Category: Cookies

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

I was looking at my roommate’s instant oatmeal flavours over the weekend, and it struck me that maple and oatmeal might combine well into a cookie, so that is what I set out to do this week. I think that using a grade B syrup may be better in this case, because it will give the cookies a heartier flavours; unfortunately, I was not able to find this at my local grocery store, and I did not feel like walking to Whole Foods because I was in my pajamas, and it was cold. I was also unsuccessfully looking for maple extract. I thought that maybe if I cooked some syrup down, it would thicken and I could add that. This was a bad idea. It made maple candy, which then temporarily glued my jaws shut.

The final product was quite pleasing. It is crispy on the outside, but chewy on the inside. I used spiced pecans, which I made myself, but as long as you toast whatever nuts you use (if you choose to use them), these will be tasty!

maple oatmeal cookies

Maple Oatmeal Cookies
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, at room temperature
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c maple syrup, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c coarsely chopped nuts (see recipe for spiced nuts below)

1. Preheat oven to 375oF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the maple syrup and egg and beat until well mixed. (This will create a slightly soupy mixture).
3. Slowly beat in the dry-ingredient mixture until just blended, then stir in the nuts.
4. Drop by tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1″ of space between rounds. Bake for about 10-12 mins, until golden. Cool 10 minutes on baking sheets and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Spiced Nuts
2 c nuts (you can really use any variation – I love pecans, though!)
2 tbs butter
2-3 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs water
Any combination of spices to taste (I used 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon)

1. Heat the nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast until they become fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Put the butter, brown sugar, water and spices in the skillet and cook until a glaze forms, about 1 minute. Return the nuts to the skillet and stir to coat with the glaze. Cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes, until the nuts are thoroughly glazed.
3. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper and let cool for 10 minutes, or until the glaze hardens.

Apple Spice Cookies

The apple butter I was making? This is where some of it went. These are sort of my variation of a recipe that I found in my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook, while looking for a way to use up my extra apples (and actually inspired me to make the apple butter, really). I would describe the result as a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, but with ginger snaps instead of bread, cream cheese instead of peanut butter, and apple butter instead of jelly.

Some things that I think are good to note: before putting the apple butter on, I froze the cream cheese frosted parts to firm it up so that the cream cheese did not get messed up. I also froze the cookies until about 20 minutes before serving them to prevent the apple butter from making the cookies soggy.

apple spice cookies

Apple Spice Cookies
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Chinese five spice seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
1/3 c molasses
1 large egg
1/4 c apple butter
Apple Cream Cheese Filling

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the spices with the flour and baking soda and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add molasses and egg and beat to combine, about 1 minute. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on low, until it is just combined.
3. Shape 1/2 tbs of dough at a time into balls and roll to coat in granulated sugar. Place about 1 in apart on the baking sheets, and press down to flatten slightly. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 mins.
4. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Let the cookies come to room temperature. Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Spread 2 tsp of filling onto the flat sides of half of the cookies. Spread 1 tsp apple butter over the filling. Sandwich with the remaining cookies, keeping flat sides down.

Apple Cream-Cheese Filling
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c apple butter

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and apple butter on medium speed until well-combined, about 3 minutes.

Makes about 25 cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies

I was in a very fall mood this week, due to the apple picking and the cold-ish (ok, Tuesday was downright nasty) weather. I was going to make something with the apples that I picked over the weekend, but then I was food shopping, and I saw pumpkin on sale, so I decided to make something with pumpkin and cream cheese, which I livened up with some cocoa powder. Also, I wanted to make something orange and black for HALLOWEEN!

pumpkin chocolate cheesecake cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 tsp sour cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
pinch of cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree

1.  In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 tsp salt, and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes more. Add 1 egg yolk, the sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Stir in the cocoa powder until well-mixed.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2.  Preheat oven to 375oF.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt; set aside.
3.  Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg; beat until smooth. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and pumpkin puree in one, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
4.  Drop dough by tablespoons onto two baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake about 10 minutes, then remove and poke an indentation in the middle with a finger or the handle of a wooden spoon.  Return to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes.  Remove and let cool completely on wire racks.
5.  Reduce oven to 350oF Remove the chocolate filling from the refrigerator and put about 1 tsp in the center of each indentation.  Bake for 7 to 9 mins, until the filling is firm.  Let cool completely on wire racks.

