Chocolate Toasted Coconut Caramel Cookies (gluten and nut free)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or unsalted butter my favorite coconut oil is linked above this recipe card
- 3 tbsps pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup plus 2 tbsps gluten-free flour blend I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
Caramel:
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ tsp salt sea salt is preferred
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
Chocolate Coating:
- 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the coconut flakes to a large frying pan and turn the heat to medium low. Heat the coconut while mixing often until it turns a toasty brown color. Be careful, the coconut burns very easily!
- Add the toasted coconut flakes to a large bowl, add the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the GF flour and baking soda and mix until well combined. Scoop 1 tbsp-sized balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, press the back of a tbsp into the center of the ball, and shape the dough to form a little pool to hold the caramel. Repeat with all the dough balls and place them on the lined baking tray (the cookies don't spread so you can place them close together). Bake for 8 minutes.
Caramel:
- Add the sugar and salt to a saucepan that has tall sides. Turn the heat to medium and melt the sugar, while stirring constantly, until a caramel-colored liquid-y paste forms. Add the butter and keep stirring until the butter and sugar are fully combined (the butter tends to separate from the sugar but keeping mixing until you force it to combine). While stirring quickly, add the cream (careful, it tends to bubble a lot!), let it boil for 1 minute (it should thicken slightly), then turn off the heat and remove the saucepan from the stove.
- While the caramel is hot, spoon a generous amount of caramel into each cookie (fill them to almost overflowing). Once all the cookies are filled, place them in the freezer while preparing the chocolate.
Chocolate Coating:
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave, heating 20 seconds at a time and mixing well in between each interval until smooth.
- Remove the caramel-filled cookies from the freezer. Dunk each cookie into the melted mixture, drip off the excess chocolate, and return them to the baking sheet. Let the coated cookies cool in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. If you like a very crisp chocolate coating, keep the cookies in the fridge at all times. Enjoy!