Christmas Cookies for Dawn

These cookies are for my friend Dawn.  Dawn loves coconut, and I've been promising her some sort of cookie that incorporates coconut.  She really enjoyed the chocolate cranberry oatmeal spice cookies I made last week, so I decided to do a riff on that recipe, using whole grain flour, less sugar, butter, and of course, coconut.   They really turned into a completely different type of cookie.  The edges are still crispy, but these are chewy and soft and delightfully coconut-y.


Christmas cookies for Dawn (aka coconut cranberry white chocolate cookies)

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well-combined.
4. Add in flour, allspice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in coconut, cranberries, and white chocolate chunks.
6. Roll about two tablespoons of dough into a ball, place on cookie sheet.  Repeat with all dough.  Leave about 2 inches between cookies on the sheet.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.
8. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Mixing in the coconut, white chocolate, and cranberries

Notes on Christmas cookies for Dawn:

• I used white whole wheat flour, but all purpose flour (apf), whole wheat pastry flour, or a blend of equal parts apf and whole wheat flour could be used too.
• I think I might replace the vanilla extract with almond extract and the dried cranberries with chopped dried cherries for an interesting spin on this cookie.  I'd probably use a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg for that variation.  But you could do whatever you like :)