Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies!

These are a delicious alternative to traditional chocolate chip cookies.  I tend to make these cookies on the chewy side, but you can cook them an extra minute or two and they'll crisp right up, which is equally delicious.   I find I often need to use white rice flour in cookies, since the more robust flours can be too strong for the cookie, but in this case, brown rice flour works perfectly to accompany the coconut and chocolate chips.  These were a tasty treat at our picnic on the beach. Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven and smelling fantastic!

Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 15-18 large cookies or ~36 small cookies.

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

Cream the following:

½ cup butter

¾ cup light brown sugar

Then add and mix lightly:

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

In a separate bowl, mix together:  (you want to mix gluten-free flours with xanthan gum before adding it to the wet ingredients, so you don’t get clumping)

¾ cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 Tbsp potato starch

½ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mix just until combined.

Fold in:

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup sweetened flaked coconut

Drop 1 Tbsp-sized scoops of cookie dough, spacing generously because these do spread quite a bit OR drop 2 Tbsp-sized scoops of cookie dough 3-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets, 6-7 cookies per cookie sheet because of spreading.

These are the smaller sized cookies. You can see how much they spread in the picture below.

Bake smaller cookies 7-9 minutes and larger cookies 9-11 minutes at 350F, until nicely browned.  For a crispier cookie, you can cook them a minute or two longer. Watch them closely near the end, since each oven is different and these tend to brown quickly towards the end. 

I cooked these to a lighter brown, for a chewier cookie. They're equally delicious cooked a little longer for a crispier crunch. 

Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes on pan before removing to wire rack to cool. 

Enjoy!