Oatmeal Mango Coconut Cookies {freezer friendly, makes 6 dozen}

Becca here with another great recipe to help keep your freezer stocked with quick-to-fix meals.  I've mentioned many times before here that when I'm cooking, I like to make at least double, and often triple or quadruple a recipe, since it usually just dirties the same amount of dishes, and takes significantly less time than preparing the same thing multiple times on different days.  Rare is the day when I make just one meal, loaf of bread, or batch of cookies.  I particularly love doing this with cookie recipes for portion control!  I personally freeze them in batches of twelve, a nice amount for my family of 6, and perfect size for my baking sheet, 3x4.  You can freeze the cookies baked or unbaked, and many things I do bake first, but cookies you just can't beat the fresh out of the oven taste, so I freeze them unbaked.  These are a definite family favorite around here, and are a huge upgrade from the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie, in my opinion anyway!  The combination of coconut and mango is delicious.  Feel free to throw in some of your favorite nuts if you refer a bit of crunch in your cookie, although I think they're perfect just like this.  The recipe is very similar to one found in Fix, Freeze, Fast, one of my favorite cookbooks!

Oatmeal Mango Coconut Cookies
{freezer friendly, makes 6 dozen}

2 cups butter (4 sticks)
2 cups dark brown sugar*
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3 cups flour (I use 'whole wheat' hard wheat I grind myself)
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (not quick oats!)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (often found in the freezer, sweetened is fine too if you prefer)
1 cup chopped dried mango (about 8 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Using a mixer, cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.  Add in remaining ingredients (flour, oatmeal, coconut, mango, baking powder, and salt), and combine well.

Refrigerate dough for 1 hour, or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Roll dough into 1" balls and freeze in portions you prefer.  I place them into a quart zip top freezer bag laid flat, being careful not to squish the cookie balls or press them into each other until they're frozen hard, you want to be able to easily separate them when you're ready to cook them!

To bake:  For absolute best results, thaw fully in refrigerator first.  If you're like me and don't usually remember to do this, they are still great, I would just recommend cooking them on a silicone 'silpat' type mat.  Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes.  You want them to just be starting to turn golden brown around the edges, and 'set' in the middle, don't overcook!

Enjoy!