Lemon-Lime Coconut Crackle Cookies

Keeping with the whole "making cookies with cake batter" theme, I made these Lemon-Lime Coconut Crackle Cookies last week. Sure, they tasted fine. They had a zingy-freshness about them - but I'm not going to call them an all-out success (in my case). I overcooked the first batch, I cooked one batch perfectly, and the rest were pretty much undercooked. Yikes and lame, all into one bundle. It was certainly a trial-and-error experience for me with this certain recipe.

When I make cookies, they usually turn out just fine when I take them out a minute before the timer reaches the allotted cooking time (especially with the typical chocolate chip). I like them a teeny bit gooey, what can I say? However, this is not the case with these yellow demon cookies. A few observations:

First of all, the recipe calls for whipped topping - I assumed this served as the oil substitute. I used the 'fat free' whipped cream. I should have used the non-fat free version. Cookies are cookies, we're not eating them to cut down on fat, right?

Secondly, on a positive note, the coconut and lemon/lime flavors were lovely! I loved the taste they provided in the batter, and the cookie itself. Using both lemon and lime was excellent. Note to self: using a cheese grater doesn't work as well as an actual lemon-zester/grater would have.

Thirdly, the calling for wax-paper on the cooking sheet in the recipe is retarded. My wax paper burned in the oven, and smelled bad. After that first batch, I just used regular cooking spray, and it worked out fine. Also, for the next batch, I tried making the cookies smaller, and cooking them for less time - I cut off three minutes and they were still slightly brown on the bottom. Third batch, I made the cookies a little bigger, cooked them a teeny bit longer - came out severely undercooked. Fourth batch, a bit smaller cookie, cooked same time as before, came out fine(ish). Fifth batch, gave up and ate the dough. See the picture? Not my kind of walk-in-the-park-relaxing-afternoon-making-cookies. 

Fourth, the batter was kind of a sticky mess - not your typical batter. Throwing the lemon-dough bombs into the powdered sugar tames the beasties. They become cookie dough balls fit for their oven-adventure-of-doom, thank heavens.

Not my favorite, but worth trying again sometime. You can see the original picture and recipe via my original pin on Pinterest. I'm really grateful to have found so many rockstar recipes via Pinterest, but man... (not to be a Debby Downer or anything) some just don't work out as well as I'd hoped. Good luck with this one, my friends! Let me know if they worked out for you, and if I'm just crazy.

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"Lemon Coconut Crackle Cookies

 makes 3 dozen cookies

(with my commentary)

4 tsp grated lemon zest (or mix with lime zest)

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

2 cups whipped dairy topping

2 eggs

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix

Powdered sugar for coating

Preheat oven for 350ºF

 

In a blender or food processor, combine the zests and coconut, process for 30 seconds to get them finely chopped.

 

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix dairy topping, eggs and lemon juice until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, the cake mix, and the coconut mixture; mix well.

 

Drop by tablespoonfuls in a bowl of powdered sugar, roll them to coat all over. Place them 2 " apart on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it.

 

Bake for 10-12 minute until the edges gets golden brown. Cool them on a wire rack."

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Recipe source: beyondkimchee.blogspot.com