Coconut Sugar Cookies (Chewy and Buttery)

These Coconut Sugar Cookies have everything you're looking for! Made with cream cheese and butter, they're totally addictive and will forever damage your self-control.

I have a thing with coconut AND sugar: this combination is instant happiness. My feelings with butter and cream cheese are very similar, so one day I thought: why not bake something with those ingredients? To make everything perfect, why not make bite size cookies, so I could eat it like popcorn?

I’m my worst enemy.

If you love coconut, you should try my triple coconut granola!

Why bake this recipe

• They're great for gifting a coconut-lover friend;

• This is an eggless cookie recipe;

• There's no need to chill the dough before baking.

Ingredients and substitutions

All-purpose flour. Use all-purpose flour for the best result.

Sugar. This coconut cookie is made using granulated white sugar. You can use caster sugar and get the same result. I never tried using coconut sugar for this recipe.

Cream cheese. Use it room temperature, so cream cheese is easier to mix.

Butter. Butter needs to be unsalted, and at room temperature.

Shredded coconut. Use unsweetened, or you'll get a sweeter coconut cookie.

Coconut extract. Coconut extract is optional, but it will make these cookies extra coconutty.

Homemade coconut extract

Making your own coconut extract is super simple! All you need is coconut and some distilled alcohol: rum works great for this one, but you can use vodka as well.

For coconut, you can use it both fresh or dried shredded coconut, the alcohol will work fine with any of them.

Place ½ cup coconut and ½ cup of rum or vodka into a jar with lid, close the lid and store inside a cabinet (or any dark spot). Let it mature for at least one week. Give it one good shake a day to speed up the process!

Once you think it is coconutty enough, strain the extract and discard the shredded coconut. I store my extract in a closed jar in the fridge.

How to make them

This is a simple one-bowl coconut sugar cookies.

Start by preheating the oven: you'll need no chilling time, so bake as soon as the cookies are shaped.

In a food processor, add room temperature butter and cream cheese, sugar, all-purpose flour, unsweetened shredded coconut and coconut extract if you’re using it, and pulsate until ingredients are combined and dough is formed.

Don't worry, you can do it without any fancy equipment: combine butter and cream cheese with the help of a fork or pastry cutter. Add the sugar, all-purpose flour, unsweetened shredded coconut and coconut extract and mix until dough is formed.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and using your hands, shape it into a ball. Place shaped cookies into a baking sheet, each ball about 1 inch apart.

Repeat until there’s no dough left. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until edges are just golden. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before placing them on a cooling rack.

Tips for success

You need to make sure that butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before starting, or they won’t combine as easily as they should with the other ingredients, SPECIALLY if you're doing it by hand.

You can mix all ingredients by hand, or you can use a food processor to make it quicker.

For thicker coconut sugar cookies, refrigerate the dough for one hour before baking. If you want them to spread more, just bake it right away.

If you want your cookies to be soft and chewy, don’t over bake them! Take them out of your oven when the edges look just golden.

For a harder, crispier cookie, bake them until their top is lightly golden.

Storing and Freezing

After these cookies are cooled, store (what’s left of) them into an air-tight jar (as far from your eyes as possible). They keep (for more than one day if you hide the jar from yourself) up from 1 to 2 weeks if stored right.

For freezing, it's best to freeze shaped unbaked dough. Shape the dough into balls, placing them on a baking sheet. Freeze for about 1 hour before transferring the balls to an freezer-safe bag. Store in your freezer for 3 to 4 months.

You might have to bake for 2 to 3 minutes longer than unfrozen dough.