Coconut Cream Cheese White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut Cream Cheese White Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough June 4, 2019 from I'd Rather Bake Than

This was another cookie I made to go into the cookie bags for my coworkers. I've been meaning to make these for awhile but they had the random ingredient of 6 ounces of cream cheese and you know they come in 8-ounce blocks. I hate having leftover ingredients that may or may not be used.

But, in a serendipitous move, the Gluten-free Chocolate Chip cookies (experiment #2) that I made, also for the cookie care packages, needed 2 ounces of cream cheese so I could make both recipes and use up the whole cream cheese block without any waste.

Plus, I had some white chocolate chunks that was just enough to include in this recipe so using up the rest of the bag also meant one less thing to pack up and move.

Baking with white chocolate is always tricky. You have to bake the cookies long enough to actually bake but oftentimes, that also means the white chocolate chunks that are exposed to the heat turn brown. Not very attractive.

And I don't like white chocolate enough to bake with it enough to remember until too late that the best way around this conundrum is to tuck the white chocolate chunks into the dough so they're not exposed, bake the cookies then press more white chocolate chunks over the tops of the cookies right when you take them out of the oven.

The heat from the hot cookies will help the white chocolate chunks melt enough to adhere to the baked cookie but won't be hot enough to burn or brown the white chocolate. I have to remember that next time I make these or other white chocolate cookies.

These turned out pretty well. The dough was easy to work with, the cookies didn't spread that much and they were pretty tasty. Not a strong cream cheese flavor but the cream cheese definitely added to the smoothness of the cookie's texture. The coconut added to the chewiness and made for a nice flavor combination with the white chocolate.

If you like macadamia nuts, I'd recommend adding some so you go the full mile with white chocolate, coconut and macadamias.

3/8 cup (6 tablespoons, 85 grams) butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons cream cheese, softened, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup (150 grams) brown sugar
1 cup (60 grams) coconut
2 1/3 cups + 2 teaspoons (285 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips

1. Whisk together the melted butter with the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Mix in the egg and egg yolk then add the sugar, mixing until creamy and combined.
2. Add in the flour, baking powder and baking soda, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in coconut and white chocolate chips. Chill dough if soft. Otherwise, portion into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheets for several minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.