Anyone else remember dark blue round tins filled with rustlely paper cups holding heaps of differently-shaped butter cookies? I do. They were incredible. They were the most perfect, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, each piped into delicate swirls or rolled in sugar or printed with a stamp. And they were impossible to eat just one of, in fact, it was customary to eat a quarter of your body weight both before and after the family dinner, resulting in greater rotundity and probably a stomach ache. I did push this limit one year and ate nearly an entire tin all on my own which had the disastrous consequence of feeling queasy everytime I saw one of those holiday tins again. Thankfully, it’s been YEARS since that fateful butter cookie overdose, and I’m just fine reaching for and munching on quite a few of these fat bombs. So much so that I decided to try making them at home! (endless supply? why not.)
These butter cookies are a bit different than those small classics – they’re piped into a gorgeous rectangular wave (first time piping cookies!), AND they have a flavor twist: toasted coconut! Coconut, especially toasted, is already buttery and so dreamy, so pairing it with a butter-heavy cookie was a no-brainer. To top it all off, I added a drizzle of white chocolate and more toasted coconut on top to create the perfectly tropical holiday cookie (particularly great if you’re like me and stuck at home in a very temperate environment). This recipe can be modified easily to create other butter cookie flavors too! Vanilla is a slam dunk, or maybe head in a citrus direction, or chocolate! (you may see a separate recipe for this last one soon, but in the mean time, make these chocolate shortbread cookies because they’re AWESOME).
If you’re in the holiday cookie mood and feeling a bit stuck at home this year, try out these other fun recipes: hazelnut chocolate cookies, pistachio snow cookies, nutter butter cookies, chocolate peanut butter mud cookies, chocolate mint shortbread, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or these white chocolate and almond sprinkle cookies! Need a challenge? Try these iced gingerbread cookies, OR make an entire gingerbread house with this recipe!
Gluten Free Toasted Coconut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Piping bag and tip
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 Cup salted butter room temperature
- 1/2 Cup white sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp coconut extract
- 1 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 1/2 Cup tapioca starch
- 3 Tbsp full fat coconut milk
For the topping:
- 1/2 Cup toasted desiccated coconut unsweetened
- 1/2 Cup melted white chocolate
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Lightly grease the sheets then set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and lighter. Add in the salt, egg yolks, vanilla, and coconut extract and beat to combine. Finally, carefully mix in the flour and starch (it will be very stiff), then slowly add the coconut milk, 1 tbsp at a time, until the cookie dough is still thick but pipeable (not runny or loose). Scoop the dough into a large piping bag fitted with a large piping tip of your desire (I used a large star tip). Pipe cookies into shapes onto your cookie sheets, then freeze piped cookies for 30 minutes before baking (important step! or your cookies will spread too much).
- Once frozen, bake cookies for 12-16 minutes or until very lightly brown on the edges and bottom and firm to the touch. Let cookies cool completely before removing from cookie sheets or decorating.
- While your cookies are cooling, toast coconut! In a non-stick frying pan, heat unsweetened desiccated coconut over medium, stirring often, until coconut is light gold and smells nutty. Remove from heat and let cool in a bowl. Meanwhile, melt your white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
- When cookies are cool, drizzle with white chocolate and sprinkle your toasted coconut on the chocolate, then let the chocolate set before eating!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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