Toasted Coconut and M&M Oatmeal Cookie

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod's Cinnamon M&M Oatmeal Cookie.

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1/2 c. Unsalted butter, room temperature
3/8 c. Brown sugar
3/8 c. White sugar
1 Egg
2 tsp Vanilla
1 c. All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 c. Rolled oats
1 c. Unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
1/4 c. Flax seeds
1/2 c. M&M's
1/2 c. Milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Using a non-stick frying pan, toast the coconut flakes until golden brown on low to medium heat.  Once the browning process begins, stir frequently to ensure even toasting and remove quickly from heat as soon as the coconut is toasted.  This takes only a few minutes.  Toast only 1/4 to 1/2 cup of coconut flakes at a time, depending on the size of your pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, rolled oats, flax seeds and toated coconut flakes.  Set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and combine well.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Fold in the M&M's and chocolate chips.  Drop ~ 1 Tbsp of cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet, placing each dough 2" apart.  If you have extra M&M's, press 2-3 M&M's on top of each cookie.

Bake for 10-13 min.  The bottom and edges should be golden brown.  Transfer to cooling rack.

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My comments:

Wow! 2011 has come and almost gone.  I can't believe I survived this whirlwind year and live to tell the tales: mat leave, going back to work, selling the old house and buying a new one, moving, housewarming party, job searches, new stand mixer, Christmas...  Phew!!!  What A Busy Year!!

Despite of the madness, I managed to get into my kitchen occasionally and I got my hands dirty.  Well, alright, who am I kidding..."occasionally".  Ha! That's a laugh!  I was in my kitchen more than I had time for.  Particularly since I got my new stand mixer, which happened just before Christmas.  And we all know Christmas is not Christmas without baking.  In my case, I went a bit crazy and I baked for 3 weeks straight.  Hubby was starting to complain.

This M&M Oatmeal cookie is the last recipe of 2011 and the first post of 2012.  I think you will not be disappointed with this recipe.  It's delicious...and somewhat healthy.  I am usually not a big fan of oatmeal cookies.  I like them ok, whether they are made with chocolate chips or raisins, but I just don't care much for them.  They seem so boring!!  But I love how these cookies turned out - soft chewy centre with a crunchy bottom.  I have to thank my 3-yr-old son for this idea; he was the one who wanted to make M&M cookies because he has a little obsession with M&Ms (or Smarties).

I cheated a little with the butter: I had 1/4 cup salted butter and 1/4 cup unsalted butter.  So I figured, "What the heck! I might as well use them both!" Then, I got cheap as I was scooping the M&M's into the bag; I didn't buy enough for 1 whole cup.  So I had to top up with some milk chocolate chips.  The result of my mistakes?  YUM!!!

I would've loved to try the original recipe with the cinnamon chips but my beloved cinnamon chips were nowhere to be found this year.  I couldn't even make these awesome cinnamon chip chai cookies and my white chocolate chip version just wasn't as good.  I was quite sad about it; I think I'll have to look online for a steady supply of these little cinnamon chips because they are super tasty in baking.

There was no way I was just going to make an ordinary oatmeal cookies, even with the M&M's.  I had to spice things up a bit, so in goes the toasted coconuts and flax seeds.  I think the toasted coconuts was the thing that really made this cookie.  It smells so good and the coconut flakes added another level of chewiness to this oatmeal cookie.  As for the flax seeds, it was meant to boost the fibre content.  However, flax seeds as it is cannot be digested easily and it usually comes out the other end unscathed.  I know because I've got kids and they eat (and thus poo) like pigs.  So if you are serious about upping the fibre in this cookie, use ground flax seeds instead of whole.

OH! Look at the clock!  12:01am!

Goodbye, 2011!!

Hello, 2012!!

Happy New Year, everyone!!  :D


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