These chewy, chunky colourful cookies are positively addictive. The freshness and quality of the dried fruit and nuts is what makes or breaks these cookies. Try to find moist, preferably unsulphured fruit, sweet-tasting nuts and make sure the white chocolate is good.
For a change, substitute cashews or pistachios for the macadamia nuts and dried pineapple, banana or even dates for the mango. The cookies could be made smaller, but because there is so much good stuff in the dough, Regan Daley likes the hearty size!
White Chocolate Tropical Chunk Cookies
Makes 22 to 25 cookies
Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup good-quality white chocolate chips (or white chocolate chopped to about the size of chips)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts, preferably raw and unsalted
3/4 cup (about 18 to 20) dried apricots, chopped about the size of chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped dried mango, sweetened or unsweetened, preferably unsulphured (or substitute chopped dried papaya), chopped about the size of chocolate chips
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a heavy, not non-stick, baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly butter it. In the bowl of an electric or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl if mixing the cookie dough by hand, cream the butter and brown sugar together until well blended and smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in two additions, blending well after each. Fold in the coconut, white chocolate chips or chunks, macadamia nuts and dried fruit. At this point, there is nothing better with which to mix the dough than your hands. Get in there and scrunch the ingredients together until the chunky bits are evenly distributed and there are no clumps of non-studded batter.
Pinch off a piece of dough somewhere between the size of a walnut and a golf ball and roll it into a ball, packing tightly. Place it on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until the sheet is full, leaving 2 inches between each ball. Slightly flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass, then set the sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
Bake for 18 to 20minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, the bottoms are slightly darker and the tops still yield slightly when touched in the centre. For chewier cookies, bake for a little less time, for crunchier ones, leave them in a little longer—watch closely, though, the fruit, nuts and chocolate can burn easily if left too long. These cookies will keep in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week, if they aren’t devoured before then!
Courtesy of Regan Daley
Chef/Author of ‘In The Sweet Kitchen’
(416) 406-1506
www.regandaley.com