Coconutty Cookies

Coconutty Cookies

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law brought over these yummy coconut pecan cookies from HyVee.  I'm not normally one to eat store-bought cookies, but these were totally worth the calories.  They tasted simple enough--regular tollhouse cookie dough with coconut and pecans instead of chocolate chips.

I finally took the time and bought the ingredients and made my own version.  I decided to take them one or two steps further and added almonds and macadamia nuts as well.  Why not?

I kept adding coconut and nuts as I went along, so the measurements below are approximate.  If you don't like one or more of the nuts involved, feel free to substitute.  They're your cookies, after all, and you're the one who will be eating them.

Coconutty Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Cream butter, shortening and sugars.  Beat in baking soda and salt.  Beat in vanilla extract and eggs.  

3.  Mix in flour just until blended.  Then stir in coconut and nuts.

4.  Scoop by tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving two inches between cookies.  (If you want a flatter cookie, like the one in the bottom pic, flatten the tops of the dough balls so you have a dough disk that's about a half-inch thick.)

5.  Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes, or until cookies are puffed and start to brown around the edges.

6.  Allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: I like to keep my cookie dough in the fridge, or make and freeze dough balls.  If you do that with these, be sure to flatten slightly before baking.  When I just popped them in the oven after having been frozen, they didn't spread enough, and I was left with cookie balls, rather than regular cookies.  They tasted okay, but not as good as they did when they were flat.

Makes about 4 dozen 3-inch diameter cookies, I think.

These cookies were flattened slightly before baking.

Coconutty Cookies on Stripes