coconut brown butter cookies.

My ability to become completely fixated and obsessed with an item or food is probably one of my worst quirks.  I have zero patience when I want something - it's as if my brain starts screaming "must get this now".  I've tried to desperately control it, but the second I tell myself no, it just rears it's ugly head even stronger.  I've learned to just give-in.  It's better for everyone and will-power is overrated if you ask me.   
Which is why, less than a week after returning from Nashville, I found myself in my kitchen with a mission to make a buttery coconut cookie that embodied everything the version found south of the Mason-Dixon had. Thankfully the ever-reliable Deb at Smitten Kitchen had already done all of the work for me.  Her coconut brown butter cookie looked to be the thing my dreams were made of.   

And it was.  It was everything and more.  A cookie composed of massive amounts of butter and coconut and just enough flaky sea salt to make them impossibly addicting.   Crispy edges and a slightly chewier center - it's my kind of textured cookie-nirvana.

And while Deb does not suggest a drizzle of bittersweet chocolate, I can't help but think she wouldn't be opposed to such an idea.  (It really is a brilliant addition if you ask me.)   

Coconut Brown Butter Cookies
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen 

Yield: 1 dozen (if you make the massive bakery size), about 2 dozen of a medium size (about 2T dough each) or 4 dozen of a small size (1T each).

1 cup (2 sticks or 225 grams) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (145 grams) packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Slightly heaped 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 cups (240 grams) dried, unsweetened coconut chips

See note about chocolate at the end of the recipe.   

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as it seems to take forever (more than 5 minutes) but then turns dark very quickly. Once it is a deeply fragrant, almost nut-brown color, remove from heat and pour butter and all browned bits at the bottom into a measuring cup. Adding 2 tablespoons water should bring the butter amount back up to 1 cup. Chill browned butter in the fridge until it solidifies, about 1 to 2 hours. You can hurry this along in the freezer, but check back and stir often so it doesn't freeze unevenly solid.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Scrape chilled browned butter and any bits into a large mixing bowl. Add both sugars and beat the mixture together until fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed, then vanilla. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Pour half of flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined, then add remaining flour and mix again, scraping down bowl if needed. Add coconut chips in two parts as well.

Scoop dough into 1, 2 or more (Rubin recommends a 2-inch wide scoop for bakery-sized cookies) balls and arrange a few with a lot of room for spreading on first baking sheet; use the back of a spoon or your fingers to flatten the dough slightly.   Bake first tray of cookies; 1 tablespoon scoops will take 10 to 11 minutes; 2 tablespoon scoops, 12 to 14 minutes, the 2-inch scoop used at the bakery, 14 to 16 minutes; take the cookies out when they’re deeply golden all over.

Cool cookies on baking sheet for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cookies keep for up to one week at room temperature. Extra dough can be stored in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for a month or more.

Note: If you are like me and enjoy some chocolate with your coconut – melt some bittersweet chocolate in the microwave (watch carefully so it doesn't burn!) and drizzle over the top (about 2 ounces) or more if you feel like being really generous.  

coconut macaroons. (for passover!)

While I do not celebrate Passover, I can get behind the Passover related foods.  I have a slight obsession with matzo slathered in peanut butter.  I also adore a good Tex-Mex matzo brei scramble (don't knock it 'till you try it) and let's not forget chocolate-toffee matzo bark! But what I really love is macaroons.  Coconut macaroons dipped in deep dark chocolate (without a trace of flour!).  They are divine.  

I already had a coconut macaroon recipe and while I love it I find it to be a little well, finicky (stirring for 10 minutes straight starts to verge into arm work-out territory).  This one!  This one is so easy-peasy you could give the recipe to a small child and they would be able to give back to you a tray of perfect cookies.  While these are perfect for Passover, I think they would also be a pretty great addition to your upcoming Easter celebration.  Or really any random Tuesday that you deem a celebration.  

(Sorry for the lack of pictures.  Everyone ate them and all I was able to save was one!  I think that means they were good.)  

Coconut Macaroons
Recipe adapted from Leite's Culinaria

The only change I made to the recipe was the sugar.  The original recipe call for 2 CUPS which seemed ungodly high to me.  I cut it in half and the results are awesome.  Sweet but not cloyingly so.  

Makes about 48 cookies

8 lightly packed cups sweetened flaked coconut (two 14-ounce bags)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup egg whites (about 8 large whites)

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 cups dark chocolate (chopped if a bar or chips)

Position an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350˚F (176˚C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the coconut and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the egg whites and almond extract and mix by hand until the coconut is completely moistened.



Use a small ice cream scoop or a spoon to form the macaroons, about 1 rounded tablespoon each, and place them on the prepared sheets, leaving about 1 inch between the macaroons to allow for spreading. Slightly flatten each macaroon with the palm of your hand.

Bake the macaroons, 1 sheet at a time, for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden. (If you prefer your macaroons with an exceptionally crisp, browned outside in contrast to the moist, pale inside, bake for up to 18 minutes.) Cool the macaroons completely on wire racks.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water), put the chocolate in the bowl, and let it melt, stirring occasionally. The end result ought to be exceptionally smooth.  (You can also do this in the microwave.  Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 15 second intervals.  Stir every 15 seconds.  Repeat until melted and smooth.)

Dip the cooled macaroons into the chocolate, coating each halfway, and place the dipped macaroons back on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Let the chocolate set. Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature. (Hah! As if they’ll last….)