Great American Cookies White Chunk Macadamia

When Arthur Karp shared his grandmother's favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with Michael Coles, the business partners knew they had a hit on their hands. They opened their first Great American Cookies store in 1977 in The Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, Georgia. Now with more than 350 stores in the chain, these cookies have quickly become a favorite, just begging to be cloned.

The chain bakes the cookies in convection ovens at the low temperature of 280 degrees for around 16 to 17 minutes. But since most of us don't have convection ovens and may have a hard time getting the oven temperature to this odd setting, we have made some adjustments. Just be sure, when you remove the cookies from the oven, that they appear undercooked and only slightly browned around the edges.

This will give the cookies the perfect chewy texture when they cool.

Recipe Ingredient
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut flakes, finely minced

1 egg1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces solid white chocolate, cut into chunks

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on high speed.

2. Add the coconut, egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.

3. In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until dough forms. Mix in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

5. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

6. Measure out about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and form a ball. Drop each ball of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Do not overbake! Cookies should come out of the oven appearing slightly browned, yet undercooked. When cooled the cookies will be soft and chewy like the original.

Makes 16 to 18 cookies.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT CRUNCH COOKIES

Categories: Cookies
Yield: 4 dozen

Recipe
2 c Flour
1 ts Baking soda
1/4 ts Salt
1 c Butter; unsalted, softened
3/4 c Brown sugar
2 Eggs; lightly beaten
2 ts Vanilla
1 ts Almond extract
2 c Coconut; shredded
12 oz Chocolate chips
1 1/2 c Almonds; lightly salted dry roasted, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Mix on low speed until blended. Add the flour mixture and mix just until blended; do not overmix. add the coconut, chocolate chips, and almonds and stir just until blended. Drop the dough by rounded tbsp 2" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie

What makes this dessert so special is the way it comes to your table sizzling in a cast iron skillet, just like fajitas. The chocolate chip cookie and graham cracker crust "pie" is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and then drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup.

It's all served up in a hot skillet of cinnamon butter. Yum! If you want to prepare this one just like they do at the restaurant, you'll need one of those skillets for each serving. Small iron skillets work the best, but any 6 or 8-inch frying pan will do fine.You just have to be sure your pan is super hot to getthat authentic Chili's "sizzle." If you don't have enough of the right pans for each serving, you can slide it all onto a plate. It may not have the sizzle of the real thing, but it'll still taste awesome!

Recipe
Cookie Layer

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Crust Layer

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cinnamon Butter

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

9 scoops vanilla ice cream

chocolate syrup

caramel syrup

6 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl.

3. In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Continue beating for about 30 seconds or until mixture turns lighter in color. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

4. Slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Beat until well-combined and then mix in the coconut flakes. Set this cookie dough aside for now.

5. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a medium bowl in the microwave on high temperature for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and stir well for 30 seconds. Add the graham cracker crumbs and stir. Press this mixture into the bottom of a 9x9-inch baking dish or pan.

6. Sprinkle the cup of chocolate chips evenly over the graham cracker crust.

7. Press the cookie dough into the dish, covering the chocolate chips. Use flour on your fingers to keep the soft dough from sticking.

8. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the dough. Use your fingers to press the nuts into the dough.

9. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the edges of the pie become light brown.

10. Prepare the cinnamon butter by creaming together the butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl with an electric mixer on high speed.

11. When you are ready to make your dessert, heat up a small skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, remove it from the heat then add about 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon butter to the pan. It should quickly melt and sizzle. Slice the pie into 9 pieces and place one into the hot skillet. If the pie has cooled, you can reheat each slice by zapping it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.

12. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of the pie.Drizzle chocolate and caramel syrup over the dessert and then sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of chopped walnuts over the top. Repeat for the remaining ingredients and serve sizzling in the skillet.

Makes 9 desserts.