Gourmet Boiled Cookies

I can remember making boiled cookies for a long time. They were always delicious: moist, chewy, peanut buttery, and just a little bit sticky. And to me, they were always "boiled cookies." It wasn't until I got to college that I found out that the rest of the world had a different name for one of my favorite cookies: no-bake cookies.
Then when I was in Switzerland serving my mission for the LDS church, I got a real craving for the cookies, but didn't have the recipe. So I borrowed one from a friend, and tried it out. The result was not anything like what I remembered. They were grainy, hard, and overloaded with chocolate.
After I got married, there arose the occasion to make my beloved boiled cookies for some friends, and just for fun I decided to spruce the recipe up a little. The following recipe is the result.
Skip the tutorial and go straight to the recipe.

Step 0:

 Brown 2 cups coconut at 300°F for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Be careful: coconut burns really easily, so check it starting at 15 minutes.

Step 1:

 Melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup dark brown sugar in a saucepan. It won't homogenize well, and that's okay.

Step 2:

 Stir in 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter. It will take the peanut butter a second to melt into the  syrup, so just keep stirring.

Step 3:

Bring to a boil and cook for 4 minutes. The goal here is to get a syrup that will be thick enough to hold it's shape when cool, but not get hard or crystalline.

(Sorry, no picture. My camera battery died while I was making the cookies)

Step 5:

 Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups toasted coconut, and 3 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant). The end result should be thick, but not too thick that you can't stir it. That is why you should use old-fashioned oats instead of instant ones: instant oats absorb more liquid and would make the cookies dry.

Step 6:

Drop by 1/8 cupfuls (#24 disher) onto parchment lined sheet pan. Flatten slightly with a moistened finger.
*I prefer using dishers (ice cream scoops) to portion cookies because I always get the same size cookie.

Step 7:

Place a few dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips on the flat surface and slide pan into warm oven until chocolate has softened, about 1 minute.
*Please don't use milk chocolate for this application. The cookies are fairly sweet and need the sharp counterpoint of slightly bitter chocolate to be more palatable.

Step 8:

Using a moistened finger, spread chocolate evenly on the top of the cookie and sprinkle with the remaining toasted coconut.
*I tried lots of different methods to spread the chocolate (metal spoon, silicone spatula, etc), but I found that a moistened finger works the best. Use lukewarm water and a light tough, and there will be no problems.

Step 9:

Cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set.

Gourmet Boiled Cookies: Yields 18 cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups coconut (7 oz), divided
3 cups old fashioned oats
Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Toast the coconut in an oven set at 300°F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add brown sugar and cook until dissolved. Add milk and peanut butter, stir until completely combined. Bring to a boil, cook for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, 1-1/2 cup toasted coconut, and the oats.
Drop by 1/8 cupfuls (#24 disher) onto a lined cookie sheet. Place a few chocolate chips on top of each mound. Slide the cookie sheet back into the oven for a few minutes to soften the chocolate. Take the pan out, and using a moistened finger, smooth the chips over the top of the cookies. Sprinkle with the remaining toasted coconut. Allow to cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate and cookies have completely set.

Nutrition Facts