COCONUT COOKIES

I made coconut milk from the unsweetened grated coconut I purchased at the health food store. I saved the leftover coconut to make these cookies. I dried the coconut leftovers to make a sort of coconut fiber flour.  If you dry your coconut in the dehydrator, the fan will blow it all over the place and make a mess. You can spread out the coconut on a teflex or parchment lined dehydrator tray and leave it in the dehydrator overnight without the dehydrator on or put the coconut on a clean, plastic cutting mat and sit it on your counter overnight or you can place it on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven with the heat off.  Next time I make these, I think I'll try it with the still moist leftover coconut after making coconut milk.  

If you keep your coconut oil in the refrigerator like I do, you will need to return it to a liquid state. Put the solid coconut oil in a little glass bowl.  A Pyrex custard cup or ramekin works really well for this purpose.   In the summer all that is required is that you sit a little bowl of solid coconut oil on the kitchen window sill until melted or on a kitchen counter overnight. In the winter, you may need to sit it over a bowl of warm water.  What works for me is to fill a small bowl with hot tap water, then place a cake rack over the bowl, put the small bowl of coconut oil on the rack and place a lid or towel over the whole thing to hold in the steam in order to melt the oil. Now for the recipe.

Coconut Cookies

Put about 5 medjool dates in a food processor and process to a paste. You need to add enough dates so that your dough  can be formed into balls.  The amount of dates depends on the dryness of the coconut and other factors. Add the coconut leftovers, and approximately 3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil, a good pinch of high mineral salt and from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract depending on the need for moisture. Process.  If the mixture does not form into a dough that you can form, stop the machine and add any additional dates you might need and then process. Take the dough out of the food processor and form into tiny bite size balls. Serve will sun tea or iced chocolate solar coffee.

These tend to be dry, but they are good.