Mounds Bar Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Gloria's seventy-first birthday was Saturday and it was quieter than the seventieth, which was right. The big milestone was last year. This year was just the birthday, just us three and the cake and the fried chicken and James's off-key singing and the afternoon light coming through the kitchen windows at the angle it always does at this time of year.

The coconut cake was excellent. Third year, same recipe, and I have stopped being nervous about it. I made it with the confidence of someone who has done this enough times that the question is not whether it will work but whether I will be present for it working. The toasted coconut in the cream filling is the thing I perfected in year two and I will not deviate from it. Gloria looked at the cake for the usual long moment and then she said: you know how to make this now. Not you have made this before but you know how to make it. That is a different sentence. That is the sentence where the recipe becomes yours.

At dinner Gloria asked about Crystal. It was the first time she had asked without me bringing it up. I told her: we are texting, carefully, taking it slow. Gloria nodded. She said: slow is right. Slow lets you see what you are walking into. I said I think she is trying. Gloria said: I know. She paused and then she said: people can try hard and still have taken a long time to get there. Both things can be true. I said I know. She said: yes. I believe you know it.

After Gloria’s birthday wrapped up — cake finished, chicken bones cleared, James still quietly humming something off-key — I found myself thinking about coconut the way you do when something has gone exactly right. I didn’t want to lose that feeling. These Mounds Bar Chocolate Chunk Cookies are the weeknight version of that same instinct: the dark chocolate, the sweet coconut, the sense that you are making something for someone you love and you already know it will work. Gloria would approve. Slow and steady, same as always.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 27 minutes | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 full-size Mounds bars, roughly chopped into chunks
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Instructions

Toast the coconut. Spread shredded coconut in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract until fully combined.
Combine wet and dry. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just combined. Do not overmix.
Fold in mix-ins. Gently fold in the chopped Mounds bar pieces, chocolate chunks, and toasted coconut until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop and space. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
Cool. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mounds Bar Chocolate Chunk Cookies — The Coconut That Carries the Day