Crazy's Coconut Christmas Cookie

 

Happy Holidays!  I am sure many of you have started, if not already, completed your holiday baking. I am a little slow when it comes to my holiday preparation. I have not purchased one gift as of right now and I also have not thought about my plans for next week. I like to be a little adventurous when it comes to the holiday (really I mean chaotic). This year, I thought I would try my hand at baking. Nothing I do is traditional when it comes to food, so I wanted to make a unique cookie to share with my tribe.

 

Welcome to the world Raspberry Coconut Macaroons!

 

I love coconut. Everything coconut. It reminds me of when my family lived in Hawaii. Just being outside smelled like coconut.  My parents would ride their bikes alongside the ocean with my sister, Kate and I on the back. Kate and I would pick up coconuts and hold them tightly in our laps on the ride home. This could be the reason I have a little bit a of ocean, sand and sun obsession (and why I may or may not enjoy the scent of suntan lotion all year around).  Our holidays were very different living on a tropical island. I remember mom putting coconut scented sunscreen on us girls and swimming on Christmas Day in sunny 80 degree weather. I remember opening presents on our patio and the coconut trees lining Waikiki Beach with christmas lights on them.  Making these cookies and eating them, really takes me back to my coconut filled memories of my youth.

 

Many of us are familiar with the traditional sweetened flaked coconut, but did you know unsweetened coconut existed?  It is still sweet and has wonderful flavor but you can decrease the amount of sugar in your recipes. You can also create coconut butter (in place of traditional butter) for your cookies. Place a 8 ounce bag of unsweetened coconut in a food processor for about 7-8 minutes.

 

 

The coconut flakes turn into this creamy butter that you will place into a mixing bowl.

 

 

To the coconut butter, you are going to add 1 cup of flaked unsweetened coconut.

 

 

To the coconut mixture, I like to texture of old fashioned oats. The more the merrier in my eyes. Add at least 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal. Feel free to go up to 2 cups if you love the texture.

 

 

Next is one of my favorite sweeteners, agave. Agave is not as sweet as honey or maple syrup, so it will not compete with the delcious coconut flavor.

 

Extracts are a great way to add more flavor to any recipe. In this recipe, I used vanilla extra and almond extract. If you wanted to change it up, substitute lemon extract for the almond.

 

 

Here comes my other favorite part, fresh raspberries. I think this is key to the recipe. You can use raspberry perserves instead of fresh, but you need to be careful with using too many fresh. There is a lot of water in fresh berries, so about 1/2 of a 6 ounces package is perfect.

 

Mash the raspberries gently with a fork.

 

Place into the cookie mixture and then you are going to fold the raspberries into the dough.

 

You do not want to completely mix it into the batter and you want it to be marbled.

 

The cookies will not spread when you bake them, so you can place them very close together. DON'T forget the parchment paper. I forgot it the first time I baked these beauties and it was a bit difficult to get them off the pan! 

 

I hope you bring the tropics into your home over the holidays with the smell of coconut in the air. I will close my eyes and feel the cool ocean breeze and sand between my toes as I dive into these cookies.

 

Mele Kalikimaka!

Raspberry Macaroons
Ingredients (30 cookies)

• 2 2/3 cup full fat shredded unsweetened coconut (one 8 oz. package) OR 1 cup of coconut butter
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup light agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
• 3 ounces fresh raspberries, lightly mashed or ½ cup low sugar raspberry preserves

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process 2 2/3 cups full fat shredded coconut for about 5-8 minutes, until a thick, smooth coconut butter forms, scraping down the sides as needed (this will yield about 1 cup of coconut butter).Combine the coconut butter and all of the remaining ingredients – except raspberries – in a bowl. Stir until well-combined. Fold in lightly-mashed raspberries until mixture is marbled… you don’t want the raspberries completely combined with the cookie dough.
Using a mini ice cream scoop or a small spoon, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet (no need to leave much room in between as they do not spread out). Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the bottoms of the macaroons are lightly browned. The macaroons will be very soft at this point.

Allow the macaroons to sit at room temperature on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until they firm up and cool down.

Adapted from:  http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/raspberry-coconut-oat-macaroons/

 

~Crazy