Old fashioned coconut cookies with molasses

This recipe was eliminated from the Joy of Cooking many decades ago but it's one of my favorites. N.B., some kinds of shredded coconut sold today are drier (maybe, filled with more filler?) than we used to buy, so watch out for the consistency of the dough. Last time I made these the dough was kind of crumbly and the cookies were totally delicious but maybe I should have used less flour.

Old-fashioned coconut molasses cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons of molasses (NOT blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-3/4 cup shredded coconut

2 cups flour (maybe less if your coconut is dry)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar, beat with egg, molasses and vanilla. Add coconut. Beat in flour (maybe start with 1-3/4 cups and see how it looks) with other dry ingredients. Chill at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven. Roll 3/4" balls, flatten them ont he baking sheet, cross hatch them by pressing them down with a fork in two directions, cook 10-12 minutes.