Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut…let me count the ways I love you. Your creamy tenderness, your crispy crunch, your tropical dreams and wondrous ways… oh, how I love thee.

Last week, I found a good deal on Amazon to restock on coconut oil. I discovered coconut oil a few years ago when dabbling in the traditional foods diet (i.e. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats). I spent a lot of time on Mothering.com and with a bunch of local crunchies trying to find the proper way to feed my daughter and myself. It was a lot of work and not much fun. You should go thank your grandmothers and great-grandmothers right now for all the sacrifices they made–they spent far more time in the kitchen than you ever will. I’ll wait…

I took what worked for us from the experience and left the rest behind. No regrets–I’m glad I tried cooking and eating traditionally, even if I couldn’t do it more than for one month–but it wasn’t something I could maintain. I just don’t have the dedication to it. Plus I like baking and that’s a huge no-no in a traditional foods diet. Boo!

In any case, rather than be a Gollum and covet my precioussss fresh supply of coconut oil,  hidden in the cabinet above the sink, I decided to make use of it right away. I pulled out my trusty Toll House recipe and got to work, tweaking it to my liking to accommodate the coconut-y dreams in my head. There is a fantastic fragrance from this dough and the flavor is a great complement to the chocolate chips and pecans without overpowering them. Adding shredded coconut didn’t affect the texture too much, though I’m sure coconut-haters would complain. It’s almost like a candy bar cookie. I’ll be working on adapting this to a cookie dough that can be (safely) eaten raw next… it’s delicious!