Carrie Bakes: Coconut Cookies

Not so long ago I started visiting this “little” food blog known as Blake Makes. Now that food blog is huge and is in the process of parenting other themed food blogs. One of these themed food blogs will be Blake Bakes. I, along with 18 other people, was lucky enough to be asked to be a part of this new enterprise! The Blake Bakes blog is not up and running quite yet but for now all posts are on Blake Makes. So please, go see me and the other Blake Bakers there!

For my first submission as a Blake Baker, I decided to use a recipe all my own. Maybe show off my cookie baking skills a bit? This cookie is just divine, even better than I thought it would be. Watch out though! They are rich!

Ingredients:
1C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 C granulated sugar (I use organic/F-T)*
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 Tbs pure vanilla extract (I use organic/F-T)
1 tsp baking soda
1 scant tsp salt (I use fine sea salt)
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur organic)
1 C white chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
1 C unsweetened coconut flakes (I use organic)
1/2 C dried cranberries, a.k.a. craisins (I use organic)

Getting Ready:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

The Recipe:
1. Using a stand or a hand mixer, mix the butter and eggs together. The mixture will be chunky. That’s fine.
Add both the sugars and mix until ingredients are combined.
2. Add the baking soda, vanilla, and salt.
Mix at a medium speed.
3. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time mixing just until combined after each 1/2 cup. (This means you will add flour then mix 5 times.) This helps ensure that the flour is mixed in and also prevents it from flying all over the place as you mix, since you are only adding a bit at a time. The dough will be very thick at this point.
4. Mix in coconut flakes.
Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips (by hand or on very low speed).
5. Drop by spoonful onto lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° F for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies begin show a light golden brown color.
Cool on a rack then transfer to an air tight container to store.
6. Enjoy by the handful with your beverage of choice!

Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies. (Yes, this accounts for a little dough-eating!)

Tip: Soft cookies will stay moist longer if stored with a piece of bread.

*On Using Organic/F-T Sugar:
The sugar I buy has rather large granules and is brownish in color. If I am going to bake with it, I run it through my blender first. This creates a smaller granule and a fluffier cookie. (After running it through the blender, it will turn white and resemble the granulated sugar many of us are used to.)