The citizens of Knoxville go absolutely haywire when snow is forecast and Threat Level Bananas when it actually starts snowing.

And even though I’m a “don’t believe the hype,” “I’ll believe it when I see it” snow curmudgeon, I still got caught up in the excitement once I saw the masses of giant wet flakes streaming through the air on Thursday afternoon.

By virtue of self-employment and no scheduled meetings, I was snug at home when the foretold “thunder snow” made its appearance around 2:30 p.m. We live across from a middle school, so we witness (for better or worse) the comings and goings of parents and students. And I can tell you firsthand that the thrill of being sprung from school early for an impending snow day is contagious (and kinda loud).  That boisterous glee inspired me to pretend I was snowed in and do something usually forbidden on a normal work day—bake cookies!

I’ve been craving coconut lately, so I’d already bookmarked The Lady Behind The Curtain’s recipe for Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.

For my batch, I left out the coconut extract and doubled the vanilla. I also added about a teaspoon of kosher salt because my butter was unsalted (and I like my sweets with a touch of salt).  I added another egg (although now I’m not sure why; it did make the cookies more cakey). And I decreased the chocolate chips (my favorite Hershey’s Special Dark chips) to 1 cup and added a half-cup of dried sweetened cranberries.

The toasted coconut and oats add just the right amount of chewiness, and the zing of the dried cranberries together with the semi-sweet chocolate is decadent and satisfying.

Today, the sun shines for the first time in days, melting those four inches of snow we dreaded/eagerly awaited. And I’m alone in the house with two dozen cookies. That’s scarier than another snowstorm!