Another Levain Bakery Copycat recipe! This Caramel Coconut Chocolate Cookie is the ultimate cookie with all of the best ingredients in one gigantic cookie!
Ingredients
1cupunsalted butter, slightly softened, cut into tablespoons
3/4cupdark or light brown sugar, packed
1/2cupsugar
2eggs
1teaspooncoconut extract
1cupcake flour
2cupsall purpose flour* see notes
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsea salt
2cupscoconut, heaping, sweetened
2cupssemi sweet chocolate chips* see notes
111-ozbag Kraft Caramel Bits, or 1 1/2 cups caramels, chopped
Instructions
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees and set rack in middle of oven.
Place butter into bowl and turn mixer on low. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
Add sugars and beat butter until smooth on medium speed. This should take about 1 minute (or less). Mix until the butter is completely blended with the sugar and is no longer visible in pieces.
Add the eggs and coconut extract and beat on medium just until incorporated with butter and sugars, scraping down sides of the bowl 1-2 times during mixing.
Turn the mixer off. Add the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut, chocolate and caramel bits. Pulse the dry ingredients on low until the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together.
Fold the dough together by hand a few times (using hands or spatula) until all of the chocolate chips, coconut and caramel bits are distributed in the dough evenly.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces about 5-6 oz each. use your hands to pick pieces of dough from bowl. Do not use a cookie or ice cream scoop. The cookies are meant to be roughly shaped. Do not flatten the dough, each dough piece should stand about 3 inches high before baking.
Bake 4-5 cookies per pan, for 9-10 minutes on regular bake OR 400 convection bake for 7-8 minutes. Do not over bake!
The cookies are done when the top crust is formed and is lightly golden and the bottom is also golden. There should not be wet or shiny spots on the top of the cookie.
Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
It is important to preheat the oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking.
If you do not have cake flour, use 3 cups all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
to make cake flour at home, use this simple method: Measure out 1 cup of all purpose flour into a medium size mixing bowl. Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and place back in the flour container. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour in mixing bowl. Sift the flour and cornstarch mixture. Sift again about 3-4 more times. You now have cake flour! Place in a bag or container and use as needed.
I buy chocolate chips in bulk at Orson Gygi and scoop my semi sweet chips out of a jar. This recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips. Most bags of chocolate chips are 11-12 oz or closer to 1 1/2 cups of chips, for this recipe, add enough chocolate chips to equal 2 cups total.
Refrigerating dough for 30-45 minutes after shaping and before baking is recommended if the cookies flatten out more than desired and especially if baking in a regular bake and not a convection bake oven.