Makes about 30 cookies

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

After I made the other chocolate coconut cookies (Bounty Cookies), I realised that they were kind of a pain to make, and they did not keep very well. So when it came time to actually make something to ship, I decided to retool. Out of laziness, since one person wanted chocolate, while the other wanted coconut, I came up with a Chocolate Coconut Cookie so that I only had to worry about making one thing.

chocolate coconut cookies

Chocolate Cocout Cookies
24 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 package coconut

1. Preheat oven to 375o.
2. Melt 2 cups morsels in small, heavy saucepan over lowest possible heat. When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat; stir. return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in melted chocolated. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in remaining chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake for 9 minutes or until cookies are puffed. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies

In Bloomfield, NJ, not far from where I grew up, there is an old-fashioned ice cream parlour called Holsten’s. They have such lovely things on the menu as the “cherry smash”, and grilled cheese with tomato in addition to a wide range of homemade ice creams and candy. I always loved the “Duster Sundae”, which is ice cream, chocolate syrup, malt powder, whipped cream and a cherry. This was probably the first place that I ever tasted malt powder (aside from Malteasers) – and then one day, I discovered that it was possible to purchase malt powder in a regular grocery store. Imagine that!

So, now that you know all about my love affair with malt powder…a word on the filling of these cookies. It is amazing. Seriously. It has the consistency of chocolate frosting from a can but it tastes just SO MUCH BETTER.

chocolate malt sandwich

Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies
2 c plus 2 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c plain malted milk powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup creme fraiche (I just diluted some sour cream with buttermilk)
3 tbs hot water

For the filling
10 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 c plain malted milk powder
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c plus 2 tbs heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, creme fraiche, and hot water. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture.
2. Place tablespoon-size balls of dough 3 1/2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake until flat and just firm, about 12 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.
3. Meanwhile melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simming water, stirring. Remove and let cool slightly. Beat malted milk powder and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in heavy cream, chocolate mixture, and vanilla until well mixed.
4. To assemble the cookies, spread a heaping tablespoon filling on the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat. Cookies are best stored in a refrigerator.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies

French Macarons

While sitting at dinner last Friday, my darling Cassandra asked if she could pick the cookie of the week. As I had no internet and thus could not peruse the web for suggestions, I assented. And then she said, “French macarons”. Now, the last time that I attempted French macarons was back in 2005 – and let me just say, it was a disaster.

If you do not know what a French macaron is, here goes: imagine an Oreo. Now replace the cookies with meringue. Now replace the filling with ganache/buttercream. There you go. They’re pretty much ubiquitous in Paris. So the problem that we are faced with is: we must make lots of equally sized meringues and make sure that when they are baked, they are absolutely dry so that they slide off of the baking sheets and can be properly iced. This time, I experimented and finally found a method that worked (I could have taken a better picture, though). We managed to make 4 flavours: vanilla, mocha, chocolate and cherry.

macarons

French Macaroons
4 large egg whites, at room temperature (IMPORTANT)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 superfine sugar (you can use granulated, but superfine is better)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz ground blanched almonds or almond flour – this is approximately 1 cup
2 c sifted confectioners’ sugar

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (again, IMPORTANT). Sift together the confectioners sugar into a medium bowl and whisk in the almondd flour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat on medium speed until the whites begin to thicken, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat just until soft peaks form. Slowly add the superfine sugar and beat until stiff peaks begin to form. Beat in the vanilla until well-blended, then fold in the flour mixture.
3. Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2″ tip and pipe into mounds 1 1/2″ in diameter, spaced about 1″ apart. Gently smooth any point tips with a damp fingertip. Let sit, uncovered at room temperature, for about 35-45 minutes. [It is important to really follow this par because, firstly, using a plastic bag with a hole cut in it does not work and secondly, letting the cookies sit gives them their characteristic crispy exterior.]
4. Preheat the oven to 300oF and bake the cookies 1 sheet at a time for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the tops and bottoms are firm and golden.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheets for 3 minutes. Then peel the cookies off of the parchment paper and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies

Variations:
For cherry, add 2 drops of red food colouring with the vanilla.
For chocolate, sift 3 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder with the confectioners’ sugar.

For mocha, add 2 tbs instant coffee with the vanilla, and sift 3 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder with the confectioners’ sugar.

Fillings
Ganache
6 oz (185 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 c (4 fl oz/125 mL) heavy cream

1. Place the butter and chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate and butter.
2. Stir with a whisk until the chocolate and butter melt and are smooth. Let cool until spreadable.

Makes about 1 1/3 c

Variation: For mocha, add 2 tbs instant coffee powder.

