Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

In addition to croissants, the food (other than broccoli) that marked my childhood in the most significant way is chocolate chip cookies.

My mom and I are quite the chocolate chip cookie connoisseurs, and are very particular about what we consider to be the perfect cookie. We have varying opinions on what that is - she is a huge fan of Alton Brown's The Chewy (which I've made for her several times but never posted), while I love the New York Times chocolate chip cookie. She likes things in her cookies; coconut and nuts to be precise. I am more of a purist. Every time I make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, my mom tells me they need coconut, so when I saw this recipe in The Sweet Spot, I knew I had to make them for her.

After making this fantastic Condensed Milk Pound Cake, I purchased the book it came from. It is full of wonderful and unusual recipes that you'll be seeing more of in the coming weeks. So far, this book has been a great investment.

These cookies are delicious. The coconut is toasted before being added to the dough, bringing out a nuttiness that is really welcome. I was afraid the coconut would be an overpowering flavor, but it wasn't - I think the toasting helps with that as well - it is subtle though unmistakably there, and it lends a chewiness to the cookie. The cookie is soft, but not cakey. The outside is slightly crispy, though it doesn't have quite the textural contrast between the interior and exterior that the New York Times cookie has - the one thing that I think could be improved upon.

My mom loved these, and would like me to make them again at my earliest convenience. Which I'm sure she wishes was yesterday. I loved them too. This is cookie we agree on, making it a definite winner.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The Sweet Spot: Asian Inspired Desserts by Pichet Ong & Genevieve Ko

1 1/3 cups (4 oz/113 gr) shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted to golden brown and cooled completely

2 cups (11 oz/310 gr) unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup (8 oz/226 gr) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup + 1 tablespoon (6 oz/169 gr) tightly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (6 oz/169 gr) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups (11 7/8 ounces/336 grams) bittersweet chocolate chips or roughly chopped chocolate

Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside.

Put butter, both sugars, salt and cooled toasted coconut in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Turn mixer down to low and add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add remaining flour, mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate. If you have time cover dough and chill for at least 2 hours before baking.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment. Form dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and place about 2 inches part on baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and turning crisp around the edges.