Coconut Chocolate Cookies with Reese's Pieces

Over the weekend I made some coconut chocolate cookies with Reese's pieces.  The only way to improve upon a basic chocolate chip cookie is to add coco powder and make a chocolate chocolate chip cookie.  A chocolate chocolate chip cookie may seem insurmountable, but the addition of sweetened coconut is the key to a whole new world of cookie delight.

I looked for peanut butter chips at three groceries stores, but none of them carried anything beyond milk, semisweet, and white chocolate chips.  I was about to give up and just buy some semisweet chips when I thought of using Reese's pieces.  

The ingredients for these cookies are 1 cup butter, 2 cups Reese's pieces, 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 cups flour, 2/3 cup coco powder, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

I creamed the softened butter and sugar.  According to another blog, using room temperature butter (between 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit) allows the maximum amount of air to be mixed into the batter during the creaming process.  The leavening agent, in this case baking soda, then enlarges these air pockets while the cookies are baking.  The author stated that the butter should be creamed for a total of 4 to 5 minutes.

I then added the vanilla and room temperature eggs and creamed these ingredients thoroughly.  Using room temperature eggs, butter, or milk creates an emulsion, which traps air pockets.  Room temperature ingredients also incorporate into the batter more easily.  I took my eggs and butter out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before I began mixing my cookie batter.

I then added the flour, coco powder, baking soda, and salt and mixed to combine.

The last ingredients I added to the dough were the Reese's pieces and shredded coconut.

I placed little mounts of coconut flecked chocolate batter onto a greased baking sheet.  The cookies baked for 8 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Very satisfying!  They reminded me a little of a Mounds bar.  Adding the coconut definitely made these cookies exceptional.