I realize that most people don’t go to the City Bakery or their green Birdbath outlets for coconut cookies. They come in droves to load up on the legendary chocolate chip cookies, pretzel croissants or even the alien-looking baker’s muffin. The coconut cookie — an almost monotone golden brown that resembles a million other cookies on earth — just doesn’t inspire the same kind of fervor. But I think it should. If you’re familiar with the place, you could probably have guessed that Maury Rubin, the owner/chief baker of the chain — he who bakes caramel, almonds and fresh cranberries together in a way that you will never want to go without again — wasn’t going to put just any coconut cookie in his bakery case. Yet, to actually bite into one is still astonishing: how did they get all of that butter in there? Or in short: goodbye boring macaroons, forever!
As should be abundantly evident by now, I’m a bit obsessed with them, and finally decided in January that I was going to reverse engineer them or fail wildly trying. And oh, how wildly I failed, first auditioning a straightforward drop cookie with sweetened flaked coconut that was not even close. Then I decided to fiddle with all of my favorite baking vices: brown butter! sea salt! homemade vanilla extract! But I was still miles from the bakery case dream. And then, two weeks ago, I fell down the most wonderful internet rabbit hole, which began with these Blue Sky Bran Muffins, followed by a comment Patty which directed the curious to Maury Rubin demonstrating his Corn Muffins with Pear and Candied Ginger on Martha Stewart’s TV show, with an embedded video segment that I watched until the end, at which point my reward was revealed in the following 17 words: “After the break, I’ll be back with Maury to make a recipe for the perfect coconut cookie.”
HIS COCONUT COOKIE? If I knew how to make gifs, here would be a 5-second reel of Cookie Monster appearing in a thought bubble above my head, me closing the laptop, grabbing my bag and walking out the door to the grocery store, recipe open on my phone. Four stores (stupid coconut chips) and three hours later, the very cookie I’ve pined for all of these years, that I’d failed at numerous times, came out of my oven and, lo, they were perfect.
For about one hour. Here’s the thing: what’s amazing about this cookie is how simple it is. It has the same seven ingredients that form that backbone of most drop cookies — white and brown sugar, eggs, butter, flour, salt and baking soda — plus an absolutely staggering amount of dried coconut. And butter, but more on that later. But (and this is my sole City Bakery quibble) the “pinch of salt” isn’t close to enough for the massive amount of cookies, and I missed the sea salt flecks in my failed batches. I also had trouble forgetting what an incredible pairing brown butter and coconut are. And vanilla, well, it makes a virtual butterscotch of the crisp-chewy crumb.
And so I made two more batches, one Rubin’s way and one with brown butter, vanilla and more sea salt and all three “professional testers” (uh, babysitter, husband, preschooler) chose the brown butter version for you. I hope you find it as obsessively good as we do.
Note: This recipe got some fresh photos in 2021. Previously, it looked like this:
Four years ago: Lamb Chops with Pistachio Tapenade
Five years ago: Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans and Lemon Mint Granita
Six years ago: Jim Lahey’s Potato Pizza
Seven years ago: Black Bottomed Cupcakes
Coconut Brown Butter Cookies
Adapted from The City Bakery, via The Martha Stewart Show
Let me just get the obvious out of the way: these cookies contain a spectacular amount of butter. They also contain a spectacular amount of coconut. In fact, when you really look at it, there’s amazingly little flour or eggs for the amount of butter and coconut, and these four things are what make this cookie different from any other. They’re like a standard drop cookie (think: chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin) merged with a buttery, lacy florentine and they manage to have both the florentine’s golden crisp and crackle and the drop cookie’s faint chew. The browned butter, sea salt and vanilla extract are just the icing on the cake, but if you want to make them the original way, simply soften the butter, skip the water (necessary to make up for lost butter volume when it’s browned), vanilla and reduce the salt to a pinch.
Note: I halved the original recipe, which called for a full pound of butter and 8 cups of coconut; I just couldn’t.
Yield: 1 dozen (if you make the massive bakery size), about 2 dozen of a medium size (about 2T dough each; photos 6-8 here) or 4 dozen of a small size (1T each; top photo).
