Mona's Mother's Mother's Best Friend's Favorite Cookies

These cookies pictured here are Mona's Mother's Mother's Best Friend's Favorite Cookies (try saying that five times fast)! I do not know who Mona is, and I certainly don't know who her mother's mother's best friend is either, but I do know that whoever they are, they have great taste in cookies! These cookies are chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with coconut, which sounds pretty typical, but for some odd reason, these cookies are exceptionally tasty if I do say so myself. Maybe it is because I made them as monster-sized cookies, as recommended by a friend of mine. For my birthday, one of my friends compiled some of her favorite recipes in a folder for me, and this is the first one I have tried. She added her own comments and hints to the recipes to, which I am finding to be very helpful. Although they will always be her signature cookies (after Mona and her mother's mother's best friend of course), it is nice to know I can make a decent version of them myself at home.

Mona's Mother's Mother's Best Friend's Favorite Cookies
1 large egg
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 cup coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350◦F. In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the butter and both sugars and cream well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Drop onto (ungreased) baking sheet. Cookies can be any size; these cookies bake extremely well as monster sized cookies, adjust cooking time accordingly. Flatten cookies slightly with a fork. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.

NOTES: I noticed the recipe didn't call for any vanilla extract, which is unusual for chocolate chip cookies, so I added in about a teaspoon. Vanilla is one of those ingredients that you don't notice is there, but you notice if it's missing, so I didn't want to take the risk. Also, I just noticed now that the recipe does not call for any salt either, but the cookies don't seem to need it. I used real butter and unsweetened shredded coconut in these cookies, both of which worked very well. My friend also suggests trying dried cranberries in the cookies in place of chocolate chips.

I also found the preparation method of these cookies a little unusual, but I went with it. Normally the butter is creamed with the sugar and then the egg is beaten in. Then usually the dry ingredients are mixed in, followed by a gentle mixing in of the chocolate chips separately. Well, Mona's mother's mother's best friend must know best, because these cookies worked out great.  I used a small ice cream scoop to portion out my giant cookies, then I almost forgot to flatten them, a crucial step for even baking. My cookies took a little more than 15 minutes to bake. They should be done when they are just set, and may need to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two. They can be baked a bit longer though, for crispier cookies.