So every time I make cookies and children (my own or others…it’s like they just know…) find out about it, they ask me two questions: 1) “Can I have one?!” and 2) “Do they have chocolate chips in them?!” Both are excellent questions; I pretty much always want a cookie and I’m leery of most cookies that don’t contain chocolate chips. Once one of my kids once bit into what he thought was a chocolate chip cookie and was, in fact, filled with raisins. And he burst into tears. He could have been the inspiration for this:
I love a good oatmeal raisin cookie, but when push comes to shove, when all the cookies in all the world are on the table, I’m going for the chocolate chips first.
But sometimes I need a grown-up cookie. Sometime my kids can take or leave (or just leave, that’s cool, too.) Something I can nibble on whilst sipping a Diet Coke, all alone (even if that takes place in the bathroom with the door locked).
This is one of those cookies–my kids will pass on the dark chocolate and the coconut and the weird red things that came from a plant,
so that’s cool. I modified this recipe from my very most favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever (which is also where the oatmeal raisin cookies came from. It’s like the little black dress of cookies, the irony being that these won’t help you fit into the little black dress in your closet.)
To get started, you’ll need butter, dark brown sugar, white sugar, an egg, and egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
I’m also throwing in 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract because it goes so well with the cranberries,
but if you don’t like/can’t have almond extract, you can just use 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. The other option is if you want a more pronounced coconut flavor, you could add 1/2 teaspoon of coconut flavor.
Preheat oven to 325. If desired, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Place the the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extracts and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the cranberries, coconut, and chocolate chips).
Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips, coconut, and cranberries
Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop the dough by the scoopful onto the prepared baking sheets.
You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Makes about 16 giant cookies (or you can make more cookies that are smaller; you may need to adjust the bake time slightly).
Oatmeal Cookies with Dark Chocolate, Cranberries, & Coconut
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract*
2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife (very high altitudes may want to try adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
3/4 cups coconut
3/4 cups dried cranberries
*If you want a stronger coconut flavor, you can substitute the 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract with 1/2 teaspoon of coconut flavor.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325. If desired, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Beat the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extracts and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the raisins). Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips, coconut, and cranberries
Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop the dough by the scoopful onto the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Makes about 16 giant cookies (or you can make more cookies that are smaller; you may need to adjust the bake time slightly).
Questions & Reviews
I made these cookies this week and they were so incredibly good! I shared the recipe today on my blog: http://www.love-laurie.com/2014/04/oatmeal-cookies-with-coconut-dried.html
I made these yesterday with my kids and my teenage son said that they are the best cookies he has ever had. I brought them to a church Bible study this morning, and multiple people asked if they could take home the leftovers. This recipe is sure to become one of my top go-to recipes. I doubled the recipe, used the coconut extract in place of almond, and mixed it all up in my Bosch mixer. Incredibly easy! Thank you!!!
Wow these cookies are amazing! I’ve never been an oatmeal cookie fan but these have changed my mind. Thanks for sharing!sa
Yummy!
I made these sweet little goodies today and LOVE them. They made my husband very happy and, lucky for us, only half our children were interested. 😉 Thank you for all of your great recipes, advice and laughs!
Loved your oatmeal raisin cookie recipe but had to substitute craisins and white chocolate chips due to raisin-hater-issues in my family … It was our favorite cookie. Made this one tonight and that almond extract really takes it over the top. Love everything about almond extract … Thanks for the tweek. You guys are simply amazing!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Made these tonight, and our family and friends couldn’t stop eating them. Our new favorite cookie!! Thank you!
These looks amazing! Dark chocolate makes such a difference for me 🙂 OH, and completely agree with all the compliments on your cute measuring spoons!
I just made these and they are fantastic! Thanks for a great recipe!!!
I have made a similar cookie, but this recipe varies. With cookies small changes can make a considerable difference. In actuality I don’t think I have paired the dried cranberries with coconut. So that is most interesting. I bake a lot of cookies. I think I need to try this combo out.
Could I bake these as bar cookies? Do you think it would work ok?
Amazingly tempting, on my week-end list of todos & eats 😉 I too use coconut oil or other non dairy since we’ve been testing our toddlers for milk intolerance. But my question is more about the addition of white sugar in addition to brown. I tend to use more/only brown and/or maple syrup. Why do you need white sugar in this recipe? Thanks for the insights and for all the great recipes, ideas and articles.
Your giant oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are incredible! Because of that post, I had to stop at the Old Grist Mill when I happened to be in Logan a few months ago. I don’t always have dark brown sugar on hand but bought some last week so I could make those cookies again, and now you post these… could not have been better timing. Thanks for keeping the goods coming.
You mentioned my kryptonite – dark chocolate. These look like heaven in cookie form. Pinning!
Yum! Must have. I love your posts…too funny :).
Those look great! I actually love your favorite chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe also! So does my family! I have started making them with coconut oil, in an attempt to be healthier, and have found that people rave about them! They feel like they are indulging, yet getting their healthy on as well! It’s a win! Thanks for the recipe!!! 🙂
These look so good.
Can I use regular oatmeal inlieu of quick cooking?
I will be adding dried tart cherries from MI.,instead of dried cranberries.
Can’t wait to try, so please let me know about the oatmeal. I use Trader Joe’s Oven Toasted Organic Old Fashioned oatmeal.
