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Happy October! Coconut Cream Cheese Cookies

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My mother used to frequently admonish me with this saying... a man who looks at many trees seldom climbs even one.. This week, it has been something like that.. 4 different ideas all half complete.. Well make that 3 half complete, & the fourth (from yesterdays mega-inspiration), went through not one, but two fabulous versions. The first with a lemons worth of zest and the next, with cardamom, saffron & coconut.

This weeks recipe is an Indian inspired version of Merrill Stubbs' mothers iconic cream-cheese cookies. follow this link for the original version.

Photo credit: Jennifer Causey & Food52.com

While OOHing & aahing at this genius of a rich cookie gem, a lot of the food52 contributors came up with a list of variations for this simple recipe & my input was initially saffron & cardamom. Combined with another suggestion (indirectly from Merrill herself) of coconut, comes this unbelievably simple keeper.

Coconut cream cheese cookies (adapted from Merrill Stubbs recipe on Food52.com).

Ingredients: (makes ~ 24 cookies)

3 oz. Plain cream cheese at room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp saffron threads, crushed
1 tsp powdered cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp salt

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

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, sugar, salt, saffron & cardamom powder.


Cream using a beater or manually with a wooden spoon till light & & fluffy (~ 5-7 minutes).


Combine the coconut and the flour & mix just until the flour is completely incorporated into the batter.




Using a measuring tablespoon (or a small ice cream scoop), scoop out dollops of the cookie batter and gently place on the baking sheets.


Make sure you leave about 2-3 inches in between, Believe me this is important! or else the cookies tend to expand into one another as seen below!



 Bake for about 10-12 minutes till you notice the edges browning. Keep an eye on the oven to ensure that the underside of the cookie does not brown too much.



Remove from the oven, cool on a cookie rack. Goes great with a cup of hot coffee..

Bon appetit!
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Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 5, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    nice one - perfect for a wonderful day like today with some garma garam chai :)
    Hey, Niv, don't know if you have been on my blog - I am running a giveaway -lots of cool prizes - do check out!

    Cheers,
    Priya

    ReplyDelete
  2. PanfusineOctober 5, 2011 at 6:35 PM

    I LOVE your site Priya! generally get my updates from 'now serving' via Facebook!

    ReplyDelete

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