Crispy coconut cookies

I have always been attracted to the 'light as feather', 'melt in the mouth' coconut cookies that line up the displays of any bakery in the city. At the same time, I am always a bit reluctant to but these from shops as we never know how long they have been sitting on the shelf for.

Coconut is one ingredient which tastes amazing when fresh, however as the cookies age the coconut may impart the typical coconut-oil smell which is slightly off-putting if you are not used to cooking in coconut oil.

I decided to give these a try and the beauties were absolutely worth it.

The cookies have a good shelf life if stored in an airtight cookie jar and will hold up nicely for more than a week. However, that is highly unlikely unless you are making a monster batch.

I will only say this - my first batch produced 20 cookies, out of which 12 were gone in a matter of minutes under the pretext of 'let me just try the taste'.

Below is my recipe which can give 20-24 cookies (depending on the size). This can easily be doubled, or just knead the next batch when first one is in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain flour

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2-4 tablespoons milk

• Additional 2-3 tablespoons desiccated coconut

Method:

1. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix coconut and keep aside.

2. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar with a hand whisk for about 4-5 minutes. Add vanilla and whisk.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mix and lightly whisk in.

4. The flour mix will be mixed in about 3-4 increments. Thereafter use your hands to knead into a light dough, adding milk in small additions as required.

5. Look for a dough which is lightly coming together with the help of milk and not for a liquid/pouring consistency

6. Divide the dough into 20-24 small balls. Slightly flatten from top and roll both sides in coconut

7. Place on a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for 10 mins - this step is required to ensure that the cookies don't spread too thin while baking

8. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and bake for 16-18 minute, changing direction of the pan mid-way through.

9. The cookies will be slightly soft to touch in the centre when taken out of the oven. They will firm up as they cool on a wire rack. Resist the temptation to bake all the way through as it will result in hard cookies.