Vanilla Meringue Buttercream
6 large egg whites
1 1/4 c (10 oz/315 g) sugar
2-2 1/2 c (1-1 1/4 lb/500-625 g) softened butter
1 tbs vanilla extract

1. Mix together the sugar and egg whites. Place in a double boiler and continue to mix until the mixture is quite warm and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
2. Beat the mixture on high speed until it is stiff and glossy (this will take awhile).
3. Add 2 c (1 lb) of butter and continue to beat on high speed until the frosting begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, adding more butter as needed. The mixture should be smooth and satiny. If it looks curdled and the bowl feels old, warm slightly over hot water.
4. Beat in the vanilla.

Makes about 2 c

Variations: Whip in some flavour of jam (e.g. cherry) or food colouring.

Bounty Cookies

This fall, my one and only little sister joined the ranks of thousands of American college freshmen, as did my one and only girl cousin in my mom’s family. Now, from years of camp and college, I know that it is always a welcome surprise to receive a care package – especially a care package containing food. So, I promised them that I would bake for them. This cookie is for my sister, who requested something containing COCONUT.

Now, I have yet to find an actual cookie made with coconut that I really like – so I just invented my own, inspired by Bounty. Originally, I was making a recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl for something called “Snowballs”, but when those ended up being just ordinary macaroons, I decided to spice things up a bit by encapsulating them in chocolate dough!

bounty cookies

Bounty Cookies
For the coconut part:
3 c sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites
2 tsp water

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Either finely chop the coconut or pulse it in a food processor until it finely chopped. Place in a bowl and stir in the sugar and salt until they are well mixed. Then stir in the egg whites and water until well mixed.
3. With damp hands, scoop 1 tbs. sized mounds of coconut. Roll into balls and place on the baking sheets, about 1″ apart. Bake 13-15 minutes, until the balls are puffed but not coloured. Slide them on the parchment onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the chocolate part:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c softened butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt the unsweeteened chocolate. Let cool slightly, then beat into the softened butter until well-blended. Beat in the sugars until they are well-mixed in, then add in the flour and baking soda.
3. Take out a tablespoon-sized lump of dough and pat it as thin as you can between your hands,about 1/16″ to 1/8″. Place a coconut ball in the middle and pull the dough up around it so that it is completely encapsulated. Put the chocolate covered coconut ball on one of the prepared baking sheets. Repeat until all of the balls are covered, spacing them about 1″ apart.
4. Bake for abouut 10-12 minutes, until the outside of the dough feels firm. Remove from oven and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies

Inside-Out Brownie Cookies

So this is a cookie that I acutally baked several weeks ago, but I never got around to posting the entry for it because it was the same week that I baked the Kitchen Sink Cookies.? Anyway, I made a few edits to the recipt below which I have not put in because I did not feel like complicating it.? In my version, I used Droste pastilles (milk chocolate and dark chocolate).? The cookies with the milk chocolate pastilles inside were glazed with white chocolate, and the ones with the dark chocolate were glazed with milk chocolate.? In the glaze recipe, you can just substitute white chocolate for the semisweet chocolate chips in the same amount – it will still work fine.

brownie cookies

Inside-Out Brownie Cookies
2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c butter
14 oz sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
2 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
32 each Hershey’s chocolate kisses, unwrapped

For topping:
2 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350o F. In a medium bowl, sift flour.
2. In medium saucepan, combine chocolate chips and butter stirring over very low heat until chips are melted and smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla to chocolate mixture and mix well. Transfer to a large bowl and add flour mixture.
3. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough around each candy kiss, covering it completely. Shape into a ball and place 1 inch apart on un-greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350o for 6 to 8 minutes. Cookies will be soft but will firm up as they cool. Remove from cookie sheets and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For topping:
Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan with vegetable oil and stir until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cookie and set on rack to cool and firm chocolate.

Makes about 32

The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment

Sooo, I have my computer science exam on Monday, but I do not really know where to begin studying.  Instead, I am joining the quest of baking bloggers around America to recreate the Levain Bakery cookies.  The ironic thing is that I could get on a subway, go uptown, and buy a Levain cookie , rather than looking at pictures online.  I would not even have to change trains, BUT I’m just not that motivated.

