Chewy Coconut Cookies

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with coconut. In grade 6 we did a social studies unit on France and we were asked to bake/cook something French to bring to class for the last day of our study. Our group chose macaroons, but the girl in charge of bringing the shredded DRIED coconut was kinda not so smart and brought a whole coconut instead. Imagine that: four 11-year olds trying to make macaroons, totally new at cooking to begin with and then faced with a whole coconut! It was a disaster, but our teacher was kind enough to make us feel good about our attempt. It's the effort that counts, right? tee hee.

I think my main complaint about coconut is the texture. I don't mind the taste. It's weird how totally different fresh and dried coconut are. They taste nothing alike at all, in my opinion. I used to love Malibu until an unfortunate night of drinking too much of it... and now I can't even smell the stuff without feeling nauseous. Anyhow, here are some chewy coconut cookies I made. They are a bendy kind of cookie, sorta on the thin side, a little crisp around the edges but predominently chewy. The softness comes from the coconut as it holds moisture well. In sI've noticed that some chocolate chip cookie recipes use ground dried coconut with the flour to help the cookies achieve a chewy texture. The recipe is from Allrecipes.com but a very similar one is also in the Gourmet Today Cookbook.

Chewy Coconut Cookies
Makes 1 dozen | Allrecipes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then mix in the coconut. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly toasted. Cool on wire racks.