1 cup (2 sticks or 225 grams) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (145 grams) packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Slightly heaped 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 cups (240 grams) dried, unsweetened coconut chips (I used these)
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as it seems to take forever (more than 5 minutes) but then turns dark very quickly. Once it is a deeply fragrant, almost nut-brown color, remove from heat and pour butter and all browned bits at the bottom into a measuring cup. Adding 2 tablespoons water [carefully, as it can splash in the hot butter!] should bring the butter amount back up to 1 cup. Chill browned butter in the fridge until it solidifies, about 1 to 2 hours. You can hurry this along in the freezer, but check back and stir often so it doesn’t freeze unevenly solid.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
Scrape chilled browned butter and any bits into a large mixing bowl. Add both sugars and beat the mixture together until fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed, then vanilla. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Pour half of flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined, then add remaining flour and mix again, scraping down bowl if needed. Add coconut chips in two parts as well.
Scoop dough into 1, 2 or more (Rubin recommends a 2-inch wide scoop for bakery-sized cookies) balls and arrange a few with a lot of room for spreading on first baking sheet; use the back of a spoon or your fingers to flatten the dough slightly. Bake first tray of cookies; 1 tablespoon scoops will take 10 to 11 minutes; 2 tablespoon scoops, 12 to 14 minutes, the 2-inch scoop used at the bakery, 14 to 16 minutes; take the cookies out when they’re deeply golden all over. If cookies have not spread as much as you see above, stir 2 teaspoons more water into cookie dough, mixing thoroughly, before baking off another tray. (See note below for full explanation.) This should do the trick, but if it does not, repeat the same with your next batch. Once you’ve confirmed that you have the water level correct, bake remaining cookies.
Cool cookies on baking sheet for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cookies keep for up to one week at room temperature. Extra dough can be stored in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for a month or more.
About the water: Browned butter is one of my favorite things to eat in cookies like things and least favorite things to write cookie recipes for, because when you brown the butter, water volume is lost, but not all types of butter contain the same amount of water. I find that for most standard American grocery store butters (I was using Trader Joe’s store brand here, but the equivalent would be any non-European style butter), 1 tablespoon of water per stick (1/2 cup) of butter is a sufficient replacement. However, should you find that your first batch of cookies is too thick, a little extra water is all you’ll need to get the texture right. It sounds scary, but I promise is as simple as can be. Holler at me in the comments if this doesn’t work for you and please note the kind of butter and how much water you used.
I’m pretty sure I’ve been waiting my *whole* life for this recipe. Oh. My. Goodness. Thank you!
I can imagine the chew! Ugh I want them!
I can never get enough coconut…which makes me wonder if swapping out some of the butter for coconut oil might work?
These look great. I don’t know where to find coconut chips where I live. Do you think I can just use shredded coconut?
Re, shredded coconut — I believe that an equivalent weight of dried, unsweetened shredded coconut will also work. But I wouldn’t use sweetened coconut. This is already a pretty sweet cookie; that would tip it over the edge.
Wow! These cookies are spectacular! I also experienced the mount Vesuvius effect, not from adding water but just from stirring the butter while it was still hot. (I decided not to add water at that point because I didn’t want more foaming drama.) I used a European butter. I recommend not stirring it until it has cooled off quite a bit. After the foaming incident, I didn’t stir it again but did cool it in the freezer. I don’t think it ended up mattering that the brown bits settled in the bottom of the solidified butter because it all got straightened out when I creamed the butter with the sugars. I had to shave the butter into thin strips because after cooling it in the freezer, then putting it in the fridge for a couple of hours, and then letting it sit out for thirty minutes, it was so hard the mixer couldn’t do anything with it. The butter and sugars were very stiff so I ended up adding 4 Tbsps. water at that point. That made the dough feel soft and a little loose but that seemed right for a cookie that needs to spread. I could not stir in the coconut. I could have stirred all day and never gotten it incorporated. I used Harris Teeter Organics unsweetened coconut chips. So, I treated it like meatloaf, putting my hands right in the dough and gently mixing it together, being careful not to work the dough any more than absolutely necessary. I formed the dough into 1 1/2 inch flat discs and they baked beautifully. Gave some to a friend this afternoon. He was delirious and is now totally devoted to me. Thank you for a marvelous recipe. Am going to try using the basic dough (without coconut) to make cookies with chocolate and toffee. Cheers~
I made these with the shredded unsweetened coconut because I had a bunch I needed to use, and checked about that per Deb’s note here, but they were just puffy and dry. Not at all chewy. Followed recipe exactly except instead of the chips I put in shredded coconut. So not sure that’s a viable substitution or if something else went wrong.
