Island Cookies

Soft, buttery cookies crammed with coconut, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate chips, these tropical cookies are like a mini vacation for your mouth.

There seem to be clear battle lines drawn between the coconut-lovers and the coconut-haters of the world.

I, for one, am a lover of coconut, while Zach hates the stuff.  His number one complaint is the texture; he says its stringy and chewy, and while perhaps I wouldn’t use the word stringy (“perfectly shredded” is more appropriate), I acknowledge and love the chewiness that coconut adds to the texture of baked goods.

Zach is not the only person in my life who hates coconut: with 85% of my immediate family feeling the same way, I often avoid using coconut in my desserts.  But recently, I’ve been craving something with its signature chew, and so I finally succumbed to my cravings and made these cookies for myself.

In retrospect, this was an absolutely terrible idea, because I now have a full batch of gloriously addictive cookies perched on my kitchen counter-top, and no one to pawn them off on.

On the first go-round these cookies were made with lime zest and lime juice, but I quickly decided to exclude all traces of lime from the subsequent renditions.  Though I generally enjoy the tartness that it can add, even a stingily portioned addition seemed almost overpowering, making the cookies taste awkwardly fruity.

I think you’ll find that these cookies are just perfect as they are, sans lime.  Each bite carries the wonderfully melded flavors of coconut, macadamia nuts and white chocolate and if you like coconut, you will certainly enjoy the chewy textures.

Even once cooled, these cookies still manage to taste warm and toasty, like nutty nuggets of tropical island sunshine embodied in soft, golden cookie shells.

Arguably, they are the perfect summertime cookie.

Island Cookies

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter softened, 2 sticks
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cups chopped dry roasted macadamia nuts*

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with nonstick parchment paper.
• In KitchenAid (or with hand mixer) cream together butter and sugars.
• Add egg and egg yolk, beat well.
• Stir in vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl and stir to ensure ingredients are well-combined.
• In separate, medium-sized bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.
• Gradually, with mixer on medium-low speed, add flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture until combined.
• Stir in coconut, white chocolate chips and nuts.
• Drop 1 1/2" cookie dough onto prepared parchment paper and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon.
• Bake on 350F 12-14 minutes (until edges begin to turn light golden brown).
• Cool 5 minutes on baking pan and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

*regular chopped macadamia nuts will work as well, but I like the added subtle crunch the dry roasted ones add.

Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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