Coconut Chocolate Cookies from the Oakwood Inn B & B

Cookie Course

By Bridgette A. Lacy, Staff Writer New & Observer, Appearred in section E, Wed, Dec., 12, 2007.

Shhh. It's Christmastime. If you listen close you can hear it.
No, it's not the clatter of reindeer hooves on the roof. It's the whir of thousands of mixers churning up dough fvor the millions of Christmas cookies that will soon fill tins and stretch bellies across the land.
Knowing that many of you are firing up your ovens right about now, we offer a few well-tested Christmas cookie recipes from fellow bakers. Use them for inspiration or simply take solace in knowing that others just like you are toiling away, turning out their own batches of Christmas cheer
Gary Jurkiewicz's cookies are so good they can keep people up at night. A guest at the Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast in Raleigh, which Jurkiewicz co-owns, once had to turn down his morning meal after helping himself to a full dozen of the innkeeper's cookies during the night. After tasting Jurkiewicz's Coconut Chocolate Chip cookies, which he shares here, we understand.
As a boy, Jurkiewicz loved helping his stay-at-home mother with the cleanup after she made cookies and cakes. With the smell of sweet pastries baking in the oven filling the kitchen, Jurkiewicz did his part: "I got to lick the spoon." It was the start of a love affair with baking that continues. Now a pharmacist and innkeeper, Jurkiewicz delights his daughters and his guests with his baked goods.

(This is an excerpt of an article written on cookie recipes. If you'd like to read the entire article go to: http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/824910.html

Here is Gary's own original recipe for Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Gary's Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups sweetened coconut, toasted (6 ounces)
1-1/4 cups vegetable shortening (8 ounces)
3/4 cup sugar (5.5 ounces)
1-1/4 cups brown sugar, packed (9.5 ounces)
3 cups cake flour (13 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons coconut extract
2 tablespoons French vanilla yogurt
2-2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (16 ounces)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Put coconut flakes on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Keep an eye on them, and bake until 2/3 of the coconut turns a light to medium tan, from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Do not get the coconut too brown or it will become dry. Let cool.Mix shortening in the bowl of a mixer until it turns smooth. Add sugar and brown sugar, and mix until light and fluffy.Sift together the cake flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed shortening and sugar mixture. Mix on medium speed. Add vanilla, coconut extract and yogurt. Mix thoroughly.Set mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture allowing all ingredients to combine well. The mixture should be wet but not runny.Using a spatula, hand fold in the chocolate chips until mixed thoroughly. Then hand fold in the coconut until all of the ingredients are mixed well. The batter will be a little drier because the coconut absorbs some of the moisture.Put dough into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.Drop 2-tablespoonful-scoops of dough onto ungreased baking sheets, allowing about 21/2 inches between scoops. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until edges and tops of cookies lightly brown. Check the cookies after about 6 or 7 minutes and, if needed, rotate the baking sheets for even browning. Do not overbake as it will dry the cookie out.Remove cookies from oven and let set for 2 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets onto baker's rack and let cool for about 2 hours. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 45 21/2-inch cookies; analysis is per cookie.
Per serving: calories, 180; fats, 10 grams (46% of calories); cholesterol, 9 milligrams; carbohydrate, 24 grams; fiber, 1 gram; protein, 2 grams; sodium, 63 milligrams; sugar, 16 grams.
Source: Gary L. Jurkiewicz