Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Stuck. in. the. mud.

I... am a creature of habit. I'm very brand loyal, until I change my mind 10 years down the road. One of the few exceptions to this is anything hair related.

So it should be no surprise to anyone that I've made the same chocolate chip recipe for the last 15-20 years, with only mild variations. It's a damn good recipe, why fuck with it, right?

But that's pretty much the only cookie I ever make. Well, I make 3 different kinds of cookies; chocolate chip, chocolate chip oatmeal, and no-bake chocolate peanut butter. (Do you see the theme yet?)

I've had in my possession, from my first marriage, a cookbook called Mrs. Fields I Love Chocolate! Cookbook. At least 15 years. In my possession. One hundred easy and irresistible recipes!

You would think, with as much as I like chocolate, I would have tried one or two of these recipes out, right?

Well, I'm stupid.

I've been meaning to bake cookies with Josie all week, and I finally got around to it tonight. But I wanted something... different. I'm tired of the same freaking recipe that I make every. single. time.

So I reach for the Mrs. Fields book. Flip through it to see if I find anything that catches my eye. That I might actually have all the ingredients for. I find Chocolate Coconut Crunch Cookies.

I have almonds. Raw unsalted almonds instead of salted and roasted, but I have almonds.

I have almond extract.

I have shredded coconut.

(This is the part where my mother starts laughing.)

Now, I have always hated coconut. My mother used to make this weird cake that was covered in coconut on the frosting, and I would refuse to eat it. I refused pretty much anything that had coconut in it. Till I saw Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Apple Granola. I figured a little coconut in the granola part wouldn't hurt, so I had Keith pick up some for me. I figured I'd try it in the first batch, and if I didn't like, I'd throw the damn stuff away.

It's now on my grocery list because I'm almost out.

So I made these cookies with coconut and raw almonds, and they taste pretty freaking good if you ask me and Keith. We'll see tomorrow how the kids like it.

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Coconut Crunch Cookies

2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 c) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 c shredded coconut
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 c lightly salted, dry-roasted almonds, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300F

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix on low speed until blended. Add the flour mixture and mix just until blended; do not overmix. Add the coconut, chocolate chips, and almonds and stir until just incorporated.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire racks to cool. YEILD: about 4 dozen

Now personally, I mixed the coconut, chocolate chips, and the almonds with my mixer. I'm too lazy to do that by hand, and they turned out just fine. I will, however, lower the amount of extract the next time I make these to 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of almond, because DAMN that's a lot of extract! And I'm sure having roasted almonds adds a layer of flavor I don't have with the raw, but the raw work just fine. I got 96 cookies out of one batch, but I make small cookies.

So yeah. Not so stuck in the mud with my cookie recipes anymore. Sorta.

3 comments:

Lynn Hase said...

I think there is a recipe in that cookbook for a multi layer chocolate peanut butter pan cookie that actually uses the best of your arsenal...it HAS crushed Chocolate Chip cookies in the bottom layer...look it up, its EPIC!!!

halesbales said...

This interests me because I too hate coconut. Its maybe a texture thing, but I avoid it like a beggar in the Home Depot parking lot. But maybe I should give it another go. Shit, who knows...I might even like them so much I make a special trip to Home Depot...tis the season and all

Janet said...

Lynn, the only layered bar cookie is a Coconut Mud Bar, and they don't have peanut butter, but they do look delicious!