The 2014 Christmas Cookie Search Continues with Almond Joy Cookies

ALMOND JOY COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstach
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the butter and sugars, then add egg, extracts and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.

Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.

Add the coconut, almonds, chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.

I baked these with unchilled dough.  They spread and flattened a little, but still turned out looking temptingly good!  The original directions called for refrigerating the dough prior to baking, which I didn't see until writing this post.  

Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone sheet or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart and bake for 8 minutes, rotating halfway. Do not overbake. Coconut is prone to burning.  Cookies will be pale and look un-done, but firm up as they cool.  Good luck with allowing cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. 

I modified these from the original found on Pinterest, which was pinned from this website.
I did not chill mine, so they did indeed spread a little, but not that much.  I also make my cookies smaller, using a rounded teaspoonful instead.  That shortened the baking time to 8 minutes, rotating the cookies halfway.  I lightly toasted the sliced almonds and cut back to 3/4 cup.  I also increased the chocolate chips to 1 1/4 cup (to make up the difference in the almonds -wink-).

How good were these?  I couldn't get an accurate count of how many I was able to get from the recipe as they kept sneaking and re-arranging the cooling cookies.  I'm thinking by my making them smaller than the original recipe called for it made 4-5 dozen.