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Coconut-Cranberry Chews




Source of Recipe


Nancy Jamison submitted to Sunset Magazine


Recipe Introduction


Nancy Jamison was right when she wrote us that these cookies are addictive. We loved their combination of coconut, cranberries, and orange. In fact, these straightforward, tasty rounds are everything a holiday cookie should be. The mixture will look dry until it comes together as a dough.

Important: If it's too crumbly to form into balls, the dough needs to be mixed longer; it should be a smooth, homogeneous mass. *


List of Ingredients




1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) unsalted butter , at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked dried coconut



Recipe



1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 1/2 cups butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla until smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Mix in cranberries and coconut.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.

4. Bake in a 350� regular or convection oven until cookie edges just begin to brown, 8 to 11 minutes (shorter baking time will yield a chewier cookie; longer baking time will yield a crispier cookie). If baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.

YIELD: 6 Dozen Cookies


*TIPS
Coconut-Cranberry Chews


This recipe makes an unusually heavy dough that appears dry and crumbly at the beginning of mixing time, so some of our readers encountered problems mixing the dough thoroughly. These pointers should help:

When measuring the ingredients, be sure to spoon the flour into a cup and level it off with a knife rather than scooping, which tends to pack the flour into the measuring cup. It will make a big difference with these cookies

This dough requires a heavy duty mixer to fully incorporate it into a smooth mass. If the dough is not thoroughly mixed, it will be difficult to form into balls, and might not spread out in the oven.

Starting with soft butter will make it easier to mix the dough thoroughly (in cold weather you can microwave the butter for a few seconds to soften it, or let it soften next to or on top of the preheating oven). If you are using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar together with the mixer, and then work in the flour with a heavy wooden spoon. You may need to knead the dough by hand until it comes together without feeling crumbly.

If the dough has been thoroughly mixed, the cookies will spread out toward the end of baking time. Make sure your oven is at the correct temperature (it�s a good idea to check the temperature with a thermometer on a middle rack). If they have not spread out in 11 minutes, check them again after 1 or 2 minutes.