Happy isn’t hard for me. I might even take happy for granted. I wake up in the morning and I’m genuinely stoked about the possibilities the day brings. I have thoughts that make me smile when I’m sitting alone in my car. I like rainbows and kittens, well… you get my point.
Today I shared a meal with a dear friend who isn’t so blessed in the happy department. She’s been struggling in recent months. She’s lost her happy. After dinner, as we sat lingering in conversation, she told me that she couldn’t think of one thing that made her happy anymore. I was totally floored. I didn’t know what to say to her. In vain I tried to name things and places that I knew she liked. None of it worked, she just shook her head no. It breaks my heart, but I know that I could recall fun things we’d done together until I was blue in the face. Her happiness needs to come from the inside.
It got me thinking about happy.
What makes you happy? What thoughts make you smile when no one else is around? What makes you happy to get out of bed in the morning? Share. I want to know.
On my list of the many things things that make me happy: Crispy Toasted Coconut Cookies.
If happy has been elusive lately, give these buttery and crispy cookies a spin. Who knows, they might just be the break in the clouds.
Crispy Toasted Coconut Cookies
adapted from Big Fat Cookies
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes stirring once, until the coconut becomes evenly golden. Watch carefully, as the coconut can darken quickly toward the end of baking. Set aside to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix until blended. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Use a large spoon to stir in the toasted coconut.
Divide the dough into two portions and pat into a flat rectangle. Cut two large sheets of wax paper, and roll out the portions of dough between the wax paper into a 7 x 12-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Remove the top piece of wax paper. I used a round cookie cutter to make cookies, but you can also trim the edges of the rectangle and make rectangular cookies by cutting the dough into 9 rectangles.
Lift the cookies off the wax paper and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet. If you have trouble lifting the dough, place it in the fridge for a few minutes to harden and then transfer to a baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time until the edges and bottoms are lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Enjoy! Find your happy!
August 13th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
LOVE the pics in this post. Don’t you just LOVE it when you get your happy on??
August 13th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Cookies definitely make me happy, especially coconut ones. My family makes me happy, a good cup of coffee, driving with the windows down and singing, reading, cooking and baking!
Maybe she could take a vacation. Vacation and a little rest can do wonders.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:25 am
hmmm… FUNNY you made coconut cookies tonight- ME TOO! Except mine were chewy oatmeal coconut and they did wonders in the happiness department.
)
You’re poor friend- I’m in limbo right now trying to figure out if I’m happy or pissed…(I wish I could - rainbows, like your friend said
BUT- watching the USA olympians achieve their goals-dope free, not lying about their age, talking crap on other teams etc etc… I LOVE IT! Watching my little girls interact with each other, giggles, a smile from a random male driver (even though I’m married), and the knowledge that things change- even if it feels like forever, in the grand scheme of things, its a drop in the bucket, so the hope that whatever crap will fly by keeps me going. Tell you’re friend to hold on… much love!
August 14th, 2008 at 1:28 am
I hope your friends finds her happy soon… I think I’m easy on the happy department, pass me an ice-cream, give me a hug and I’ll be the happiest person arround. Having people eat what I bake and care packages also bring great happiness!
Beautiful cookies!
August 14th, 2008 at 1:30 am
The smell of clean sheets…and a nice afternoon nap on them. A new cookbook for me to inhale. Sitting on my new back patio drinking strawberry lemonade and staring at my new little herb garden. Watching my husband sleep(I am always in awe as he can sleep anywhere). Rainy(good thing I live in the Seattle area)afternoons that are chilly enough to be under a blanket and have some hot tea.
I could go on, I am a pretty happy person.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:10 am
Yeah, I could go for some of those right about now. They would make my tummy happy.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:33 am
Staying home on a Friday night with my DBF. Baking and cooking. Midsummer nights in Northern Europe. The first day of the year that I can ride my bicycle bare-legged. The smell of a new babies head…just to name a few.
I’m pretty sure your coconut cookies will soon be added to that long list!
August 14th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Mornings - I love mornings. Waking up super early and immediately having that first cup of coffee to get the day started…that makes me happy. Baking just calms me down and mellows me out, but having my cake-hating husband tell me a cake was delicious…that makes me happy. Weddings definitely make me happy. I don’t even have to know the people, but the wedding and the cake and the food…ahhhhh, happy.
