Coconut Cranberry Chews

The Coconut Cranberry Chews (top left) that we put into our Trinity Christmas Cookie Boxes are so good that customers are requesting the recipe.

My friend Cheryl was searching for and testing recipes for our Trinity Christmas Cookie Box sale way back in October.

One of the first recipes Cheryl found and tested was one for Coconut Cranberry Chews. She baked a batch and brought them in for volunteers at the Wednesday Community Meal to taste test and there was no doubt that it had to be included in the boxes. Everyone loved them especially myself and Cheryl's husband Dave.

What I love about them is that they are dense, chewy and not too sweet. It's also downright hard to eat just one.

When I recently received this message from Christine —  "I'm waiting for the recipe for the EXTRAORDINARY cranberry sugar cookies that were in the cookie boxes. That has become my favorite cookie of all time," I had to comply.

Thanks to Cheryl, here is the recipe:

Coconut Cranberry Chews      
yields about 60 cookies

1½ cups butter at room temperature  (3 sticks)
2 cups  granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
3 ¼  cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups dried cranberries
3 cups  sweetened flaked dried coconut         

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large mixing bowl on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, orange zest and vanilla until smooth.  Beat in egg until well-blended.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in another bowl. Add to butter mixture, beating at low-speed until dough comes together. This sometimes takes as long as 5 minutes (*See note below).

Mix in cranberries and coconut. 

Shape dough into 1-inch balls ( I made mine a bit larger) and place 2-inches apart on parchment lined or greased cookie sheet.

Bake until cookies begin to brown on edges,  11 to 15 minutes.  The shorter time will yield a chewier cookie and the longer time, a crisper cookie.

Let cool 5 minutes on the pan and transfer to wire rack.

Note: The mixture may look dry until it comes together as a dough. If it's dry, it needs to be mixed longer.