Transform 7 simple ingredients into these extremely buttery and crispy Coconut Shortbread Cookies. They are so easy to make, you’ll be wondering why you haven’t made them sooner.
When I did my short stint in Oahu, one of my favorite things about the grocery store, beside the extensive selection of poke, is the just as extensive selection of shortbread cookies. Since then I’ve made it my mission to create as many flavors as I can. Some of my favorites, beside these coconut shortbread cookies, have to be these chocolate macadamia shortbread cookies, these strawberry shortbread cookies, and these macadamia chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
This coconut shortbread recipe is super easy to make. It yields two dozens thick cookies that are oh-so buttery and crispy fresh out of the oven. They are also slightly chewy with an amazing coconut flavor from the shredded coconut mixed right into the cookie dough. I promise you’ll love them too!
Table of Contents
Helpful tools
I used a stand mixer to make the coconut shortbread cookie dough. An electric hand mixer will work just as well. But other than that, no other special tools are needed.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Unsalted butter – I don’t recommend replacing salted butter as it can make the cookies too salty.
- Granulated sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Flour – all-purpose flour works just fine in this recipe. You could also use cake flour and skip the cornstarch.
- Cornstarch – adds that melt-in-your-mouth texture to your cookies. Skip if you’re using cake flour.
- Kosher salt – just a little bit to enhance the flavor. Use half as much table salt if you need to make the substitution.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut – if you only have sweetened coconut flakes, you can make the substitution but you’ll want to chop it up really fine with your knife since those tend to come in longer strands.
- Chocolate – this is optional, but you can dip these coconut butter cookies half way in melted chocolate for serving like I did with these matcha shortbread cookies.
How to make coconut shortbread cookies
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Cream softened butter with granulated sugar and vanilla extract in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
Sift in the flour and cornstarch. Then sprinkle in the salt and add the shredded coconut.
Stir until the dough forms, and then dump it out on the counter to shape.
Tip: If you experience sandy dough, it could be that the butter was still cold, or not beaten long enough. In this case, continue to mix until it’s no longer sandy or use your hand to knead the dough together. The heat from your hand will help melt the butter and help the dough come together.
Divide the dough into two equal portions and roll each into a log about 6″ in length. Wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.
Once the dough is ready, cut each log into 12 equal portions. Place them on a lined baking sheet, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and bake until lightly golden.
Tip: After cutting, you can wrap the cookies back up in the same plastic and freeze them for another 30 minutes to an hour before baking to curb spreading.
Storage
You can store your leftover coconut shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
I do like to freeze the cookie dough, when I’m making them ahead to prepare for my Christmas bake-athon. After the dough had their hour rest in the refrigerator, take them out and cut as directed, then just wrap them back up in the same plastic wrap. Pop them in a ziploc bag and freeze. You can bake straight from frozen when ready. This way you are always serving freshly baked coconut butter cookies!
More coconut recipes
If you are a big fan of coconut like I am, I think you will enjoy these other coconut recipes too!
- This small batch Hawaiian style Coconut Mochi made with coconut milk, baked in mini muffin tins.
- This super easy 3-ingredient Coconut Truffles made from coconut milk and rolled in sweetened shredded coconut.
- This Coconut Bread is basically a buttery loaf of Brioche filled with a yummy coconut filling.
- These Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with sweetened coconut flakes and are so chewy, a little different than these crispy shortbread but no less delicious.
- Or meal prep this Coconut Chia Pudding for a quick breakfast that’s also delicious!
📖 Recipe card
7-Ingredient Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounce unsalted butter (room temperature, 227 g)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (135 g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (300 g)
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (17 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (60 g)
- Extra sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Add 8 ounces of softened butter, ⅔ cup of granulated sugar and 1 teaspooon of vanilla extract to the stand mixer bowl and beat with the paddle attachment at medium low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until creamy and fluffy.
- Sift in 2 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sprinkle in ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt. And add 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the stand mixer. Stir and gradually increase the mixer speed to medium and mix until the dough comes together. It should start pulling away from the side of the mixing bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and quickly knead together. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and roll each into a log about 6" in length. Wrap well with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- When the dough is ready, take the 2 logs out of the refrigerator and cut each log into twelve ½" thick slices. Wrap the cut cookies back into the same plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F while the cookies are resting in the freezer.
