Cookies For A Friend

Over the holidays, I met one of my favorite blogger friends- Maranda of Jolts & Jollies. She emailed me awhile back and we chatted back and forth. In our conversations I found out that she was also living in Texas, but was about to relocate to another state, following her army husband. I also learned that her mom and I lived in the same town and she was coming to visit for Christmas. That also meant that I was going to meet her too! yay!

Maranda and I at her friends' house.

She and her family were staying with friends in a neighboring town, so I offered to pick her up for a girls lunch. We went to a cute little English cafe for toasties, french press coffee and homemade shortbread. Maranda was a doll and far more beautiful than I ever expected. Upon meeting her, I wanted to give her a gift of homemade cookies (in fact, they're the only cookies I made this Christmas.) I knew she liked white chocolate, toffee and coconut so these cookies were the perfect fit. I never heard back whether or not she liked them, but I'm hoping that she did.

These cookies are adapted from one that my boss gave me ages ago. Her mom used to bake them and share with us during the holidays. I changed them up a bit and made them with dark chocolate last year, but this year I stuck to the original recipe but decided to add a handful of shredded and sweetened coconut for chew factor. You can omit the coconut if you like because they're just as good without it. They're buttery, crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle and addicting!

White Chocolate, Toffee & Coconut Cookies

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• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup toffee bits
• 1 pkg. (12 oz.) white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and both sugars together, then add egg and vanilla, stir.

Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt just til combined. Stir in toffee bits, white chocolate and coconut, if using.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 6 dozen