There's no butter in these cookies and it's been replaced with coconut oil. If you've never baked with coconut oil, you're in for a real treat. The cookies don't taste overtly of coconut and instead, the coconut oil creates a subtly sweet undertone and perfumes the dough with a luscious scent. The cookies are soft and chewy with firmer edges and moist, soft, dense interiors. The white chocolate chips complement the flavor of the dough perfectly and are oozing in every bite. The coconut adds richness, depth of flavor, and you'll never miss the butter in these new favorites.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15
Calories: 252kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
½cupcoconut oilsoftened (softened to the consistency of soft butter; not rock hard and not runny or melted, see below)
½cupgranulated sugar
½cuplight brown sugarpacked
1large egg
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla extract
1cupall-purpose flour
¾cupbread flourall-purpose flour may be substituted and used exclusively; bread flour yields chewier cookies that will spread less and is recommended, see below
1teaspoonbaking soda
¼teaspoonsaltoptional and to taste
1cup6 ounces white chocolate chips
½ to 1cuproughly chopped macadamia nutsoptional
Instructions
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine coconut oil, egg, sugars, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed to cream until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Note - Coconut oil should be the consistency of soft butter like you'd use to cream with sugar and eggs in tradtional cookies. If coconut oil is rock hard, microwave it in a small bowl for 5 to 10 seconds or just until it begins to soften. If coconut oil is runny or melted, place it in the freezer momentarily until it firms up. A tiny amount of runniness is fine; it's an oil and that happens. But do not use melted or purely liquid coconut oil because you can't effectively cream a liquid; it would be like trying to cream liquid butter.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flours, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Solely using all-purpose flour will work, but the cookies will not be as chewy, may not rise as well, and may be more prone to spreading while baking. Bread flour creates chewier, puffier cookies that spread less.
Add the white chocolate, optional nuts (I didn't use any and if using the full cup, reduce the white chocolate somewhat so the dough can hold it all) and beat momentarily to incorporate or fold in by hand.
Using a 2-ounce or medium cookie scoop, form heaping mounds weighing 2 1/4-ounces each. This is a scant 1/4 cup of dough, or 3 heaping tablespoons; or divide dough into approximately 15 equal-sized pieces. They will look on the large side. Place dough mounds on a large plate, and slightly flatten each mound. Very important to get the dough mounds in the exact shape you want to bake them in because after chilling, flattening or re-shaping them is very difficult. Cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; up to 5 days. Do not bake these cookies with dough that has not been properly chilled because they will spread.
Preheat oven to 350°F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat,, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place dough on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart; I bake a maximum of 8 per sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until tops have just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center. They firm up as they cool and I recommend the lower end of the baking range because they taste best when softer and paler. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before moving. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.