ARIZONA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

Several years ago, one of my Texas neighbors sent a basket of warm cookies to our house, as a thank you. During these years, I had a house filled with 3 young boys and a husband...all lovers of anything cookie. But, they were not the kind of cookie monsters who would eat a LOT at one sitting. Two at a time was the norm. Until these cookies arrived...

These are my boys when we lived in TX...

I have never seen my men eat like that! The 2 dozen cookies were gone in minutes...and the boys were out the door, heading to the neighbor's house, to ask for the recipe so I could make them again. Yes, they were THAT good!

I have no idea why these delectable cookies are named for the state of Arizona. Nor could my friend tell me. All I know is that they are absolutely delicious!

Here's the recipe.....Hope you enjoy them as much as my family... 


RECIPE:
Sift together:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt


Cream together:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup butter


Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.


Add:  2 cups oatmeal (I prefer the Old-Fashioned oats)
         2 cups shredded coconut
         1 cup chocolate chips
         1 cup chopped pecans


Drop dough (tablespoon) onto a prepared or parchment-lined baking sheet...2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees F until brown (approx. 12-15 minutes).


Makes a lot!!! (and I usually cut out some of the sugars)
***I lightly tap the hot cookies with a spatula, to flatten them a little.  And I used a teaspoon to drop the photographed cookies...I wanted them to be a bit smaller, so I would not feel too guilty eating a couple. (And yes, I went for a walk afterwards.)


Enjoy!

Visit Foodie Friday for more wonderful recipes!

COOKIES!!!

Last night was our neighborhood's annual cookie exchange. As usual, it was so much fun...and delicious!!!
And, of course, I forgot my camera! DUH!!!


This is a photo taken from my friend's phone. As you can see...there are so many wonderful offerings...everything from the classic Peanut Blossoms to cupcake "Christmas Trees" (these were so cute...a regular-sized cupcake, with a mini cuppie and cookie star on top). There were Ritz Cracker/Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (covered in dark chocolate and red melts), Pretzel-Toffee cookies, Chocolate Crinkles and Chocolate Chips, Classic Shortbread and Peppermint Cookies, Apricot Bars, Decadent Oreo No-Bake Cookies, and 2 kinds of Buckeye Candies...one in the traditional "buckeye" form, the other shaped like little MICE...sliced almonds for ears, skinny fruit roll-up for the tail. SO CUTE!

My contribution...thanks to bloggers!!!...was a Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate Chunk cookie. 


I made a few adjustments with the size (I used a Whoopie pie pan in place of the muffin top pan...made 4 oz. cookies), plus added an additional bit of caramel sauce on the top (drizzled it from the tines of a fork). 


These cookies were truly fabulous! (Yes, I splurged and tasted one, or two...or five!) And they won our CE contest for best tasting cookie. Here's the link for the recipe. TRULY...you have GOT to try these!!! (photo is from picky-palate.com)
http://picky-palate.com/2010/05/20/salted-caramel-dark-chocolate-chunk-cookies-the-la-cookie/

I also made Chocolate Covered Grahams...again, thanks to a blogger.
(photo is from Shugarysweets.com)


I had difficulty with "dipping"...not because of the recipe, but because I am too impatient!...so I used a knife to spread the chocolates. I also pulverized the candy canes in my processor...to DUST. For me, this was better than biting into peppermint candy...which my teeth don't like very much.
http://www.shugarysweets.com/2011/12/chocolate-peppermint-grahams.html

Since I am unable not supposed to indulge in sweets, I used the neighborhood ladies...and their families...to test these recipes. And they were both HITS. And now that they have passed the "neighborhood test", I'll be making them for our Christmas party.


Happy baking....
Jane