This year my friend Caitlin and I decided to sign up for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, hosted by Love & Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen. We each donated a few dollars to participate (the money went to the charity Cookies for Kids Cancer and donations were matched by OXO®).

For the swap, I decided to make my signature coconut cookies that I sort of just made up the recipe for by consulting multiple other random cookie recipes awhile ago. This time, I also added butterscotch chips since they were already in my freezer and sounded like they’d pair well. Since I had to make three dozen cookies, I had to use some sugar (normally I would only use honey as a sweetener) and some butter (which would normally be replaced with coconut oil).

The three-dozen version of the recipe calls for:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• half a cup coconut oil (liquid, not solid – melt if necessary)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3.5 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat, but since I was making these for others I used about 1 cup whole wheat and 2.5 cups all-purpose)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 package butterscotch chips
• 2 cups unsweetened (or sweetened, if you prefer) coconut flakes

Mix all the wet ingredients, then the dry, and then combine. Due to the coconut oil and honey, the batter becomes very wet.

Next, dump in the coconut flakes and butterscotch chips.

My favorite part: cookie dough! Of course I had to taste-test. Since the dough wasn’t firm, I baked my cookies in a muffin pan. They looked a little muffin-ish upon completion but they were definitely cookies. The butterscotch with the coconut flakes and more subtle coconut oil was a great success!

Once I realized the cookies weren’t melting too much in the oven, I made some on a regular cookie sheet as well. Lucky for Kiyo and me, there were a few extra! I sent the cookies to:

1. Chew Nibble Nosh
2. Pie With Sparkles
3. Something Swanky

In exchange, I received some AMAZING cookies that I will share later, since I think they each deserve their own post. Honestly, I was afraid I might get some cookies that were ok, but not anything special, and then I’d have to gush about them; let me tell you, that is not the case at all! It’s almost as if the three bloggers who sent me cookies knew my personal preference and designed cookies just for me! Here’s a preview:

1. Caramel Apple Cider Cookies from Erin Cooks!
2. Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Studio Cuisine
3. Assorted Shortbread Cookies from Kablee’s Kitchen