Monday, March 07, 2005

Mondays with Maida - Sunflower Coconut Cookies


Page 42 in the old book / page 75 in the new book

On reading the recipe, my first impression of these cookies was that they had everything but the kitchen sink in them - and it didn't seem to make much sense. It makes sense when you eat them, though. The coconut and oatmeal make them nicely chewy; the orange juice, orange rind and lemon rind give them a wonderful fruity flavor; and the sunflower seeds (yes - sunflower seeds) add a little crunch. There are raisins in there too, doing what raisins do...

There is nothing unusual about how these cookies are put together. The recipe mentions that they have a tendancy to burn on the bottom and suggests that you "be prepared to slide extra cookie sheets under the sheets holding the cookies - at least under the one on the lower rack." Of course I read this after the first batch was in the oven. I only have two cookie sheets, so I inverted a jelly roll pan on the lower rack and put the cookie sheet on top of it.



The texture of these cookies held up very well the second day - the outside didn't soften up at all. While these cookies were a little sweeter than I would have preferred, they were very good. The fruity flavor from the citrus was delicious and a nice change of pace from the recent spate of spice cookies.

Next week – Date-Nut Wafers

Nutrition Facts

5 comments:

Stephanie said...

Darn it all! Another good recipe I'll never get to make...Matt refuses to eat coconut or raisins. And let's face it: the only reason I bake cookies is so Matt can enjoy them.
Sigh...Oh, well...they look lovely, though!

Cathy said...

Hi Stephanie - thanks! It's amazing how many people either don't like raisins at all or don't like them in things...like cookies. Quite a few of the cookies I've made recently have had either raisins or currants in them and I know of at least one person that has been carefully eating around them!

Anonymous said...

These look great. My son loves "flower seeds" so these will be a big hit with him. I'll give them a try.

Scott
http://scotthutcheson.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

Those sound like my kind of cookie...I adore coconut and all types of citrus zest. I wonder how they'd be with choc chips instead of raisins...probably not quite right, huh? I have to admit...I'm touch and go with raisins. I like them generally, but hate it when they are tough and dried out...like in Raisin Bran. Also, if you've ever had a pantry moth invasion...and saw the larvae squirming around in your raisins when you went to use them, well, you'd be forever-more cautious about raisins, too. (Sorry to mention such a gross, horrifying incident, but it did indeed happen to me. I still use and like raisins, but the vision and the horror will never quite leave my mind.)

Cathy said...

Hi Scott - If you don't already have it - I highly recommend Maida Heater's Book of Great Cookies (the book this recipe is from). I'll get there are lots of cookies your son would like!

Alice - eeeeek! the horror, the horror!!!! I have had little critters hatch in things before, though thankfully not in raisins!

I think chocolate chips would be a totally different thing - possibly very good, but I think I'd prefer the raisins in these because of the citrus flavors.