This post is sponsored by Natural Delights.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is making gift boxes full of Christmas cookies. Every year, I pull out my tried and true sugar cookie, that trusty molasses cookie…those can’t-stop-at-one congo bars. These recipes are always a hit, but after years of baking them over and over, I’m looking for something new to add to the rotation. Something chewy, something chocolatey, something chunky—that everyone will love. Easy breezy, right?
Right.
Here’s my answer: Chewy chocolate chip cookies with coconut and Medjool dates. These are a loaded chocolate chip cookie recipe. They’re crispy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside, with sweetened flaked coconut, chopped high quality semi-sweet chocolate (you can always use chocolate chips to make life easier!), and pitted, chopped Natural Delights Medjool dates.
The cookie dough is rich and buttery, with warm brown sugar flavor. They bake up chewy and stay tender thanks to the sweetened flaked coconut and chopped Medjool dates.
Once baked, the dates have this incredible gooey, melting quality—not unlike the pockets of melted chocolate. And that’s another happy surprise—the Medjool dates mimic some of that rich chocolate flavor, too. While eating one of these cookies, there were many moments when I had to look down to see if the sweetness I was tasting was chocolate or date.
These coconutty, Medjool date-filled chewy chocolate chip cookies make the cut. Now, they’re ready to be boxed and wrapped!
If you try them, let me know! And if you make holiday cookies, what are your go-to recipes?
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut and Medjool Dates
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 ½ sticks
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 8 Natural Delights Medjool dates pitted and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter on high until melted, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the melted butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to overmix. Stir in the chopped chocolate, dates, and coconut. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. (The longer the better. Chilling helps cookies maintain thicker texture and ensures chewiness.)
- To bake: After chilling, let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes to allow the dough to soften enough to handle (it will still be hard when you work with it; just put some elbow grease into scooping the dough). Roll the dough into 24 even-sized balls (each roughly the size of a golf ball). Space 9 balls evenly on your baking sheet and flatten each of them slightly with your fingers. This will help them to evenly bake.
- Bake until the cookies are puffed and lightly golden brown, 13 to 14 minutes. They will look slightly underdone. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
these look wonderful with the dates and coconut, thought I’d made just about every chocolate chip cookie recipe until I saw these, thank you for this recipe!
I would’ve never thought of dates in my chocolate chip cookies… but with the addition of coconut, it sounds divine. I’m actually sitting here imagining how good it would! Yum!