ChocolateChunkCoconutCranberryCookies!

Baking always puts me in a great mood. There's something very meditative about it (that and organizing my refrigerator - I know, I know). In celebration of getting my very first job call back in weeks since I've been laid off, I decided to celebrate by making a batch of experimental goodies! The past couple of days, through various baking blogs, I've come across these gorgeous recipes for chocolate chip cookies with cherries. Brilliant! A little sweet, a little tart - just what I've been hankering for! However, upon pulling up to the bulk section in my local grocery store, I realized, for the sake of my bank account, I should opt for dried cranberries as a cheaper alternative, which would still give me that great tang. I also decided to pick up some coconut flakes, as I just discovered I love the texture they lend to baked goods since trying my aunt's banana bread over for the weekend (have a look at her, and friend Lisa's delicious business - Sweet Eva's!).

Once home, I went straight to Martha, and chose to use her 'Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip' recipe. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, later, I had my own one-of-a-kind-Liz-creation! Hands down, guys, best cookies I have ever made in my life. I was so proud. They were soft, and almost cupcake like with their thickness, with the perfect ratio of sweet and sour and a great bit of extra texture to break up those big bites!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cranberry Coconut Cookies

Yields 3 dozen

Ingredients:

- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups chocolate chips/chunks
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (to taste)
- 1 cup dried coconut (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (don't worry if you don't have an electric mixer, I just whisked it by hand!). Set flour and other dry ingredients aside in a bowl together. Mix vanilla and eggs in with the butter and sugar and add coconut. With a wooden spoon, mix dry and wet ingredients together. Add chocolate and cranberries.
Spoon cookies onto a non-stick/buttered cookie sheet and put in oven for about 8-10 minutes (you may want to check midway to see if you need to rotate your sheet).


Voila! Beautiful, yummy, fluffy cookies at your disposal. I've really enjoyed this experiment and now can't stop thinking about all the other wonderful things I could incorporate into cookies - dried blueberries, dried apricots and peaches - the possibilities are endless! So please, if you have any brilliant ideas, please feel free to share them with me!

Until then - happy baking!