- When the oven is ready, place frozen cookies on a lined baking sheet an inch or two apart, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden.
- Remove cookies from the oven, let rest on the baking sheet for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can use cake flour instead of AP flour. Skip the cornstarch in this case.
- You can substitute sweetened coconut flakes but make sure to chop them up finely before mixing into the dough.
- Take these cookies to the next level by dipping them in melted chocolate and sprinkle sweetened shredded coconut on top.
Nutrition
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Amazing cookies….I’ve made them three times and shared the recipe with friends. Best shortbread ever. Last time I dipped one corner of each cookie in dark chocolate..OMG…to die for!!!
So happy to hear you like these Carla! The dark chocolate dip is a great idea.
Love these cookies!!
I did a log then slice and bake! Easier!
Genius about the slice and bake! I agree it is so much easier, thanks for letting us know and happy baking!
Made these and they taste and look fabulous! Highly recommend!
Thank you Anthony!
Hello, Trang! I also had an issue with the dough not coming together, in the sense that it never really started pulling away from the sides of the bowl, even after about 6-7 minutes on medium speed. Should I have gone longer? Increased/decreased the speed? How long on the stand-mixer would it normally take at that stage (post-flour, medium speed)? I was afraid of overworking it, so I stopped, added another 30g of flour to sort of combat the “moist”, kneaded it by hand, then shaped it to refrigerate, and it seemed ok texture wise. However, I think the extra flour might have thrown off the sugar balance a little bit, which was perfect before. Would appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance!
Hi Paula, sorry you ran into issue with this recipe. When the dough comes together, it doesn’t meant that it needs to come away from the bowl. Depending on the butter temperature, the dough may look dryer or moister when you mix it, for example, in the summer, butter tends to melt easier and the dough may look more moist, and in the winter, butter tends to be colder even at room temperature so sometimes you may get a sandy look to the dough. But I would not recommending adding more flour or changing the recipe in any ways. If the dough seems too moist, I would just scoop it out onto plastic wrap and shape it inside the wrap and refrigerate to allow it to harden. If it seems too dry, I would knead it by hand to let the heat from your hand melt the butter and help the dough come together. Hope this helps.
Thank you, for sharing your recipe! A really wonderful shortbread cookie with the perfect amount sweetness. I used Monkfruit as a sugar substitute and added 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, and ginger. Also added 1/4 C of chopped pecans . I sprinkled the Monkfruit on the cookie after it was baked and it was like magic .
Five star cooke!
The dough never came together and I had to throw it all away. What a disappointment.
Sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you. A lot of time when making shortbread in the winter, due to the colder temperature the dough does take some times to come together because the butter is so cold. You may knead it longer or bring it together by hand. Or if you added too much dry ingredients due to a mismeasurement, this could happen. If you ever decide to try again, I’d be happy to help troubleshoot. Thanks for trying!
Hello, can you make these into a sheet and cut into wedges? Same ingredient amount?
Sure you can cut them into whatever shape you’d like.
I made these cookies exactly with one exception. I added 2 small packages of chopped macadamia nuts. I rolled and cut them out and baked. They were so good! Not super sweet. So, I made a simple thin icing with powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and drizzled over the tops after they cooled for a few minutes. Delicious!!
The addition of macadamia nuts is genius! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Lovely cookies. Gd recipe.
yum!
12 cookies? For real? Not sure this will make the rotation for the Christmas trays 🙁
Hi Jane, this recipe can be doubled/tripled very easily to make more cookies as needed. I love these cookies, I hope you try them, let me know if you need any help.
Is there anyway to make these sugar-free (possibly by using Dates)?
My aunt would sometimes bake my recipes using sugar alternatives like Splenda and stevia. I’ve personally never tested them so I don’t know whether they affect the taste or texture. As for dates, it will definitely affect both taste and texture. If you like dates, I think go for it and try it out. But for these coconut shortbread cookies, you may want to use a sugar alternative instead of dates to preserve to coconut taste. Come back and let me know if you try it!
Fabulous recipe and delicious buttery cookies, turned out as you said. I used the gram weight for the recipe as I don’t have any cup measures here in the UK.
Thank you
Maxine
Thank you Maxine, so glad you enjoyed them!
Ditto to the last comment. Love shortbread, love coconut and both with a coffee would be sensational right now
two of my favorites, shortbread and coconut, with coffee.