Well, it’s back to reality today.

After spending four days in the most magical place on earth, we jumped on a plane late last night and made our way back to Rhode Island. Our plane touched down just before 1 am and we walked through the front door about 30 minutes later. It was a very, very long day but totally worth it to spend a little more time at the parks. We could not have crammed more fun into this long weekend if we tried 🙂

Oh, and if you’re wondering Food Blog Forum Orlando (the food blogging conference that was the primary reason for our trip to Disney) was absolutely amazing! Once I have a chance to get some sleep and organize my thoughts, I’ll tell you all about it. Suffice it to say, Disney could not have been more gracious in hosting us, and Julie of The Little Kitchen and Linsday of Love & Olive Oil deserve enormous credit for organizing the weekend. They rock!

I usually do the grocery shopping on Saturday morning, but obviously didn’t this week since we were away. In other words, there is almost no food in our house. The freezer is, however, packed with cookie dough so if all else fails breakfast, lunch and dinner will be sugary and delicious! Remember how I told you we were eating much healthier for the past few months? I think we undid all that good in just the past four days. Oh my word, did we ever indulge. I’m afraid to get on the scale and see the damage, eek. That should be enough motivation for me to get to the grocery store tomorrow and get some healthy eats…

Anyway, included among the stash of dough in the freezer are these chewy coconut oatmeal white chocolate cookies. I know, it’s a mouthful, but I didn’t want to leave anything out. They look simple and unassuming, but these cookies are one of my new favorites! They’re made using coconut oil rather than butter, and I also added coconut extract so they are definitely not lacking in coconut flavor. It was a no-brainer to include white chocolate chips as well; coconut and white chocolate is a seriously underrated flavor combo in my book! The cookies are wonderfully chewy with a little bit of added texture from the oats, and since quite a few of you asked about this last time I posted a recipe using coconut oil, I’ll also note that they’re not at all greasy. I’ve only tried a few recipes, but I am a total convert to baking with coconut oil. These coconut oatmeal white chocolate cookies are bound to be in heavy rotation here for months to come!

Chewy Coconut Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
adapted from Two Peas and their Pod

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup quick oats
4 oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, combine both sugars, the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Beat them together with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, beating until just incorporated. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Use a small cookie scoop (mine measures about 1 1/2 inches across) to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1-2 inches between the cookies. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the edges of the cookies are set and golden brown, about 9 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough (alternate baking sheets so you’re using a cool one for each batch).

Makes about 4 dozen cookies