Coconut Shortbread Cookies
For these Coconut Shortbread Cookies, buttery shortbread dough is made from scratch, baked until crisp, then half-dipped in dark chocolate and toasted coconut for a delicious treat.
Shortbread has always been in my top 3 favorite cookies. Its simplicity lets the butter flavor truly shine, and the crunch of shortbread is irresistible.
Shortbread is perfect plain, but it takes to other flavors very well too.
My absolute favorite Shortbread Cookie Recipe lets the natural dairy sweetness truly shine, and is more about the round swirl shape and texture (they look like the ones you buy in blue tins at Christmas).
When I want to go flavored, this Lavender Shortbread is one of my favorite renditions, or even shortbread with orange zest.
Then when I want to go the chocolate route, that’s where today’s post comes in.
For this recipe, shortbread is dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with toasted coconut for a very classic flavor combination.
They’re great to make for yourself, or even to make for family, friends, neighbors, or loved ones who are far away. They ship and store very well, making them a great edible gift.
One thing I want to say about this recipe is it’s very important to toast the coconut if you add it.
Raw coconut and toasted coconut are two completely different ingredients. Raw coconut has a chewy, tough texture to it, where toasted coconut has a very light crunch and a natural caramelized sweetness. It’s perfect with this buttery shortbread as the base.
How to Make Coconut Shortbread Cookies:
To get started, make your simple shortbread dough by creaming together butter and sugar and adding salt and almond extract. Add flour to make a crumbly dough:
As always with shortbread, the dough will look like a crumbly pile of rubble, but you should be able to press it into a smooth rectangle pretty easily:
Let the shortbread chill for an hour or two, and in the meantime make your toasted coconut in the oven. You just bake it until it turns a gorgeous golden brown color:
Roll your shortbread dough out on a floured surface and cut out your desired cookie shapes. This time I couldn’t decide between circles and cookie spoons, so I made both!
Once the cookies have baked, let them cool completely and dip in melted chocolate:
Then sprinkle the cookies with the toasted coconut before the chocolate hardens:
Let the chocolate firm at room temperature or accelerate the process by putting the cookies in the fridge.
The cookies will keep for a couple weeks at room temperature in an airtight container. Enjoy!
More Cookies You’ll Love:
- Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 7.5 oz by weight all purpose flour (1.5 cups measured)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- Either in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, whip the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds to spread it around the bowl.
- With the mixer still on medium, add the sugar. Cream the butter and sugar together for 30-60 seconds on medium, until the two have been combined.
- Briefly mix in the sea salt and almond extract.
- Add the flour all at once and take care to only mix the flour with the wet ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. The dough will be crumbly and that’s fine.
- Dump the crumbly shortbread out onto a big piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a rectangle. It should clump together smoothly.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, but two is better if you have the time.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Once preheated, place the coconut on a sheet pan and place it in the oven, giving the coconut a stir every 5 minutes or so. The coconut can take between 5 and 15 minutes to take on color, and it’s ready to be removed from the oven when it’s a golden brown color.
- Lightly flour your countertop and roll the chilled shortbread out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place the cutouts on a baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 13-17 minutes, depending on how brown you like your shortbread. My husband likes soft shortbread with no color (13 minutes), and I like the shortbread golden brown and crisp (17 minutes).
- Let the cookies cool completely, then dip half the cookie in the chocolate and sprinkle it with the toasted coconut. Let the chocolate harden and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
Post updated in August 2018 with updated photos, writing, and tips. Originally published July 2013.
31 Comments on “Coconut Shortbread Cookies”
You can never have too much toasted coconut! Love the cookie spoons!
I live for toasted coconut, especially when it’s paired with chocolate!!! I love the spoon shaped shortbread!
These looks awwwwwesome. I’m a coconut freak!
Joanne, these look so classy! I want to make these for a party I’ve got coming up soon.
SO beautiful! Coconut, shortbread, and chocolate are all wins in my book. So this is a can’t miss!
Your cutout spoons on the cookie sheet are just so adorable. I want! I love that you dipped the shortbread in chocolate – my fave way to eat it.
You know that toasted coconut is perfect! I mean you got to the perfect color! And those spoons…I’m dying at the cuteness.
Looks so good! Reminds me of Poilane Bakery’s signature “punition” or punishment cookies, which are essentially really good shortbread. Sometimes, they also sell special ones shaped like spoons. So cute! : )
These look simply amazing!! I pinned them for later reference! 🙂
I’m heading to the Kitchen to make these and can’t help it but when you brought up Bacon it only seems right to make half with Toasted Coconut & Chocolate, the other half with Chocolate and Bacon
Now that is pretty brilliant!!
Toasted coconut is pretty awesome 🙂 My husband is a huge fan of coconut in all of its forms, so these are definitely going to be made in the near future!
Shortbread, chocolate and coconut … what a delicious combination. These are going on my “to bake” list!
It says they will keep a few days…maybe in your house! They won’t last that long here. 🙂
Haha! That’s a very valid statement. I often can’t resist cookies either!
Yes, please!! I’ve never made shortbread cookies but these sound to die for. And perfect for parties! Pinning 🙂
Thank you Mandy! Shortbread is probably the easiest cookie on earth to make. So few ingredients! Hope you can make them someday!
I actually made these for 4th of July with star cutouts – they were a hit! I was really worried at first when I took the dough out of the fridge and tried to roll it out – it exploded into a pile of crumbs and I thought it was ruined! After I worked with it a bit and it warmed up, however, it became more workable. Not sure if I did something wrong, but it eventually worked out!
Hi Mandy, I’m glad it worked out in the end! Did it seem crumbly before you put it in the fridge? Sometimes if the butter doesn’t warm up enough to bind it all together it won’t stick. I haven’t had that happen with this recipe (yet?) but Ina has a shortbread recipe that I used to make a lot and that would happen sometimes.
It was crumbly beforehand, but the recipe said that would probably be the case. I think what you said about the butter not being warm enough is probably it; I had to “zap” the butter in the microwave because I didn’t have enough time to let it soften at room temperature.
Ooh! I love the comparison of toasted coconut to bacon. So true! These shortbread cookies look absolutely delightful! (:
Thanks Monica! Some things you just have to make extras of =)
I couldn’t click over fast enough! These sweet cookies were just calling my name! Coconut and chocolate is one of my favorites and paired with another favorite shortbread cookie…I’m so excited! Those spoons are adorable! I need to get one of those! Wonderful!
Haha, thanks Caroline! I love the spoons too. They’re great for when company comes over!