These cookies came out of nowhere. I was really excited for the dinner menu I was making and I knew there was going to be a lot going down in the last few moments before service. There was no first course or soup, and the last minute slicing and plating was going to be tricky and time-pressed. So as I was prepping, cooking a prepared dinner to be reheated the next day, I kept putting my dessert offering on the back burner. I had been talking about and thinking about my seasonal granola recipe all day long and wondered if I could make a cookie out of those ingredients. I was using dried blueberries, coconut, vanilla, hazelnuts, and almonds. Mid-week desserts for me need to simple and not too unhealthy. Simple ends to meals with some fruit and tea. I’m always making new cookie recipes (in my mind). My sous chef and I had just eaten some incredible hazelnut chocolate from a fancy new chocolate store in Midtown, and we were noticing how incredibly satisfying it was without being sweet. There was no wasted sugar. The quality chocolate, and perfect texture gave the intense “sweet” satisfaction with the minimum amount of calories. I think blueberries and dark chocolate are ingredients that fit that description perfectly. Blueberries are tricky because they contain so much water, and they have a really effective ‘gelling’ effect that is great at keeping cakes moist, and panna cottas silky, but not so great for cookies. The dried blueberries I was using for granola would fix this but wouldn’t impart that much flavor throughout the cookie. Dehydrated blueberry powder was the solution. I had a bag of organic freeze dried blueberries in the pantry and I knew they would pulverize and infuse in the mixer. This blueberry mixture of dried, and freeze dried, along with the addition of coconut flour made a really interesting texture that allowed the blueberry flavor to come through. The coconut and dark chocolate accents amplified everything and this is why I’m writing about this recipe and not the dinner I served. The ratios in this recipe are what are important, not the exact amounts. You can play around with different sugars, nuts, and chocolates but the important things here are the blueberry powder and the 1/2 coconut flour: 1/2 AP flour ratio. Keep that in mind, and this is a good template for a different type of cookie.
