Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oil Cookies

The perfect chocolate chip cookie. It’s very much a matter of personal preference, and there’s a good chance that my criteria differ slightly from yours. The gold standard for a lot of people is Jacques Torres’ New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe, and while I won’t deny it makes a very good cookie, it calls for refrigerating the dough for at least 24 hours before baking. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I want a cookie, I want it immediately – not a day later!

My go-to recipe has been Cook’s Illustrated’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’ve made the recipe several times a month for years, and the result is always the same – an irresistibly buttery, moist, and chewy cookie! The instructions are a little bit fussy, but still relatively quick and easy and the recipe is made with just a few bowls and a whisk. There’s brown butter involved, and we all know that’s never a bad thing, plus lots of dark brown sugar which gives the cookies this amazing caramel/toffee flavor.

The only downside (and I even hesitate to call it that) about the recipe is that because it uses browned butter, the dough itself is on the greasy side. I’m not nearly as tempted to snack on the dough before baking, and depending on the situation, that’s often a good thing!

I’ve been itching to create a recipe utilizing coconut oil (one of my new obsessions this year) that would rival my go-to CI chocolate chip cookie, and after a few tries, I think I have! These dark chocolate chunk coconut oil cookies check all the boxes for me. They’re soft and chewy with slightly crisp edges, and because I used dark brown sugar rather than light, they have more of that caramel flavor I was craving. While I didn’t include coconut extract or shredded coconut, the coconut oil itself definitely lends a mild coconut flavor to these cookies. I stood over the counter eating an embarrassing number of cookies warm from the oven, but if you can show more restraint than me, these will stay soft and chewy for at least 2 days after baking!

Do you have a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oil Cookies
from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

{Note: Feel free to use more chocolate chunks, I like my cookies light on the chocolate.}

1/2 cup coconut oil (measured solid)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks

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

Add the coconut oil to a small saucepan, set over medium-low heat and melt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Once the coconut oil is cool, transfer to a medium bowl. Add both sugars and beat with a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes, or until combined (the mixture won’t come together entirely – it will resemble granita, but don’t worry it’ll come together in the next step). Mix in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks.

Using a small cookie scoop (mine measures about 1 1/2 inches across), portion the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 9 minutes (rotating the baking sheets halfway through if you’re doing both at once) or until the edges of the cookies are set (the centers may look underdone – don’t overbake!). Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool for a few minutes then remove the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies