Coconut-date-almond Cookies

[hangininthere]

These cookies are heavenly! And so easy to make! (I use raisins instead of dates, and walnuts instead of almonds, just as delicious!)

Coconut Cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 pound dates, finely cut

3 tablespoons butter (or any shortening)

1 1/2 cups almonds, chopped or slivered

1 egg

1 cup grated coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream the sugar, butter, and the egg very well.

2. Add the dates, almonds, and coconut, mix well.

3. Drop by the teaspoonful 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Watch the color and remove from the oven when they are golden brown. Do not overbake.

6. Remove cookies from cookie sheet when they are relatively cool, to avoid breakage.

Yields about 36 to 40 cookies.

[AndreaB]

These sound pretty good.

Thanks for posting.

[hangininthere]

I just love these cookies!

The first time I made them, I was amazed!

I joked that they were good enough to be sold in a Beverly Hills bakery! So rich and delicious!

Best wishes!

[mtdawber]

Hi there! Thanks so much for taking the time to post this recipe! Looks awesome!

[hangininthere]

And I hope your date squares turn out delicious too!

Best wishes!

[mtdawber]

I did the date squares with buckwheat flakes and they flopped....they were runnier than normal and I ended up throwing them out. I'll have to figure out what went wrong and try again...

[momandgirls]

Thank you for posting the recipe. They sound really good - I think I'll try making them today...I was in a baking mood today anyway...

[key]

Thanks for posting this recipe. I am going to try them.

MOnica

[momandgirls]

Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I made them this afternoon - they are absolutely delicious and they're being gobbled up by everyone, gluten free or not. Thanks again!

[mtdawber]

I made these and took them to work today.... everyone was worried because they knew that they are gluten free.... THEY ALL LOVED THEM.... I was a hit.... thanks for posting these!

[Guest AutumnE]

These were so good! Thanks for posting them, I even cheated on my corn allergy But it was worth it!

[Viola 1]

Thank you for posting! They look wonderful! I just passed the recipe on to five other Celiacs in my area They thank you too!

[hangininthere]

Thanks all! Glad you think they're yummy too! I made some a few days ago, delish!

I so rarely can get anything gluten-free to turn out right, so am super thrilled these turn out good, ha!

Best wishes to all!

[Marlene]

Hello all,

I made these on the weekend. They tasted good but they crumbled very easily -- when I tried placing the dough on the cookie sheet and afterwards as well. Since I can't use butter, I used Crisco. Is that the problem (although I can't see what difference that would make). Did anyone else's do this? I could hardly get the dough to stick together enough to put on the cookie sheet. I've always been so much better at cooking than at baking......

Any advise? I would like to make these again.

Thanks,

Marlene

[blueeyedmanda]

Sounds tasty!

[hangininthere]

Yes, it does take some doing to get them onto the pan, they are crumbly.

The second batch I made was more crumbly than the first batch, because I tried a shortcut of not chopping the raisins up finely, but rather used whole raisins. I think that made 'less' to stick together, and chopping finely will hold them together better.

And I kind of squished them together and patted them down a little to make them adhere better, but they were more crumbly then than after they cooled and were ready to eat, they firmed up then.

And I removed them from pan when they were half way cooled, and more pliable to squish back together, because when I removed them when they were all the way cooled they crumbled too much.

But once I got them onto the waxed paper (I use a paper bag) then when they were cooled they held together good.

So I guess I would say: Chop the dates or nuts really fine, and 'form' them on the cookie sheet with your hands (they'll still be crumbly), then remove them when they're half way cool but not all the way cool and form them with your hands again on the waxed paper, then cool.

They're so rich and sweet I almost think of them as candy. Shape and pat all around each cookie to 'form' it so it sticks together as best you can, but it is still crumbly til all the way cooled.

It doesn't seem like Crisco would be any different than butter, but maybe that was it too, not sure one way or the other.

I'm going to chop the walnuts I used finer too, along with chopping the raisins finer, in hopes it will all stick together better. Try that too, chopping everything finer.

Best wishes to all!

[Marlene]

Good advice! I'll try chopping everything up into smaller pieces next time. Dates are pretty sticky so they're harder to chop up but probably worth the effort. I used pre-packaged "chopped" almonds but next time I think I'll try the ones that are more sliced than chopped.

Thanks for getting back to me regarding this recipe.

Marlene