Unfortunately, I’m at a terrible loss of happy moments right now because teaching, even only for one week so far, has been quite a challenge. It will get better. Yesterday was actually a good day. Maybe I should bake some cookies…
August 14th, 2008 at 3:38 am
Oh, and having my students pick up on the whole recycling thing…that REALLY makes me happy!!!
August 14th, 2008 at 3:48 am
oh…it sounds like your poor friend may have more than just lost her happiness. it sounds like she has clinical depression, which is characterized by anhedonia - the inability to feel happiness and joy with the experiences that used to make you happy. nothing, not food, not activities, not people, nothing makes you happy. if you think it is appropriate, you might suggest that she see a doctor. sometimes it’s just an issue with the thyroid. bless her heart.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:15 am
What makes me happy? Pajamas, memories of my grandparents, baking, driving, singing along with the radio, coffee, my boyfriend, Sunday mornings … I think I could go on and on!
August 14th, 2008 at 5:23 am
I recently came across your site. Great blog! I’ve added you to my blog.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:15 am
These look wonderful. Good, simple ingredients!
August 14th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Wow. Well, I can understand why these lovely cookies would make you happy. Makes me want to try making them with agave just looking at them. ;D
I can understand the loss of happy. I’ve been struggling a bit in that department myself lately (scary mammogram results, biopsies to come, etc.). However, baking and cooking always make me feel like a human being again.
Thanks for the post.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:47 am
I completely understand what your friend is going through as I often struggle with depression. I live by myself far away from everyone I know, it’s very lonely.
But the things that make me happy? My dogs and my cat. Waking up to them makes me smile as they are always excited to greet the day. Trying new recipes and sitting down to enjoy them with a glass of wine and a good cook with my dogs curled up next to me. Finding a new bike route that is more challenging than my previous ones and pushing through it.
I think the cookies will help too!
August 14th, 2008 at 7:55 am
On the cookie theme, warm, gooey, just out of the oven shouldn’t eat yet but do anyway chocolate chip cookies make me happy. Receiving an e-mail from a girl I’m interested in with some sort of nerdy reference to *something* I’m interested in. Hearing an awesome bad 90s song I’d forgotten about. Perfect weather (I live somewhere with a 90 degree temperature variation over the year, so this is only about a two-week span). Reading a fantastic book.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I think these cookies will make anyone happy! Sweets usually do it for me..and of course good friends, family, the outdoors, etc! Life is full of happiness, you just have to find it!
August 14th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Happy - people loving the food I make makes blows me up the roof happy, people loving my blog, receiving a new cookbook / food magazine and going through it for the first time, shooting a beautiful photo, when I succeed in doing something that I have to do but don’t wanna do it on the planned time (I usually put off things that I don’t like doing..) and of course - Avi - for being the man he is, who totally completes the woman I am.
Your cookies look delightful, Joy!
August 14th, 2008 at 9:05 am
I really like the smell of books - not cookbooks specifically but just plain ol’ books! and when i bake something and its a hit or when i come bake from my workout! the list is endless!!
August 14th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I’m going to be completely generic: love makes me happy. It’s not that love is always fun or even joyful - some days it’s a knock-down drag-out fight with your boyfriend or your mom or your friend and you wonder how you could possibly ever go on or be happy with them again. It breaks you up and it tears you down and you feel so completely hurt and lost.
But every day, I wake up for that. I wake up so that I have another chance to be happy or miserable for another person, because these are my people, and my life is for them.
And walking downstairs to see my puppy wagging her tail for me is always a good thing to wake up for!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Right now the prospect of these cookies are making me happy! Food is just great like that, and baked goods are especially great for creating happy moments. Otherwise a good run followed by a well deserved meal (and glass of wine) also finds a way to put me into a happy state.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I have my ups and downs. I hope that I have more ups than downs though. Has something happened in your friend’s life recently that is making her depressed? Big life changes are hard for me so I can understand if thats the case. I am sure she appreciates your time and cookies! I know that would make me happy
/Clara
August 14th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
A rainy day, a good book, and a snuggle with my boy or my puppy. The trifecta of happy. Or, when one of my students “gets it”, but that feeling goes beyond happy.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
You’re nice to be there for your friend, care for your friend, and encourage your friend; keep that up, she’ll cherish and feed off of it later, I promise you.
