Another Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned to Manu’s Menu. Manu lives in Australia, but was raised in Italy. Not surprising, her blog focuses on classic Italian recipes, simple enough to make in a home kitchen. So many delicious pasta and cheese recipes! But I was more in the mood for something sweet.

Recently I splurged and picked up my first bag of Cup4Cup. If you’ve ever attempted gluten-free baking, it generally requires at least 3 different types of flours. Even an all-purpose variety requires the addition of some xanthan gum. Cup4Cup does all the scientific work for you, boasting a perfect substitute in almost any glutenous recipe. For an average of $18 for a 3-pound bag, the claim better be true.

Skimming though Manu’s dessert recipes, I found myself bypassing the fancier recipes for something more basic. It had been months since I had a decent chocolate chip cookie. I immediately latched on to her White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. Then I saw her Coconut Cookies. Maybe it was the promise of spring and warm weather, or the fact that I had just booked our trip to Hawaii (still so many months off…) but I wanted something tropical. Too hard to choose between the two, I did the next best thing: merged them.

Cup4Cup lived up to its claim. For these cookies at least. The flour adds extra elasticity to a dough so while the cookies worked out just fine (a little dough flattening was required), an earlier attempt at pancakes that day wasn’t nearly as successful. But the important part I had delicious, homemade cookies. I suggest doubling the recipes–these go fast!

SRC – {Gluten Free} Coconut and Macadamia Nut White Chocolate Cookies (adapted from Manu’s Menu) Makes about 3 dozen

• 2 c Cup4Cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Generous slug of vanilla
• 1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 c white chocolate chips
• 1 c chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of standing, cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, until just combined. Add flour mixture in two parts until fully mixed. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and flatten each ball slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.