Kitchen Sink Cookies – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Cookie Palooza: Big Island Oatmeal Cookies

If you are dreaming of being somewhere warm during the colder months today’s Cookie Palooza cookie may help transport you there mentally. It’s an oatmeal cookie loaded with coconut, pineapples and macadamia nuts. All standard things you will find growing in Hawaii, hence the name, Big Island Oatmeal Cookies.

On my first attempt at making these cookies I used dried pineapple and I quickly learned that baking with dried pineapple is not like baking with dried cranberries or blueberries. The pineapple pieces dried out so instead of being chewy and adding flavor to the cookie they were a bit hard and had no flavor. On my second attempt I switched these things up and decided to use canned pineapple tidbits in pineapple juice that I drained. I also added in coconut extract to amp up the coconut flavor and opted not to chop the macadamia nuts. Also on my first attempt I chopped the macadamia nuts and they pretty much got decimated since they are so soft. When you bit into the cookie you really weren’t getting the crunch or taste of them.

So, with my tweaks, my cookies were perfectly loaded with pineapples, macadamia nuts and coconut in two forms. And the taste was exactly what I had hoped for. Not too sweet, the perfect amount of coconut flavor, a little crunch from the macadamia nuts and some added sweetness and taste from the pineapples. Also, because of the pineapples the cookies were incredibly moist. One of the reasons why it’s necessary to let them rest on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire to cool completely.

While these cookies may not have any of the standard flavors of the holiday season, they will be a welcome addition to your holiday baking menu. Yes, peppermint, sugar cookies, chocolate, etc. are delicious, but a little something different is good as well.

Big Island Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 3 Dozen
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Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 cups flour

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup macadamia nuts

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pineapple tidbits in juice, drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and both sugars with a hand mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the vanilla and coconut extract and beat until everything is well combine.

With the mixer on low add in the flour mixture.

Fold in the macadamia nuts, shredded coconut and pineapple tidbits.

Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are set, and the edges begin to brown.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Recipe first appeared on Bead Yarn & Spatula.

Cookie Palooza: Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookies

While many aspects of the holidays will be different this year due to COVID, one thing can remain the same… the baking. While cookie swaps may have to take a back seat this year that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the holiday goodies yourself and with those in your quarantine circle. With that being said welcome to Cookie Palooza 2020. Each day this week I will bring you a new cookie recipe that will hopefully make it on your holiday baking list. Up first a loaded oatmeal cookie. While the recipe called these a White Chocolate Chunk Cookie, I decided to refer to them as a Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookie for the title of this blog post thanks to the walnuts, coconut, golden raisins, white chocolate chips and of course oatmeal added to the dough. That’s quite a mouthful. And while the recipe for these cookies makes 4 dozen, you could easily halve the recipe to suit your needs.

Here’s a look of all of the add-ins together before I added them to the dough…

And what the dough looked like after stirring them all in.

And while these cookies do have a lot going on, not one thing overpowers the other. And don’t worry, if you are not a fan of coconut, you won’t even notice the coconut in the cookies. Or, you could just leave them out to be on the safe side.

White Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Servings: 4 dozen
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Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 cups old-fashioned oats

12oz. bag white chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl cream the butter and both sugars together with a hand mixer on medium speed until creamy. Mix in the eggs one at a time until combined and then stir in the vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, coconut, raisins and walnuts.

Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten the dough slightly. Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the cookies are golden. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

Cookie Palooza: Cranberry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome to day 4 of Cookie Palooza. Today’s cookie is basically a kitchen sink cookie. Don’t worry, there are no food scraps in this cookie, but, there are a bunch of add-ins, hence the kitchen sink analogy. There are pecans, dried cranberries, semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, oatmeal and coconut. And while I know many people are not a fan of coconut (it seems people either love it or hate it) don’t fear, this cookie does not have a coconut flavor. The coconut adds texture to the cookie. And I am sure I may have lost some of you already as I know people are not always fond of a cookie with texture, especially a cookie like this that already has so much going on, but, trust me, all of the ingredients work so well together you will forget that there may be an ingredient or two you don’t like. Unless you have an allergy to one of them of course.

I got this recipe from Food Network’s 50 Chocolate Chip Cookies, and while there were quite a few among those 50 that sounded yummy I opted to make this one because it reminded me of another cookie I like to make around the holidays, a White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookie, that I just realized I have never posted about. I’ll have to do that this holiday season as I am sure I will be making it again. Something I did realize though going through some old posts, I need to stop taking pictures at night. Unfortunately I do a lot of baking at night, but, I will have to refrain from taking picture then because they just do not post well.

The recipe called for 1/4 cupfuls of dough (about an ice cream scoop size) to make about 10 cookies, I opted to use a cookie scoop to make mine. Which yielded about 30 cookies. A nice amount to gift or to have on hand for a holiday guests.

Cranberry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup milk chocolate chips

2/3 cup old fashioned oats

2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until set around the edges. Let cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Food Network