16 Dec Coconut Gingeroons with White Chocolate Drizzle
Do you love the spicy bite of gingerbread men? Do you squeee!! at their cute little candy buttons and bowties, and dawww as you connect their tiny gingerman hands with dainty little gingerwoman hands because, they love each other (!!!)? Do you find yourself feeling guilty for biting off their cute little bald ginger heads and feets while simultaneously wishing you were somewhere on a tropical island, as far away from all of this f*$%ing cold weather as possible? And finally, do you pop coconut macaroons like they’re candy, relishing in their crisp golden outsides and soft chewy insides, knowing that there is rare a cookie that produces the same level of confectionary bliss?
Well my friends, if you answered a resounding “YES!” to one or more of the above (and even if you didn’t) then these cookies are for you! A cross between a classic gingerbread cookie and a coconut macaroon, Coconut Gingeroons are the perfect blend of Christmas festivity and get-me-the-heck-outta-winter-and-to-a-tropical-island-stat! And added bonus: no cookie-man beheadings.
I made these cookies for this year’s Food Blogger Cookie Swap, a nationwide cookie exchange event that’s becoming somewhat of a tradition around here. There’s still something about receiving a piece of snail mail that brings me a childlike thrill. My name hand written on the envelope, a cute sticker or illustration tucked into a corner, even the dried spit around the envelope glue. It’s all very personal and old-fashioned-y and well, rare in this day and age. I aspire to some day be a person who sends real, paper greeting cards for all major holidays. Somebody like my Aunt Debi (shout out! xo!). Just as soon as I get my shit together…
Anyway, back to childlike enthusiasm and that snail mail. Take a moment to imagine that handwritten envelope I just described is a box (even more exciting!) perhaps wrapped in butter wrapping paper (just like the box I got from Leah), give it a little shake (sounds like cookies?), and now open it veerry carefully because you want to save that butter wrapping paper for later. Now celebrate! There are COOKIES INSIDE!
During the #fbcookieswap this happens not once, not twice, but three times!…from complete strangers!…who took the time to make you cookies!!!! Awesomeness. If you have a food blog and you’re not participating…well then, bah humbug!
These Coconut Gingeroons are an old recipe of my mom’s that we found in the back of her dingy, “retro” 1970’s olive green recipe box (I love it) while looking for cookie inspiration. The recipe, which was shared by an old coworker of hers, and is written on a yellowed, tattered notecard, says to bake the cookies at 357F. That’s how I knew it was going to be a winner. Mom’s rushed chicken scratch + an old notecard that she assumably found in the back of a desk drawer somewhere + covered in oil stains + speaks baker nonsense (357F?) = all sure signs that only good cookies will follow. Right?
Ok, so maybe it was a risk. But it’s one that I’m glad I took. These cookies are delightfully soft and chewy, with a healthy dose of spice and just a hint of ground coriander to add a little something different. And while coconut may seem an unusual choice to add to gingerbread, trust me, it’s a winning combination.
But enough about the cookies I made, let’s chat about the ones I received. All three of the batches I received this year were delicious, inspiring and beautifully packaged. I seriously couldn’t have been more impressed by the wonderful ladies I was paired with. A huge thanks to Laurie, Leah and Lisa for the irresistable cookies! (But maybe not the extra 5 lbs.) I’ve included cookie photos and links to their blogs below. Aren’t they beautiful?!
1. Cinnamon-Coconut Cookies with Orchidea Chips from Laurie at Baking Adventures in a Messy Kitchen
2. Spiced Yule Log Cookies with Meringue Mushrooms from Leah at Leah’s Life
3. Chocolate Mint Truffle Snowballs from Lisa at Cooking With Curls
I’ve got a break in the cookie madness coming up on Thursday — I’ll be sharing my next guest post for Lark & Linen. You’re going to want to see this one, so stay tuned!
XO, Katie
A Few Notes About This Recipe
The original recipe calls for the dough to be rolled into balls and then in sugar. I opted to skip the rolling and instead use a cookies scoop then drizzled with white chocolate for added sweetness, but if sugar-coating is more your thing, go for it!
These cookies puff up in the oven so I would not recommend rolling or scooping your dough into balls larger than one inch.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut
- 6 oz. white chocolate, melted
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and beat again until well combined. With the mixed on low, add in the flour mixture slowly and mix until smooth. Fold in the coconut then chill the dough for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a small cookie scoop or roll into 1 inch balls. You want to keep the balls fairly small, no larger than 1 inch, because they will puff in the oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and edges begin to set.
- Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once cool, drizzle with melted white chocolate.
- Store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
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Posted at 20:46h, 17 December[…] looking for an awesome dessert, I’m drooling over this cinnamon dark chocolate rugelach and these gingerbread coconut macaroons. DAMN Hanukkah, lookin’ […]
Wendy
Posted at 12:42h, 20 DecemberThese look beautiful (your photos are wonderful) and sound delicious! I never thought of combining coconut with ginger, but now that you suggest it, I am craving it! 🙂 I am so glad i found your blog and this recipe from the #fbcookieswap!
Wendy recently posted…Double Dipped Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
KWahlman
Posted at 12:57h, 21 DecemberThank you, Wendy! Love love love the #fbcookieswap!
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Posted at 10:00h, 25 February[…] Favorites: Coconut Gingeroons with White Chocolate Drizzle, Strawberry + Marzipan Hand Pies, Cranberry, Dark Chocolate & Pistachio Cinnamon […]
Kathleen Marks
Posted at 11:26h, 01 DecemberHi Katie, I realize that this post is a year old, but I’m hoping that you’ll see my question and answer it. These cookies sound amazing, and just what I want for my church ladies’ cookie swap, but can you give me an idea of how many cookies the recipe makes? Obviously, for a cookie swap, one needs to know how many times to increase the recipe. I’m thinking maybe 3 dozen, but I’d like to hear from someone (you) who has made them! Thanks, and Merry Christmas … ♡♥
KWahlman
Posted at 14:15h, 01 DecemberHi Kathleen! So glad to hear you’re going to make these! If you make the cookies around 1-inch in size (they puff up) you should get 3-4 dozen cookies minimum. I apologize I don’t have a more exact answer, when I made the recipe for the blog I made several different sizes to test which I preferred. When I remake them this year, I’ll make sure to update the recipe. Merry Christmas!
Kathleen Marks
Posted at 22:34h, 01 DecemberThanks Katie, that’s fine. If I double the recipe, I’ll have 6 minimum, which is what I need, so this is good. I’ll post again after I make them! I’m so excited…this is my very first cookie swap… Yup! Old enough to have a grown son and I’ve never participated in a cookie swap!
Kathleen Marks
Posted at 15:17h, 08 DecemberI made them today. Doubled the recipe because I needed 8 dozen, so I ended up with 14 dozen, which is awesome, because…the fam! I do think that they could benefit with the addition of a bit of vanilla, but I sprinkled some ginger sugar over the tops and …POW!
Kathleen Marks
Posted at 13:38h, 21 DecemberI made them again today, and I need to suggest an additional teaspoon of ginger. It made all the difference! I also made them a little bigger, and I got 4 1/2 dozen from the single recipe! This is going in my permanent file!
KWahlman
Posted at 15:48h, 21 DecemberThanks for the feedback, Kathleen! I’ll definitely try upping the ginger next time around — I feel like it’s one of those spices that some people LOVE and some people prefer in small doses, but since these are called GINGERoons, I suppose we’re safe to go all out! So glad to hear these are going in the permanent file!