Chocolate Coconut Cranberry Cookies

I blinked and it is the end of November! Crazy! So I've been trying to get my Christmas baking bucket list going. I don't want to do overload, but just the right amount with a good balance of new and old. I think back to my most favorite Christmas memories and many take me back to both of my grandmothers' houses. One would have these funny vintage elves sitting on her stairs and around the living room, and there would be lots of food and lots of cookies...my favorite are the orange cookies she would make. The other wasn't so big on elves, but big on chocolate covered goodies: chocolate covered marshmallows, chocolate covered crackers, chocolate covered cookies, chocolate covered nuts and raisins, etc. All of that coming from the grandma who I considered to be a very healthy eater (guess she allows herself one day a year to go completely nuts!).

Back to the Christmas cookie bucket list...I know gingerbread men and sugar cookies are in order. Those are two staples when you have children, and this year, I think we will be making gingerbread cookie ornaments to hang on our tree. I took some time to check out Martha Stewart's site for ideas, Joy of Baking, and even my new love - Pinterest - which has a lot of great recipes that have been pinned, but I think I am feeling a bit traditional this time. It's been a while since I have seen my grandmothers, so as you can see from above, I've been a bit sentimental lately. My mind keeps going back to goodies from the past that seem too boring nowadays.

Yesterday, I wanted to bake to get my mind off something that was bringing me down. I decided to take a basic chocolate cake cookie recipe and add a couple ingredients to it: coconut and dried cranberries. I'll admit - my son wasn't a fan - but I quite enjoyed a few. Not overkill on the sweets, the texture is similar to cake, the coconut keeps it nice and moist, and the cranberries compliment the cocoa. Might not be the cookie for everyone, my son included, but hey...I thought it was a nice change.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 egg

2/3 cup of milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup coconut

3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small mixing bowl, combine sugars and butter. Cream for 3-4 minutes, then add the egg. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing alternately with the milk. Then add the vanilla, coconut, and cranberries.

If you have chocolate jimmies (aka sprinkles), you can choose to roll them in the jimmies like I did.

Using a tablespoon, drop the batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets. B

Bake for 8-12 minutes.