Here is an original Levain cookie:

levain cookie

Anyway, the purpose of this cookie is size. SIZE MATTERS. These cookies are supposed to be seriously ginormous and chock-full of nuts and chocolate. In fact, they sort of look more like scones than your typical chocolate chip cookie. So, I attempted several approaches (6, actually) based on 3 recipes and I 1/4-sized the batches, since these were really testers.  Without further ado, here are my mini-batches:


a)


b)

Recipe #1
2 oz (1/4 c) unsalted European butter, slightly softened
4 1/2 tbs granulated sugar
1 1/4 tbs brown sugar
1/2 egg (just beat it and use half)
1 1/4 tbs molasses
1 c plus 1 tbs sifted flour
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/4 c walnut halves (you want them big)

1. Preheat oven to appropriate temperature (see Step 4). [I toasted the walnuts for 7 minutes here because I prefer toasted nuts but it is not necessary.] Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add in the egg and molasses and beat until well mixed. Slowly add in the flour mixture.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnut halves.
4. Form into 4 large balls. Place on baking sheet and:
a) bake for 18 minutes at 350oF
b) set oven to 375oF and bake for 8 minutes, then lower to 325oF and bake 12 minutes more.
5. Cool on baking sheet 1 minute and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Review: These tasted very molasses-y (not a real word, but you get the idea). They were really moist, but…they tasted very molasses-y. That is not a bad thing if you like molasses, but when you are striving for a huge classic chocolate chip cookie, it kind of is.

a)

b)

Recipe #2
1/4 c unsalted European-style butter, slightly softened
3 tbs granulated sugar
3 tbs brown sugar
1/2 egg
pinch of vanilla extract
3/4 c plus 1 tbs all-purpose flour
pinch Kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 c chocolate chunks
1/4 c walnut halves

It’s a very similar procedure to above:

1. Preheat oven to appropriate temperature (see Step 4). [I toasted the walnuts for 7 minutes here because I prefer toasted nuts but it is not necessary.] Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed. Slowly add in the flour mixture.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnut halves.
4. Form into 4 large balls. Place on baking sheet and:
a) bake for 18 minutes at 350oF
b) set oven to 375oF and bake for 8 minutes, then lower to 325oF and bake 12 minutes more.
5. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Review: These were really awesome. Before baking them as indicated in part b), I refrigerated the dough for about 10 minutes, and they held their shape. The difference between a) and b) is that a) produces a cookie that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, whereas b) yields a cookie that is mostly chewy throughout. Although I am usually partial to a chewy cookie, I really enjoyed a).

a)

b)

Recipe #3
(This is actually a half recipe. It is basically a variation on Reicpe #2 with the addition of cake flour.)

1/4 c unsalted European-style butter
1/4 c plus 2 tbs granulated sugar
1/4 c plus 2 tbs brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c plus 1 tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 c plus 1 tbs cake flour
1/8 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 c chocolate chunks
1/2 c walnut halves

1. Preheat oven to appropriate temperature (see Step 4). [I toasted the walnuts for 7 minutes here because I prefer toasted nuts but it is not necessary.] Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed. Slowly add in the flour mixture.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnut halves.
4. Form into 4 large bowls. Place on baking sheet and:
a) bake for 18 minutes
b) set oven to 375oF and bake for 8 minutes, then lower to 325oF and bake 12 minutes more
5. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Review: These spread a bit more than the other ones, even after some refrigeration. The ones baked at 325o first spread less than the ones baked only at 350o. Taste-wise, I believe that the ones baked according to b) come the closest to the Levain cookies (cake-like texture, that is) – hardly a surprise, considering that half of the flour was cake flour. I think that if I added more chocolate, they would be Levain doppelgangers.

So, after all of that, what was my conclusion? Either Recipe 2b or Recipe 3b. (To be honest, Recipe 1 made me slightly nauseous.)

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Yes, that’s an odd name but these really do have “everything but the kitchen sink” in them. I started by reading a recipe for “Chewy Chocolate Coconut Cashew Cookies,” which I eventually managed to mutate into “Pecan Butterscotch White Chocolate Coconut Cookies”. I really wanted something with butterscotch and toasted pecans (I’m literally so in love with them that I make them and freeze them), but I ended up basically opening my cabinets and tossing stuff into a bowl.

kitchen sink cookies

Kitchen Sink Cookies
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 c sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli, woot woot!)
3/4 c chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350oF. Toast the pecans on a baking sheet 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant. Set aside to cool. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla followed by one egg at a time and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the larger bowl. Stir in coconut and pecans, followed by the pecans and white chocolate chips.
5. Drop heaping round tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake ten minutes or until cookies have spread and are done on the outside and a bit moist on the inside. Cool about a minute on baking sheets, then move to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen