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These delicious coconut cookies are wonderfully soft and chewy, with perfect crispy edges and crunchy coconut flakes. They’re easy to make and come together quickly, so you won’t miss out on any family time or holiday festivities.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Cookies and coconut are a match made in baked goods heaven! These coconut cookies are seriously so delicious, the perfect combination of soft and chewy with crispy edges and crunchy bits of coconut. They’re sweet, nutty, and a little rich, but they’re made with super simple ingredients.
- It’s a great make-ahead dessert option! You can refrigerate the dough until the minute you want to enjoy some soft, warm, straight-out-of-the-oven cookies, or you can bake the cookies ahead of time so they’re ready-to-serve at a moment’s notice. Either way, it’s a great time-saver especially around the holidays!
- Speaking of the holidays – you might be surprised to find out that coconut cookies are a super popular Christmas treat! It makes sense if you think about it. They’re sort of a cross between a coconut macaroon and a rich, buttery sugar cookie. I bet if you leave a plate of these out for Santa, your gifts will be extra amazing this year.
Chef’s Tips
- I mentioned two ways to use these coconut cookies as a make-ahead dessert, but there’s actually a third way! After chilling the cookie dough balls, wrap each one super well in plastic wrap, then toss them into an airtight, freezer-safe container (or plastic freezer bag) and freeze them until you need them! This way, you can make a small-batch of coconut cookies whenever you want. The dough can stay frozen up to 6 months.
- For another level of deep flavor, lightly toast the coconut flakes before baking (or use store-bought toasted coconut). It gives the cookies a very slight smokiness that’s absolutely unbelievable against the sweetness of the sugars. If you toast it yourself, though, be very careful not to burn the coconut. It toasts quickly so just a little too long will throw off the entire batch. Let the toasted coconut cool completely before adding it to the cookie dough.
- For perfectly round coconut cookies, there’s a quick little trick you can do as soon as you take the baking sheet out of the oven. Just take a large round cookie cutter (or even a glass or a mug!) and set it over/around one of the cookies while the cookie’s still warm. Gently but quickly swirl the cookie cutter around in a circular motion, touching the edge of the cookie the whole time. It’ll press and shape the warm cookie edges into a neat circle, and the shape will hold as the cookie cools!
More Delicious Recipes With Coconut
- Coconut Rice
- Best Ever Tom Kha Gai Soup (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
- Whole30 Coconut Shrimp with Orange Sauce
- Beer-Battered Coconut Chicken
- Vegan Coconut Cream Pie
Coconut Cookies
Soft and chewy with perfect crispy edges, these easy coconut cookies are just the thing to satisfy those sweet cravings.
cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- medium mixing bowl
- whisk
- large mixing bowl or bowl for stand mixer
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- silicone or rubber spatula
- Cookie scoop with release handle
- Oven
- cookie spatula optional
- wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅓ cup cane sugar see Notes
- ⅓ packed cup light brown sugar see Notes
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, until ingredients are well-distributed. Set aside.
- Add room temperature butter, cane sugar, and light brown sugar to large mixing bowl. Use hand mixer or stand mixer to cream butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy and ingredients are fully combined.
- Add egg and vanilla extract to mixing bowl with butter mixture. Continue beating mixture on medium speed until egg is fully incorporated, pausing to scrape down sides of mixing bowl as needed.
- Slowly add flour mixture to large mixing bowl in small increments, pausing to mix the ingredients together after each addition. Continue until flour mixture has been completely incorporated into butter mixture.
- Add coconut flakes to mixing bowl and use silicone spatula to gently fold flakes into cookie dough mixture, until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
- Use cookie scoop to scoop 2 tablespoons of dough out of mixing bowl. Place dough scoop on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving approximately 1 inch space between each cookie dough ball. Repeat until all of cookie dough has been rolled. Use additional baking sheets as needed to avoid overcrowding.
- When all dough has been portioned into cookie scoops, place baking sheet(s) in preheated oven. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown around edges. For crunchier cookies, bake 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Remove baking sheet from oven. Let coconut cookies cool on baking sheet 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely, then serve as desired.
- Sugar: You can swap the cane sugar for Granular Swerve and the brown sugar for Brown Swerve or coconut sugar.
- Make it Gluten Free: Use the same amount of gluten-free all-purpose flour with xanthan gum. Make sure all other ingredients are gluten free.
- Storage: Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1cookieCalories: 122calProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 74mgPotassium: 35mgTotal Carbs: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gNet Carbs: 15gVitamin A: 155IUCalcium: 8mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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