Coconut Cookies

When I was young, I never liked coconut. I’m not sure what it was…the taste, the texture, or a combination of both. It was not until a few years ago that I actually started eating coconut and now I absolutely love it! It’s a great flavor for savory dishes, but I like it best in sweet desserts.

These soft and chewy cookies have shredded coconut in the batter and are sweetened with Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Coconut Palm Sugar to add a hint of tropical flare.

Coconut palm sugar is an unrefined brown sugar made from drying the nectar from the coconut palm tree. It produces a sugar with natural brown color and sweet, caramel flavor. A video of how the sugar is made can be found on Wholesome Sweeteners Website. It is so impressive to watch the local Indonesian palm farmers scale the palm trees to gather the nectar!

The sugar does not have a coconut flavor, but works well in this cookie recipe because it isn’t too sweet and really lets the coconut flavor from the shredded coconut shine through.

Enjoy these tropical cookies and hopefully when you eat them, you can be transported to a warm and sunny beach!

Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Coconut Palm Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a spice grinder or food processor, pulse the sugar a few times until finely ground. In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, in 1/4 cup increments, until combined, but not over mixed. Stir in the coconut.
4. Using a tablespoon or small ice cream scooper, form the cookie dough into balls and place on the cookie sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Using your hand, lightly press down on each dough ball to slightly flatten. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes about 24 (2 dozen) cookies

Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Coconut Palm Sugar was provided to me, but opinions are my own.