Soft Milk Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• all-purpose
• 2 tablespoons flour
• all-purpose unsifted
• 1/4 cup cake flour un
• plus
• 2 tablespoons cake flour un
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons butter
• softened
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar granulated
• 1/2 cup brown sugar light
• packed
• 1/4 cup brown sugar dark
• packed
• 1 each eggs extra large
• 1 each egg yolks extra large
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 7 ounces milk chocolate bars coarsely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups coconut
• shredded (desiccated) sweetened
• 23 cup walnuts chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees; line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flours, cream of tartar and salt.
3. Cream the butter and shortening in the large bowl of an electric mixer on low speed for 5 minutes.
4. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes on moderate speed.
5. Beat in the egg and egg yolk.
6. Blend in the vanilla extract and almond extract.
7. On low speed, add the sifted mixture and mix until the particles of flour are absorbed.
8. Stir in the milk chocolate, coconut and walnuts.
9. For each batch, drop 2 tablespoon-size mounds of the dough onto a lined cookie sheet, spacing the mounds about 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart.
10. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a light golden color.
11. After 1 minute, transfer the cookies to cooling racks using a wide metal spatula.
12. Cool completely.
13. Store in an airtight container.