I know that posting a new cookie recipe in July, in the middle of a heatwave, seems like a bad idea, but go with me on this one, please. I promise you, these cookies are worth turning the oven on for.

Coconut is one of those polarizing ingredients, much like cilantro. People either seem to love it or hate it. I am #teamcoconut all the way. These cookies were inspired by Martha’s Coconut Chip cookies. 

I tried Martha’s recipe but found that the cookies spread way too much. They were too chewy from all that coconut and the bottom got way too dark before the top of the cookie finished baking. They were good, but not quite blog worthy. I was going away for the weekend, so I tossed them into the freezer and decided I would play around with proportions and remake them the following week. My daughter and 7 of her friends discovered them in the freezer and polished them off, saying they were the best cookies ever. One of them described them as “juicy”. I am assuming that was the extra-chewy quality of these cookies.

I tinkered with the recipe and added more flour so that they did not spread as much. I reduced the amount of coconut and added in some chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chunks. I believe that coconut, macadamia and white chocolate are the baking holy trinity.
For the coconut, use unsweetened coconut chips.  An ice cream scoop makes quick work of portioning the cookies. You want them all exactly the same size so that they bake evenly.
White chocolate, on its own, can be cloyingly sweet. But pair it with buttery, crunchy macadamia nuts and that’s when the magic happens. Add coconut to the mix and you have a home run. Chewy, nutty, crunchy, these cookies have it all. I would imagine that a scoop of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between 2 of these may be just what you need to beat the heat.

Or just have one with a cold glass of milk.

Click here to print recipe for Tropical Coconut Cookies.