Sometimes you just have to bake cookies.
It’s been a busy summer. I’m going through some pretty serious life changes – stressful life changes. But as we all know, life never slows down to let us deal with tough situations. The world doesn’t stop spinning just because you need a break. So sometimes, in the middle of everything, you’re the one that has to stop. Yesterday, in the middle of an afternoon filled with a million other things I was supposed to be doing, that’s just what I did.
Then I baked cookies.
We all need a break sometimes. Stop. Make a cup of tea. Bake yourself a batch of cookies. Go to a movie in the middle of a weekday afternoon. It’s the times when you feel that it would be impossible to take a break that you should probably do just that.
Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Stir in oats, coconut, and chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets (or line sheets with parchment paper for easier clean-up) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool for a minute on baking sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Nicole, I know exactly what you mean. One of my favorites is the movie in the middle of the day.. something about going into a dark theatre when it’s bright outside, and coming out two hours later is so.. rejuvenating.
I’m glad you’re taking a timeout for yourself. You deserve it.
11:07 am Sep 13th, 2010I couldn’t agree more! I’ve been feeling the same way lately but have resisted the urge to bake for fear it would leave to another stressful event (aka. not fitting in my jeans) .. but I’m diving in this afternoon. Hang in there! Just keep being your awesome self, Nicole. Baking always helps.
11:48 am Sep 13th, 2010It’s true. The times when a break doesn’t seem possible are the times we need them the most. Doing something methodical yet creative and satisfying, like baking, is such great therapy. I think I need a cookie baking break too. Maybe I’ll make these! They look delicious!
12:12 pm Sep 13th, 2010Yes I need a break today and these cookies look just perfect! Thanks
12:46 pm Sep 13th, 2010Good luck keeping your sanity together! The cookies look tasty, and I hope you enjoyed your tea and snack.
2:32 pm Sep 13th, 2010You’re so right about the stopping and the break-taking and all that. Your cookies look delicious and I hope they gave you the lift you needed to plow back into life again.
2:36 pm Sep 13th, 2010Something warm and sugary in the kitchen makes everything better! My daughter has baked for me every weekend since my youngest child (her brother) left for college!!! It is somehow grounding to bake and eat warm yummy things together! Plus these cookies look absolutely delicious! Might need to whip up a batch!
3:25 pm Sep 13th, 2010I think you are expressing what a lot of people are feeling right now and baking cookies is a wonderful way to deal with it!! These cookies look wonderful – especially since they feature three of my favorite things!!!
Hope all in your life is well – take care of yourself!!
5:10 pm Sep 13th, 2010Oh babe, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re stressed! I always bake in the days before a test. Partially because I need a distraction and partially because I need comfort food!
These cookies sound like they are a perfect palliative!
5:22 pm Sep 13th, 2010We just bought chocolate chips and coconut to make some very similar cookies! We call them cowboy cookies in the south.
5:31 pm Sep 13th, 2010OMG !!! These are soo good. I am going through a tough time too and I totally needed a yummy cookie to help. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
5:33 pm Sep 13th, 2010I just discovered your blog and love it!! your photography is amazing!
6:10 pm Sep 13th, 2010Sometimes you have to stop everything to tell someone how they brighten your day, so Nicole, that’s just what you do, in ways personal and practical, you brighten my day!
6:30 pm Sep 13th, 2010Sorry that life-changing things are stressful. I’m glad you baked, though! Baking does keep some of that stress away
7:19 pm Sep 13th, 2010These look delicios! Oats, chocolate, and coconut are favorites of mine.
Cookies are my type of therapy! Hope they helped! Recipe looks perfect, the butterscotchiness of brown sugar, chocolate and coconut, butter. Beautiful stuff.
7:47 pm Sep 13th, 2010Often I find that cookies are the best medicine for many ailments. These look wonderful- I love chocolate and coconut together.
7:58 pm Sep 13th, 2010YUM. Adding chocolate and coconut to desserts is alllways a good idea. Best of luck with your life changes; I’d imagine that these cookies would cheer anyone up.
8:13 pm Sep 13th, 2010Major life changes here, too. Couldn’t sleep, so I got on the internet and -hooray! A new blog post! You managed to peg three of my favorites-oatmeal, coconut and chocolate. Definitely making these tomorrow!
9:27 pm Sep 13th, 2010everyday like clockwork i’ll have cookies with a cup of tea or coffee around 3pm. these look so delicious!
2:57 am Sep 14th, 2010Beautiful little cookies — that might be exactly what I need these busy days, too! Time to get bakin’…
5:49 am Sep 14th, 2010Man oh man, all my favorite things in one cookie! Thanks for sharing these!!
6:08 am Sep 14th, 2010Those cookies look so yummy!!
8:43 am Sep 14th, 2010Sometimes it takes baking cookies to reset and realign. Best wishes to you.
8:51 am Sep 14th, 2010You’ve inspired me to put aside my crazy life right now and go home and bake these cookies. Good luck with everything.
12:52 pm Sep 14th, 2010Yum! I never thought about adding coconut to my chocolate chip cookies. Love the chocolate chip and oatmeal combo. Thanks for the recipe idea. Good luck to you.
11:01 pm Sep 14th, 2010Made these today and they turned out amazing! I’m baking with a different type of brown sugar because the US type brown sugar is not easily available where I live but they still turned out pretty tasty. Thanks for posting and as someone who recently went through major life changes as well I say keep your chin up… things always get better!
3:57 am Sep 15th, 2010These cookies look fantastic! I’ll definitely be giving them a try!
4:14 pm Sep 15th, 2010It’s raining and the hours drone on here at home with my 6 year-old! We just made these cookies and everyone is happier!
3:27 pm Sep 16th, 2010these sound so delicious, and i can certainly relate to your state of being- so for both reasons, im gonna try these out!
9:07 pm Sep 18th, 2010I just made these cookies and they are FABULOUS! They’re a great study food!
1:11 pm Sep 19th, 2010So sorry to hear about your stress. I’m going through a major low phase too, so the one thing I keep remembering to get me going is that it can’t get any lower than this, so life’s bound to look up soon!
5:05 am Sep 26th, 2010[...] cookies would be the trick to cozying up the home and I couldn’t wait to try this yummy adaptation of the classic oatmeal chocolate chip. It also didn’t hurt that I was just gifted this [...]
6:43 pm Oct 17th, 2010These look really good! A fresh twist on the classic cookie.. I’m excited to try them out!
11:35 am Feb 20th, 2011Personally, I love adding cherry chocolate chips (usually readily available in grocery stores around V-Day) with the coconut. Very yummy twist :p
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