Thanks.
Sunny
I always use good old fashioned oats because I like the texture better. Instead of the chocolate chip looking cookie, your cookie will look more textured. I don’t know if that makes sense. But this cookie baker says go ahead, swap your oats, they just will be more textured than Kate’s cookies. 🙂
These look divine. For a more pronounced coconut flavor I would sub some of the butter for coconut oil, which works really well in baked goods and flavors them beautifully. My kids get pretty ticked off when I make cookies that don’t have chocolate chips in them. You’d think I work for them or something! Oh wait, I do… 😉
So I make trail mix with craisins coconut chocolate chips and almonds and I love it. These cookies sound amazing!
Your first sentence made me laugh out loud, because of the awesome placement of the parentheses. I read: Any time I make cookies and children… Then I laughed and re-read a couple of times and then realized that you were not, in fact, talking about making children 🙂 These cookies look awesome! That original chocolate chip cookie recipe is one of my favorites, and you can’t go wrong with cranberries and coconut!
I was right there with you. I was wondering how making babies was going to come into play. 🙂
I, too, was confused by that opening sentence. The ‘my own or others’ thing made me think Kate was a surrogate mother. 🙂 These cookies look great! Love the 1/4 cup size.
I had the same reaction and it made me giggle! I wish my kids were like all of y’all’s and were afraid of grown up ingredients… doesn’t quite seem fair that I still have to share no matter what I add to them. 🙂 These look yummy!
Any possibility of getting a source for your darling yellow and blue bowls? Thanks!
Of course! I got them at West Elm:
http://www.westelm.com/products/modern-bowls-e574/?pkey=cbowls&cm_src=bowls||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_–_-
Thanks for taking time to reply!
And, what do you usually make with the leftover egg white?
I usually just toss it–egg whites freak me the heck out. 🙂
Ha ha. You are so funny. As amazing as you seem, its nice to see you are human too. Refreshing.
Can’t wait to try these. Love your recipes. I’ve always wondered why the dry ingredients should be mixed together first, rather than just adding them to the creamed mixture with the flour last so they will still mix well. You don’t seem like one to add unnessary steps. Do you know the science or reasoning? I hate dirtying one more dish, and thought you would know if it really makes a difference. I like learning the science of cooking– but not quite as much as eating the results. Thank you for all the week tested recipes. Its so nice that you tweak them as needed to make them better, or easier so we don’t have too do so many trial and error adjustments. And you post things we like to eat, aka not mushy casserolish dishes. Its so nice that the few casserolish dishes you two post are really good. Thanks again for making my cooking better! And making me laugh.
Yes!! I know it seems like a pain, but there’s actually a great reason for it. As soon as you add the baking powder or soda to liquid ingredients, it begins to activate and it’s less likely to be evenly incorporated into the dough. So when you whisk all the dry ingredients together first, you’re ensuring that the ingredients are properly mixed and you’ll have better luck with baked goods coming out right. I didn’t always do it, but when I started, my cookies became infinitely more successful. 🙂
Thank you! Long time wondering over. My cookie making will now move up another notch.
Yes please tell us where you got those measuring spoons, so cute!
Anthropologie! 🙂 They’re not the same colors, but they’re the same style: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-kitchen/30041776.jsp?cm_sp=Grid-_-30041776-_-Regular_45
I have also come to the realization that this is the most awesome versatile cookie recipe ever. So much so that I threw a party in honor of them (I kid you not) and made the dough and had people bring various add ins to make their own combos. A few favorites were dark chocolate with orange zest and orange oil, dried cherry white chocolate and almond slivers with almond flavoring and lemon rind and white chocolate.
oh, and also smores (choco graham cracker pieces and marshmallows).
Oh, yum!!! That sounds like such a fun idea! 🙂
I secretly love putting grown-up things in my cookies so my kids don’t like them as much. Muah ha ha…
These look yummy! Where did you get your cute measuring spoons?
Oh my gosh those little measuring spoons are the cutest! Yes, please – where?
Anthropologie! 🙂 These ones aren’t exactly the same colors, but they’re the same style:
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-kitchen/30041776.jsp?cm_sp=Grid-_-30041776-_-Regular_45
Love this post and the cookies look amazing! I may skip the coconut. Not my favorite.
Go for it! I would probably do 2 cups of chocolate chips (so 1 bag) and 1 cup of Craisins.
I finally got around to making these and they are so yummy. I omitted the coconut and added the entire bag of chocolate chips. Even my milk chocolate chip cookie loving husband said they were really good. I made smaller cookies with my small cookie scoop. I baked them at 350 for 10 minutes. Even the next day they are still soft and chewy. Thanks for yet another great recipe.
You have been very funny lately. I loved “the eye-doctor appointment sponsored by Satan” and “the little black dress of cookies.” We have all been through the activities sponsored by satan, which is exactly why we NEED a little black dress of cookies. Love it!
Thank you, my dear! 🙂
This right here is the only happy thing about me being awake right now at 12:30 AM. Why oh why did I have to wait so long to sleep train. Anyhow, these look delicious and I can’t wait to make them! Good thing I have such an excuse to make them this weekend and lots of people to share with since I am in fact trying to fit into that little black dress. 🙂