Cooking for Pleasure: Two chocolate almond coconut cookie recipes

One gluten-free and one with wheat flour

Gluten-free chocolate almond coconut cookies ready to eat. (Photo by Patty Schied)

By Patty Schied

The half-full bag of almond flour sitting in my cupboard has been weighing on my conscience lately. I’ve also gotten tired of the same cookies I’ve been making for decades.

So I decided to experiment, adding coconut and finely chopped semisweet chocolate to my basic cookie recipe, while making a similar one with almond flour. Each recipe resulted in delicious crisp cookies. Both kinds were dangerously addictive. I’ve eaten way too many of them.

Earlier, I noticed when visiting a local grocery store that a single cookie costs at least $1 apiece. Then while perusing the cookie aisle, I could find only one package listed as gluten-free. All package cookies had about 20 different chemical additives. None listed butter as an ingredient.

When adding up the cost of ingredients, the gluten free cookies were about 30 cents apiece, the biggest expense being the almond flour. The others were about 15 cents apiece.

Ingredients for gluten-free chocolate almond coconut cookies. (Photo by Patty Schied)

Gluten-free chocolate almond coconut cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

MIX THOROUGHLY:

• 1 cup butter at room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tsp almond extract

  
  

ADD AND STIR UNTIL BLENDED:

• 2 cups finely ground almond flour

• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

• ¼ cup tapioca flour or cornstarch

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ semisweet chocolate bar (2 oz), finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli.)

DIRECTIONS:

This dough is very delicate. Form into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip tops into sugar. Place on parchment paper-covered cookie sheet at least two inches apart. They will spread while baking. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Using the smooth bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar, slightly flatten the cookies.

Bake for about 15 minutes. When the edges are slightly browned, remove from the oven, slide the cookie-covered parchment paper onto a rack, and let cool before transferring to a plate. They will be soft at first but will crisp up when cool.

Chopped chocolate. (Photo by Patty Schied)

Chocolate coconut almond sugar cookies with wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

MIX THOROUGHLY:

• 1 cup of butter (2 cubes) at room temperature

• 1 cup of sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

ADD AND MIX THOROUGHLY:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

THEN ADD:

• 1 cup shredded coconut

• ½ bar semisweet chocolate (2 oz), finely chopped

Blend until thoroughly mixed.

Roll into balls the size of large walnuts. Press tops into granulated sugar, flatten, and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet about two inches apart (they spread). Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Cool on rack.

Each recipe makes about three dozen cookies. Both varieties are best stored in an airtight container in the freezer where they will stay crisp. Also, out of sight, out of mind.

• Patty Schied is a longtime Juneau resident who studied at the Cordon Bleu in London and has written a cookbook. Cooking for Pleasure appears every other week in the Juneau Independent's features. She welcomes questions about her column and recipe ideas at patschied@yahoo.com.