Summer Sale!

It's going on right now at our Etsy shop. Use coupon code SUMMER2013 for 20% off total purchase. Sale ends Monday, August 26th.

See You At The Fair!

We'll be here!

At Booth# P4 (indicated by the 4 red arrows).

Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

A full description of these cookies would be: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Butter, Coconut and Salted Peanuts.

I know what some of you might be thinking but these are not the garbage disposal type cookies where you throw in whatever available ingredients you fancy. Each ingredient has a purpose beyond flavor and is necessary for the structure and texture of the cookies. Peanut butter replaces butter. Oatmeal and coconut stand in for wheat flour. Peanuts and chocolate chips provide more structure and variation in texture.

These are soft, not too sweet cookies, with a little gooeyness and crunch. They are very much like the old fashioned oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

If that all sounds good to you, scroll down for the recipe.

Gluten free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (gluten free like Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I use Let's Do Organic)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup salted peanuts

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with silpat or parchment paper.

Place oats and coconut in a a food processor (or blender) and process until somewhat fine (not quite like powder). Add the baking soda and salt and process/blend again until combined. Set aside.

Cream together peanut butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Mix in the oatmeal/coconut mixture, chocolate chips and salted peanuts.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls (or use a portion scoop) onto the sheet pan, about 1 1/2 inches or so apart. You need to press down the dough slightly to flatten and promote spread.

Pop in the oven and bake until done. It may take about 8 minutes, a little less for gooey and a little longer for cakey.

Gluten free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Variations

Please note that I haven't tried any of the following variations. They are simply suggestions if you are in the mood to experiment. But if you do make changes to the recipe, please do tell. I would love to hear about it.

A)     I love cane sugar but some people don't. If you are not so keen on the brown sugar, you might want to try replacing it with honey or molasses. I would start with 2/3 cup first to see how the dough holds together. Since the mixture doesn't have gluten, there's no worry of over mixing. That said, you can bake off a couple of cookies first to test the taste and texture and then you can adjust the sweetener if necessary.

B)     If peanut butter is not your thing, there's always the nut butters (cashew butter, almond butter, etc.), vegetable shortening, coconut oil, or just plain old butter. I'm guessing that any of these will translate to a one to one ratio.

C)     Peanuts can also be replaced with nuts, seeds (sunflower, pepitas, etc.) or just more chocolate chips (semisweet, milk, or white).

Gluten free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

More Soft Caramels

We added two new soft caramels in the last few months.

First off, we have the coconut caramels, something not completely unexpected from this bakery. These stayed in the product development phase for quite a while. Every batch that I made were a little too rich for my taste. Then, I accidentally caramelized the sugar 20 degrees F higher than usual and voila! Sweet Coconut Bakery's coconut caramels were born.

These caramels have a deep dark flavor that pairs really well with the creamy richness of coconut.

Coconut Caramels

Next up are the dark chocolate caramels. During the cooking process, I stir in 72% dark Belgian chocolate and a little bit of espresso. These started as a special for our Mother's Day sampler box but it looks like they are here to stay.

Dark Chocolate Caramels

And sometime, in the very near future, our salted cashew caramels will make their debut. Watch out for them!

Coconut Macaroons with Cranberries and Pecans

Pecan Cranberry Coconut Macaroons

Cranberry bogs in Grayland, WA (picture taken by Rachel)

How can you not love Washington State? 

Less than two hours away from Seattle, we can get cranberries fresh from the bogs. I have been having a lot of fun with cranberries this past month and our first product to debut on Etsy are the Pecan Cranberry Coconut Macaroons.

These coconut macaroons have coarsely chopped pecans and cranberries that I oven-dried all on their own, no sugar, no preservatives.

Fresh Cranberries from Grayland

Immersing the cranberries in boiling water to break the skin.

Popped cranberries. Ready to go in the freezer for a few hours before slow-baking in the oven.

Dried cranberries, after 8 hours in a 150 F oven.

The result is really tart, really flavorful jewels that go so well with the sweet and decadent coconut pecan macaroons.

Yemas

Here is another classic Filipino candy. They are called Yemas: vanilla custard balls dipped in dark caramel. Rich, smooth, and creamy filling is juxtaposed against the slightly bittersweet crunch of hard caramel. 


To make Yemas, we use only whole milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla. It's amazing how simple ingredients can yield an extraordinary product. They are definitely worth a try. The Sweet Coconut Bakery version is almost ready for the world, so watch out for them!

Beer Caramel with Spanish Peanuts

Here's our newest product!

Soft caramel injected with local handcrafted Pale Ale and studded with salted Spanish peanuts. YUM!