for a couple of hours in fridge.*

6.        When ready to bake, heat oven to 350F, with rack on lower middle position. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone mat. Let chilled dough sit at room temp 5-10 min. while oven preheats. Use cookie scoop to form 1 TB rounded dough balls, 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Bake about 8 minutes or just until edges are golden; cookies will seem slightly under-baked, but will set upon cooling.

Notes

When measuring flour, use the scoop & scrape method to ensure accurate measurement. You’ll want a dry-ingredient measurement scoop that does not have extra top margin and no lip. A metal, 1-cup scoop is perfect for scooping up the flour; use flat end of a butter knife to gently scrape across the top to remove excess flour.

Dough can be chilled overnight or up to several days. It’s important for cookie dough to be adequately chilled in order for it to bake up chewy and thick (not flat.) Chilling cookie dough allows the butter fat to firm up throughout, which helps retain thickness while baking. Chilling also gives flour time to fully hydrate, which helps with a great chewy texture. 

Leftover cookies should be kept in airtight container at moderate room temp several days. Baked cookies can be wrapped airtight and frozen for several weeks.