The sun makes me happy, plus knowing that someday I’ll be back home in Cali in the sun, near the water once again. Might be a thought right now, but I hope to make it a reality soon, very soon.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Happiness, Ahhh. I sometimes have to wrestle it down to make sure it stays with me, but some of those small things that will always make me happy: my dog laying close to me, when my baking goes perfectly and other people really enjoy eating it, surprise i-was-thinking-about-you’s from my BF (like getting me a starbucks gift card for NO reason b/c i love coffee), NY, doing well on a task or goal I set for myself… Hmm… maybe when you sit down and try to think about all the things that make you happy, it actually makes you happy!
PS - Love your blog, its on my “check daily” list!
August 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I just know the coconut really makes these cookies extra buttery! Yum…:)
August 14th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I’m glad that even on the most unhappy days, I can bring things to mind that make me happy. Sitting in the hottub with my love on a Friday night, listening to Alison Krauss with a rum drink makes me happy. Baking makes me happy. Taking my dog, Noelle, for a walk and seeing how it is her most favorite thing makes me happy. Finding this blog, and so often while reading your posts and thinking, “Me, too,” makes me happy. Thanks for your posts.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I love this… “she lost her happy”. Love it! Find your happy… I think I’ll have that be my new mantra!
August 15th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Toasted coconut sucks me right in! These look fab!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Joy, I love you’re write ups with your recipes (and the pictures are great, too!!!)
Things that make me happy — sunny days, realizing its Saturday and I don’t have to work, (something I realized today) watching moms with their babies, a good song on my ipod or on the radio, pets that give unconditional love, sisters who are always there for you, friends who care.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:50 am
i’m going to give them a try. reading your words made me happy today…thank you x
August 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I think it’s a gift/blessing to find happiness in seemingly small places. Cooking/baking, reading a book, being with my family all make me happy. Loneliness is a big vaccuum for happiness. Spending time with people you love can make you feel better!
August 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
They look fabulous! Your pictures keep getting better and better where they already started on great level…meaning….I am hungry!!
August 15th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Those are adorable! I love the ribbon! Beautiful site!
August 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Well, cooking and baking, of course.
But, also, losing myself in a great song.
Or, seeing/finding a piece of art that gets me to really think/feel.
Hanging out with my nephew because the kid is amazing.
Gliding through the silent water when I swim.
August 16th, 2008 at 7:36 am
[...] thoughts about coconut cookies and what makes your happy brought endless smiles to my face. Thank you to all of you who took the [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I love coconut! Those look really good!
August 17th, 2008 at 8:20 am
these looks nice and delicious.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:58 am
My bunnies and puppy make me happy. The simplicity of pure unconditional love that a human shares with an animal makes me happy, makes my heart smile.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I made them tonight for my boyfriend and he ate ten of them!
I added some white chocolate chips to mine.
they were delicious. I loved your addition of cinnamon and almond extract. they really accented the flavour of the coconut!
thank you for the recipe.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
[...] Recipes: Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies Salted Cashew Crunch Cookies Anzac Self-Saucing Pudding Crispy Toasted Coconut Cookies Butter Tart Squares Clementine and Olive Oil Cake Italian Country Rice Flan/Torta di Risso Lemon [...]
November 7th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hi! I made these cookies tonight for a couple reasons:
1) my bf is out of town for the weekend and in place of his snuggles I need a little coconut happy (plus he doesn’t like coconut so he’s not missing out)
3) I recently got a bunch of cookie cutters and have been looking for yummy recipes to utilize them with.
they came out great! my dough was so sticky I couldn’t roll it out with out it sticking to everything so I ended up making a big disk out of it, wrapping it in plastic wrap and sticking it in the fridge for a couple hours.
I’ll be taking (some of) these to a birthday party tomorrow night, so thank for another winner! In an effort to use more of my new cookie cutters I plan on making your sugar cookies next. Can’t wait!
Best,
Elizabeth