A Tropical Party In Your Mouth

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies. Let that sink in for a minute. Sugar cookies that are crisp on the edges, yet soft and chewy in the middle, that have shredded coconut and zesty lime in them. Yes please! As my friend said, these were a tropical party in her mouth. I've wanted to make coconut lime cookies for awhile now. Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod shared them on her blog last year and I was set to make them until I saw a different recipe on Foodbuzz shared by Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures. Tracey made both versions and said these were the best she had tasted. Well that solves that problem!

I made these a couple weeks ago and I was intrigued by them because they have a couple ingredients that set them apart from other sugar cookies. Firstly, there's cream cheese in them that contributes to their softness. And there's a combination of melted butter and vegetable (or canola) oil in these that helps with the ever slight crispness on the edges and the chewiness in the center of the cookie. Finely chopped shredded coconut also plays a large part of the texture here as well. The taste of the coconut was really subtle but it was the lime zest that was the star. Because of the softened cream cheese, the melted butter and the oil, the cookie dough was really soft, so handle these as little as possible and work quickly.

I have to tell you a funny story about these cookies though. I shared a few with a couple different friends as well as my mother. My friends ate theirs slowly, savored them and shared only with a select (lucky) few, declared them fantastic, then regretted sharing them because they were gone so quickly. My mom opened up her plastic baggie of cookies, inspected them and asked if I had dropped them on the ground before giving them to her. She saw flecks of lime zest in the cookies and thought it was grass! ha ha! Don't really know if that was a compliment or not, but as least our grass is green and not brown :-)

Chewy Coconut-Lime Sugar Cookies from Cook's Illustrated via Tracey's Culinary Adventures

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• 2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
• 2 oz. cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm
• 1/3 cup vegetable (or canola) oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, coconut, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar, the lime zest, and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet). Put the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a pie plate and set aside. Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine - the mixture won't be completely smooth yet, that's fine. Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk and lime juice. Mix until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet, until a soft dough comes together.

Portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop, using about 2 tablespoons for each cookie. Working quickly (if you handle the dough too much you're more likely to wind up with flat cookies), roll the dough into a ball with your hands then roll in the sugar set aside in the pie plate previously. Repeat until you've used all of the dough, placing 9 cookies on each baking sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the remaining sugar in the pie plate, using about 2 teaspoons per sheet of cookies.

Bake the cookies, 1 tray at a time, for about 11-13 minutes, or until the edges are set and beginning to brown. The tops will be puffy and slightly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.

Makes 24-28 cookies.

I had my cookies with a refreshing limeade. Pour chilled Sprite into a glass filled with ice. Squeeze fresh lime into Sprite and stir. Garnish with a girly umbrella straw.

For a cherry limeade- Make drink as above, add marachino cherry syrup (from the jar) as well as a few whole cherries. Enjoy!

Reaching Into The Archives

I'm reaching into the archives today for this recipe. I made this bread back in August of last year and forgot to post it, then winter came along and it didn't seem very seasonal to share then and it just got lost in the shuffle. And since zucchini is plentiful at the moment, it just seemed like a good time to share this with you. I'm sure many of you have recipes that are backlogged....right? Please tell me I'm not the only one! I hope not, because there are more where this one came from.

Now that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy in the kitchen, because I have. In the past couple weeks, I made almond jam bars for a friend, chewy coconut lime cookies (that I'll share soon!), Mr. H's grandmother's homemade vanilla ice cream, and today I made a rustic apple pie with a secret ingredient. I'll share all of those recipes in due time, but today it's about a simple tea bread flecked with vibrant orange and green veggies- carrots and zucchini.

The original recipe was for two loaves of bread so I cut it in half to make one. It also called for a handful of candied ginger, but since I'm not a fan of the sweet heat, I left it out. Please feel free to include it in your loaf if that's what you fancy. I liked this bread because it was simple in flavor, not too sweet, and had a nice texture thanks to the shredded veg. Just like carrot cake or other zucchini breads, the carrots and zucchini add a healthful aspect and moisture without tasting like you're eating vegetables. It would be a nice addition to a bread basket, great with coffee or tea and a breakfast treat you don't have to feel guilty about. This would make great muffins too.

Carrot Zucchini Bread adapted from Baking With Lisa Printer Friendly Version

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
• 1/4 cup minced candied ginger, optional
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated carrots
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease an 8.5×4.5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda. Whisk in the salt and candied ginger, if using.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and foamy. Add the canola oil, sugar, and vanilla, whisking hard until well combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in the carrots and zucchini.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir/fold until just blended. Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for about 1 hour, until the loaf is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

The Cake Slice: Baking With Maranda

I have a special "Cake Slice" cake for you today. "What makes it so special?" you may be asking yourself. It's special because I got to co-bake with my fellow Cake Slice Baker- Maranda of Jolts & Jollies! I first met Maranda in person back in December when she was visiting family and friends over the holidays. We wanted to bake together but time was limited. Lucky for me, she just moved back to Texas a few weeks ago, so hanging out together in the kitchen was finally possible.

Every month we get to vote on a selection of cakes and usually there is a definitive winner. However, this month there was a tie between Lime Chiffon Cake and Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips so we got to choose which one we wanted to bake. Maranda made one and I made the other. So today, you get two recipes for the price of one!

Maranda actually made her cake a couple times. She had issues with the first one and wasn't so pleased with it, but the second one came out beautifully- it was tall, light and airy. She even added a glaze to it to send it over the top. The step by step recipe for the Lime Chiffon Cake can be found on her blog- Jolts & Jollies.

My strawberry white chocolate chip cake came together really quickly and effortlessly. I did forget to dust my strawberries in flour before I folded them in, but it turned out just fine. The fresh strawberry flavor came through, there were sweet little buttery pockets from the white chocolate chips, and the lemon zest, was just enough to brighten it up without making it taste like lemon. It was really moist from the addition of the sour cream and I thoroughly enjoyed this cake. So much that I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast a couple days in a row :-) It was a little plain jane looking, but a little sweetened whipped cream and a strawberry garnish go a long way.

Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cake from Cake Keeper Cakes

Printer Friendly Version

• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 oz. strawberries, stemmed and sliced
• 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra. Set aside.

Combine the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla in a large glass measuring cup and lightly beat. Combine 1 1/4 cups. flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

With the mixture on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixture once or twice to scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixture on low speed and add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Combine the strawberries and remaining 1/4 cup of flour in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Fold the flour covered berries along with the chocolate chips into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. (I let mine cool in the pan). Cut into 9 squares and serve.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Be sure to check out all the other Cake Slice Bakers' cakes!