Double Chocolate Heaven...I mean Pomegranate Cookies

Since I have a few pomegranates, and I really liked the Chocolate Pomegranate Cookies, I thought I would also try this recipe.  I LOVE these cookies.  I love the chocolate, and the hint of sweet pomegranate, not to mention the dark cookie accented by pink arils.

To start, preheat the oven to 350 F.  To make the cookies, you need:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (I used solid coconut oil since it is about the same consistency, or you could use more butter.)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
12 oz bag semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 medium pomegranate)

I used Ulga, but you could mix the butter, shortening, white and brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until creamy.  Now, in a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Then slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture.  Now you can add the chocolate chips.  Add the pomegranates last, and mix them in as little as possible to prevent bursting them.  Place them on a pan in about 1 1/2 inch balls.  They will not spread much while cooking, so you can place them closer together.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

They are very rich, and delicious, and they taste great dunked in milk, so grab a glass of milk and start dunking.

Update 11/5/12:  I tried using 1 cup coconut oil, and that worked just as well, if not better.  I also tried using scented coconut oil, and found that it gives it a nice hint of coconut.  From now on, I will be using the scented coconut oil to make them.