Chunky Lola Cookies

I think I've mentioned before that every year my mom gives me a new cook book for Christmas. She puts quite a bit of though & research into each one, flipping through the pages and reading the recipes to ensure that its a good one. The cook books have ranged from ones that she grew up with (Betty Crocker's Cooky Book circa 1963, which contains many of our family favorites) to the latest Southern Living.

This year, she gave me Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery and Cafe. It is FULL of tasty looking treats (that can't be good for ones figure) from bakery owner, Joanne Chang. I've bookmarked several recipes that are "must makes" including Brioche, Raspberry Crumb Bars, Milky Way Tart and Brown Sugar Popovers. The thing I love most about this book is that it contains recipes for classic baked goods with very detailed instructions. Joanne walks you through every recipe, step-by-step, paying great attention to detail. If you've never baked before, I would highly recommend this book.

I'd been dying to bake something all weekend, so on Sunday I flipped though the book to see if I had all of the ingredients on hand to make any of the cookie recipes. Sure enough, I had everything needed to make the Chunky Lola Cookies (with the exception of pecans, which I decided could be omitted this time around). Chunky Lola Cookies are a tasty combination of oatmeal, coconut & chocolate chips. What's not to love?? They turned out great and were actually even better the 2nd day.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp butter, room temperature
* 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used double)
* 1 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp kosher salt
* 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I just used 1 bag mini chocolate chips)
* 1 1/4 cups pecan halves, toasted & chopped
* 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut


Directions:

Note: I'm going to summarize the directions. If I went into as much detail as the cookbook, we'd be here all day.

1. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light & fluffy, scraping down sides as needed.


2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add the chocolate, pecans and coconut and toss to combine.


4. With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix just until the flour is totally incorporated.


5. For the best results, scrape dough into an airtight container and refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hrs) before baking.

6. Preheat the oven to 350. Drop the dough in 1/4 cup balls onto a baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand.


7. Bake 20 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center. Let the cookies cook on a baking sheet on a cooling rack for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove with a spatula.


My Tid-Bits:

* I baked one sheet of cookies using 1/4 cup per cookie and they came out HUGE. So for the next sheet, I pulled out my cookie scoop and used about a heaping Tbsp. per cookie. I reduced the bake time to 10-11 minutes.