Phoenix Senior Living's Cookie of the Year
Each year, Phoenix Senior Living brings residents, families, and staff together for a heartwarming company-wide contest with one shared goal: to create the winning recipe for the PSL Cookie of the Year. This treasured recipe becomes a signature treat for all Phoenix locations, serving as a warm welcome for visitors, a thoughtful gift for tours, a treat when meeting care partners, and, of course, a delicious snack for all to enjoy.
The contest begins at the community level, where each location hosts its own competition to select a single standout recipe that represents its community. From there, the Dining Director and their team review the submissions and narrow them down to the top five finalists. These five recipes are then prepared and sampled by our Executive Directors and Home Office associates, creating a meaningful bridge that connects our communities to leadership.
This year’s winning recipe, “Coconut Cranberry Chewies ,“ comes from The Retreat at Conyers and was crafted by their Community Engagement Director, Daina Lloyd.
It started off as a simple recipe. I’m not quite sure where I found it; was it in a book, was it online, was it given to me? I really can’t remember. My daughters and I started playing with the recipe, we added this, subtracted that, and worked with different flavors. One daughter didn’t like raisins but loved coconuts. The other daughter really loved oatmeal. Do we like vanilla, or do we like almond, or do we like lemon? We worked and worked until we found a combination that we truly adored. Every time we went to a church function or our family reunion, they would ask Are you bringing THE cookies.
It’s kind of like life, you’re given a basic recipe, and it’s up to you and those around you to adjust it to your liking, so I add this, to exclude that. We learn from our mistakes (don’t use fake butter). That’s the wonderful thing about life, you can dictate how it tastes so that when you go to the church function or the family reunion, they want to know if you brought “THE YOU “
– Daina Lloyd, The Retreat at Conyers
Cookie of the Year 2026 Recipe Creator
Coconut Cranberry Chewies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups melted butter
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed down
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs beaten
- 3 cups oatmeal
- 3 cups all purpose flour packed down
- 3 cups sweetned dried cranberries
- 3 cups flaked coconut
Optional Add-ins
- 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup white chocolate or butterscotch chips
- 1-2 cups chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, or almonds)
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350
- Melt butter and allow to cool slightly to avoid cooking the eggs
Instructions
- Combine sugars (white and brown) in a large mixing bowl
- Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and both extracts. Stir until fully incorporated
- Add beaten eggs and mix until light and fluffy
- Slowly drizzle melted butter into mixture while stirring constantly. Add butter gradually to prevent scrambling the eggs
- Add oatmeal one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
- Add flour one cup at a time until fully incorporated
- Fold in cranberries and coconut
- Drop Cookies by mounded teaspoons onto prepared pans. Press gently to flatten
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
- Cool on pan for 2 miunutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely