Chocolate Chip Cookies…with a twist!
4December 22, 2010 by buttermilkbaker
Good evening! Today was filled with last-minute Christmas shopping and future-job-searching (graduation is fast approaching…eesh) and when the day was over, I only wanted one thing: cookies.
In between the Xmas shopping and the career search I managed a quick trip to Central Market, a massive grocery store with everything you could ever, ever want and more. While perusing the aisles I kept kicking myself for not brining my camera…there was a full WALL of Justin’s nut butters. Snagged a fresh jar of Maple Almond, so pumped!
Another great find was this coconut oil. A lot of my fave bloggers have begun using this rich oil as an alternative to canola/olive oils or butter/shortening in their recipes, and they’d all raved about the delicate texture it lent to pastries in particular. I found this recipe for coconut oil based chocolate chip cookies and went to town!
This recipe has a lot of ingredients, yes, but the batter comes together suuuper quickly. I have to say I’m missing my beautiful KitchenAid stand mixer while at home, but we’ve got a handy dandy pair of Cuisinart hand beaters which did the trick just fine!
Step 1: Cream the oil + sugars
Step 2: Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients (the flours, salt, baking soda and powder, and whatever add-ins your heart desires)
The dough will be thick and a little crumbly (thanks to the coconut oil), which makes for a lighter, more delicate cookie
I thought the addition of sweetened coconut would pair well with the subtle coconuttiness (new word) of the coco oil in the batter
A note on size: these are 1/4 cup cookies–I love a big, fat cookie and I’ve found (through much experimenting, trust me) that 1/4 cup is the best size. As far as I can tell, LadyJayPee at Eating, Etc. (where I found the original recipe) made her cookies small and thin, producing a crispier texture. If you’re a fan of crispy cooks, I’d say use the tablespoon measure for your dough balls, and if you’re a fan of the softer, fluffier, doughier variety, go for the 1/4 cup!
Mmmmm…doughy.
I let these bake for about 14 minutes at 375 degrees. I pull them out when they look a little underdone, because (a) they harden up as they cool, and (b) they actually continue cooking on the hot baking sheet, so I do this to avoid over-baking. There’s nothing I hate more than an over-baked cookie! I look for signs of light browning around the edges of the cookies as the cue to take ’em out!
Beauties!
The toasted coconut + chocolate chips + chopped pecans + buttery dough = absolute heaven. Seriously one of the best cookies I have ever eaten.
Going in my go-to pile.
Here’s my recipe:
Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 16 fat cookies, 24 small cookies, Prep time: 20 mins, Bake time: 14 mins
1 scant cup cold-pressed extra-virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup turbinado sugar (or regular brown sugar)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup AP (all-purpose) flour
1 1/2 cup WW (whole wheat) flour (pastry would work well, too)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt (I used coarse and it was too strong–I recommend using 1/2-3/4 tsp)
Add-ins of your choice: I threw in as much sweetened coconut, chopped semisweet chips, and chopped pecans as I wanted (just eyeball it–there are no rules when it comes to cookies)
Enjoy!
Baking with Buttermilk 
Hi ButterMilkBaker. I like your idea of adding shredded coconut to the mix; I’ll have to try that. Thank you for visiting me. 🙂 ~LJP
PS: A coarse sea salt won’t work for this; it won’t integrate into the batter. Fine sea salt is sold in most stores and it will work just like table or kosher salt, but will still give you the trace minerals we need, unlike the other processed stripped salts.
Thanks so much LJP! Now I know, coarse sea salt + cookies do not mix.
haha.. you just needed a picture of an empty hand at the end where the cookie once was to show how good they are!