Crunchy Coconut Cookies

Be careful, these are addicting! This is another great cookie to use whole wheat flour in it, the flavor and texture nicely compliments the coconut. This dough can also be used for a variety of cookies. In the picture they are just plain drop cookies, but the dough is also perfect for little sandwiches with a chocolate ganache filling or maybe passion fruit curd? They could also be rolled and cut out into various shapes and decorated- they would make a great Easter cookie.

Coconut Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or All Purpose Flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream the butter and sugar together until all the powdered sugar is mixed in (be careful, too much creaming and the cookies will spread too much- a bad thing if you are rolling the dough out). Add the egg and vanilla and cream until creamy and smooth. Mix all the dry ingredients together and mix into the butter. This dough can be scooped, it can be formed into logs and sliced or it can be rolled out and cut (will keep it's shape). If you decide to roll the cookies refrigerate the dough in a 1" thick disk before trying to roll out. You can also freeze the dough after formed to bake later

Bake at 375 for approximately 8-15 minutes (depending on how thick/big they are).

Coconut Macaroons

These cookies are always a huge hit and they couldn't be easier to make. I also like to finish these cookies off by dipping the bottoms in tempered chocolate (click here and scroll down to the bottom of the post for tempering instruction). You can make the macaroon batter ahead of time and keep it in the cooler for up to a week without any problems. These cookies also keep pretty well for 5 days or so before they begin to dry out (make sure to keep them covered).

Coconut Macaroons (makes about 36 cookies)

2.75 oz egg whites
6 oz granulated sugar
.4oz pastry flour
.75 oz corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
large pinch salt
6 ozunsweetened finely shredded coconut (if you can't find it in the bulk section, look for Bob's Red Mill brand)

Pre Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the egg whites, sugar corn, syrup, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix to combine everything and then add in the coconut. Mix until everything is combined, the mixture will be fairly stiff. If you have a small cookie scoop, it is the easiest way to shape the cookies. Make sure to really pack the scoop so the cookies won't easily fall apart. If you don't have a cookie scoop you can just hand shape 1-2TBS full of dough. Make sure to pack it together before placing them on the cookie tray. I like to roll round balls and then slightly flatten them on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until you see the very tops of the cookies start to brown. When you touch them, they will feel really soft, like they're not done, but as they cool they will firm up. Cook them too long and they start to dry out. Let them cool completely before taking them off the sheet pan.

Feel free to play around with variations. You could add spices or zest to the batter. You can also fold in small chunks of nuts or chocolate, or melted chocolate for chocolate macaroons.