“Hurricane Irene” Cookies from Tate’s Bake Shop

I have been on a seeeerious cookie kick for the past couple weeks months. Chocolate chip cookies, confetti cookies, oatmeal cookies, cranberry cookies, minty cookies, pumpkin cookies, salty cookies, Oreo cookies.

Cookie Monster = me. Me = Cookie Monster.

So when the awesome people behind Tate’s Bake Shop asked me if I wanted a copy of Kathleen King’s newest cookbook, Baking for Friends, and the chance to share a recipe with my readers, I was like, DOLLLLAAA MAKE ME HOLLLAAAA honey boo boo chiiild.

In other words, yes.

After bookmarking 75 recipes I wanted to try out (and making a delicious white chocolate cranberry loaf for Thanksgiving), I decided I wanted to share the “Hurricane Irene” cookies with you.

Because basically, they are just a compost dump for every delicious thing you might have in your cabinets. Chocolate chips? Check. Toasted pecans? Check. Coconut flakes? Got it. Toffee bits? Uuuhhhh HUH.

I also added some coffee grounds and cinnamon chips because I am a crazy cookie monstah.

To give a bit more background on the “Hurricane Irene” name, Kathleen notes, “In 2011, on the morning of Hurricane Irene, I felt that we might need some comforting cookies in the house, so I created a cookie with what was on hand. It turned out fantastic, chubby with lots of good stuff. At first bite, my son Justin remarked, ‘Oh, don’t give these to anyone!‘”

Exaaaactly. Except I’m giving you the recipe ’cause I just love ya oh so much! Feel free to add whatever delicious bits you happen to have hanging around 🙂

Hurricane Irene Cookies (reprinted with permission from Tate’s Bake Shop Baking for Friends)

yield: ~4 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned (rolled) oats
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (not desiccated; available at natural food stores or online)*
• 1 cup toasted and coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup toffee bits

Directions

1. Position the oven racks in the top third and center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer set on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. One at a time, beat in the eggs, followed by the water and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the oat mixture, just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, and toffee bits.
3. Using 2 tablespoons per cookie, drop the dough 3 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. (Or use a 1-ounce food portion scoop to scoop the dough onto the baking sheets.) Refrigerate the remaining dough while you bake the first batch.
4. Bake, rotating the positions, of the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned, about 17 minutes.** The cookies should be soft; do not overbake. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough, on cooled baking sheets.

*I didn’t have any unsweetened coconut flakes, so I used sweetened shredded coconut.

**My oven might run hot, but my cookies only needed to bake for about 14 minutes.

Advertisement