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Can’t get enough coconut
Published: 7/18/2012 10:05 AM
Last Modified: 7/18/2012 10:05 AM







Coconut is to summer as pumpkin is to fall. The flavor just goes well with the season.

In the Tulsa World today I have a couple recipes for Tres Leches cake. Between you and me, the recipes did not call for toasted coconut but I put some on there anyway.

As you can tell from the photos by Matt Barnard, it makes a fitting tropical dessert.

If you can’t get enough coconut, here are three more recipes.

Coconut Salted Caramel Thumbprint cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
44 small soft caramel candies (12 ounces), such as Kraft
6 tablespoons heavy cream
Large, flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour and 1/2 teaspoon table salt, and beat to combine. Press dough together in plastic wrap, then roll into 1 1/4-inch balls. Dip each ball in beaten egg, and roll in coconut. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, and press an indentation into each with your thumb. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove sheets from oven, and re-press indentations. Bake cookies until golden, 9 to 10 minutes more. Let cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough.
2. Place caramels and heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Spoon into indentations in cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt. Rewarm caramel if it hardens before all cookies are filled.
-adapted from Martha Stewart

Pineapple, Banana, Coconut Smoothie
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
1 large banana, cut into chunks
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/2 cup ice
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 smoothies
- adapted from MakeandTakes.com

Toasted Coconut Shortbread

Adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2004
The original recipe was double this size, yielding six dozen cookies. I halved it.
1/2 cup (about 1.5 ounces) unsweetened shredded coconut*
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature**
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (Updated: for unsweetened coconut, the smaller amount; sweetened, the larger amount)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Cool completely, then grind in a coffee grinder, food processor or blender until coarsely ground.
2. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Mix in salt and vanilla. Beat in flour in 2 additions. Stir in toasted coconut. Gather dough together, flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 3. Roll out dough disk on lightly floured work surface to scant 1/4-inch thickness. Using 1 3/4- to 2-inch-diameter cookie cutters, cut dough into rounds. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps and reroll; cut out additional cookies.
4. Bake cookies until light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.
- adapted from Smitten Kitchen




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Taste

Food Writer Nicole Marshall Middleton joined the Tulsa World in May 1993 after graduating from Oklahoma State University. She has covered crime, city government and general assignment beats during that time - but mostly crime. But when she isn’t at work, Nicole is a devoted food hobbyist. She enjoys meal planning and cooking with her husband, Steve, every day of the week and on holidays it’s a family affair. When the opportunity to become the food writer at the Tulsa World presented itself in the summer of 2011, Nicole jumped at it. She is excited to explore a new side of Tulsa and make the transition from crime to cuisine. .

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