Crispy Chocolate Chip Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies

A few weekends ago we brought these cookies over to a friend's house as a housewarming gift.  Our friend really likes Hawaii, and since I bought the macadamia nuts for these cookies in Hawaii this past fall, making these for his housewarming seemed like the right fit. 

His house is cute and perfect and even came complete with a nook preloaded with knickknacks that left me with a serious case of carved turtle ashtray envy.  

 

 I highly recommend making these cookies, especially if you are in need of a culinary tropical break from winter. 

Notes:
Watch the coconut as you toast it because it is easy to burn.  Make sure you immediately transfer the toasted coconut to a plate because it will continue to brown if you leave it in the skillet.  These cookies spread a bit when they bake, so be sure to leave enough space between them on the cookie sheet.  If you like softer cookies, bake these for less time.  If you don’t have coconut flavor (similar to extract), you can leave it out; I just used it to give the cookies a more intense coconut flavor.  If this recipe looks familiar, it is because it is a variation of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Seed Cookies (which of course, were an adaptation of the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe). 

Ingredients:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut flavor
1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
¾ cup flaked unsweetened coconut
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts (dry roasted and salted)

Yields about 3 dozen cookies, depending on the size.

Toast:
Place the coconut in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, until the coconut turns a light golden brown.  Transfer the toasted coconut to a large plate to cool while the dough is prepared.

Cream, Add, Scoop, Bake:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat it to 300ºF.  Line two cookie sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper, and set aside.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter with both types of sugar, until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and then the vanilla extract and coconut flavor.  Add the flour mixture in halves, and then the toasted coconut.  Stir in the chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts.  Scoop up one tablespoon of the dough, and roll it between your palms to shape it into a ball.  Place the ball on the prepared cookie sheet, and repeat the process with the remaining dough, leaving two inches of space between each ball.  Once the cookie sheets are full, place them in the preheated oven, and bake for 19-20 minutes, until they are lightly browned, rotating the sheets halfway through.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.  Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. 

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