My sister started eating a paleo diet about a year ago, and since has come up with these amazing new things to try. And while I have not switched my daily consumption of things much, I had included some of the new and interesting things my sister introduces me to. A few months back she came up to me and stuffed a spoonful of coconut oil into my mouth… And it tasted like sunshine. It was coconut!!! Well… since then I have been a bit obsessed with coconut. I drink coconut water after my runs, run coconut oil on my feet, and generally just like coconut anything.

I made shredded coconut cookies a few weeks ago, and then became obsessed with the idea of peach jam on the tops of the cookies. I’ve read a few dozen recipes on shredded coconut cookies, so I can’t honestly say where I got this recipe from. It’s an amalgamation of everything I’ve read… and most importantly I included the whole egg in the batter as opposed to just egg whites as many recipes call for. I find that using only the white or yolk of the egg is wasteful so I try to avoid recipes like that.

Toasty Coconut Jam Cookies (inspired from a bit of this and that all over the web)

• 2 1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes*
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of jam (I used a thick apricot jam)

1. If your coconut are large flakes like mine, run it through your food processor until it is a bit finer. I usually work in two batches. One I leave a little larger, and the other I zip in the food processor a little bit more for a finer grain. I measure my coconut after I’ve processed it.
2. In a bowl, stir together egg and sugar
3. Add coconut and stir until the egg/sugar mixture coats the coconut and forms a loose ball.
4. On a parchment sheet, arrange scoops of coconut. I use a tablespoon and pack the coconut into the spoon tightly before gently tapping the mound out on the cookie sheet.
5. Using a 1/4 teaspoon scoop, dollop jam onto the center of the coconut mounds
6. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. My oven runs a bit hot, so I baked for 18 minutes.

These cookies keep well in the refrigerator for a week. I packaged mine in little cellophane bags and presented them to my grandmother a week ago. They are just soft and just sweet enough to be perfect for grandmothers that are health conscious like mine.

It also occurs to me, that a little chocolate covered almond tapped onto the top of the coconut mounds might be an excellent alternative to jam. However, I would bake the coconut mounds just a minute or two less to let the coconut whiteness contrast more beautifully with the almonds.

* Alternatively, you may use sweetened coconut but I find this often sickeningly sweet. Plus… who knows what sugar is added?! I’ve also seen unsweetened coconut in smaller flakes called “desiccated coconut” – for whatever reason I find that label so unpalatable. The coconut I purchase is from Fresh Market, and comes in larger flakes. It’s quite a bit too big, so I spin it in my food processor for a finer grit.