I used shredded coconut and you have to use less. I used 2 cups of shredded coconut and that was too much. I had to add 10 teaspoons of water to make it soft enough to spread (I forgot to add water to the butter so that might also be part of it). I also had to reduce cook time to 8-9 mins cos 10 mins made the cookies brown too much. Next time I’ll use 1 cup of shredded coconut and see how it goes. Very delish and chewy cookie.
I promise I’m not trying to make these “healthy”, but would half oatmeal and half coconut flakes be good in this?
I promise I’m not trying to make these “healthy”, but would half oatmeal and half coconut flakes work in this?
One tip I read was to measure the butter before browning and then measure again after. You then add water to get back to the original weight.
I just used shredded and it worked great. Sooooo good.
Oh my gosh, this recipe is amazing! Can’t believe it has been around since 2014 and I just found it! Thank you so much!!!
While I normally use the unsweetened coconut chips in the recipe, I can confirm that unsweetened shredded coconut does work just as well. However, definitely measure it by weight on a kitchen scale, it won’t come close to the same measurement by volume.
Oof. Just baked and apparently I made a gigantic coconut cookie pancake. All cookies flattened out into discs that merged together into a butter nightmare…or dream? Not sure where I went wrong…
oh my mother and mother in law would go mad for these! how do you think they would turn out with half coconut oil and half butter and coconut sugar? too much coconut? is that even possible?
OMG, coconut AND brown butter?? Love!
I made them with sweetened, shredded coconut because I couldn’t find the other. They worked out great! The browned butter balances the sweetness and the texture is excellent. Great recipe, even if you need to use basic grocery store Baker’s coconut.
Are coconut chips the same as coconut flakes?
Coconut chips and coconut flakes are usually the same.
Ah, Bob’s Coconut Flakes- the secret to my coconut macaroons! Well, one of them. These cookies look fantastic, and seem to have been tailor made to my taste buds (need to get back to NYC asap).
How many bags of the coconut flakes did you end up going through? 1.5-2? Thanks!
Catherine — I am pretty sure I used just under one bag for 4 cups. The bags contain 340 grams so that sounds right too.
(Please forgive the multiple comment responses, vs. the batched ones I usually do. I’m trying to wean myself of the habit, efficient as it may be, because we will hopefully soon move to threaded comments, and it will be very confusing when I’ve responded to, say, Lauren about fourteen other questions unrelated. Aye.)
**For one recipe, I mean.
Woah those sound delicious! Anything with coconut AND brown butter has to be awesome. pinned to my cookies board! :)
I grew up on my mom’s very similar coconut cookies in the ’60s, but she added fresh orange zest……..Heaven!
Could you just add enough water to bring the browned butter volume back up to the one cup you started enough?
Carrie — Yes, I wanted to recommend that. But I got nervous about the quality of some measuring cups. What if the 1 cup mark is off and someone added 4 tablespoons of water, way more than is needed? I’m probably a bit paranoid.
A nerd solution here could be to measure the weight of the butter before and after browning (have your scale tared on the weight of your pan) – then add back in the same weight of water that evaporated while browning.
exactly. just weigh the brown butter on a scale and you will no exactly how much water to add. 1 pound of solid butter is 454 grams (I believe)…so put a cup on the scale, pour the browned melted butter in and addd enough water to weigh 454 grams.
Oh wow, these look delightfully crispy and wonderful! I’m well familiar with the quest/struggle to recreate something enjoyed in a restaurant or bakery, so I can imagine how pleased you are to have succeeded (and thank you thank you thank you for sharing your recipe success with all of us!)!
I’m definitely trying it. If you’re obsessed with them it must taste amazing.
Any recommendation on how long to bake the cookies?
Kate — Yikes! Will add now. Sheesh, Deb. :)
How long do you bake them for?
Birdbath is right down the street from my office, which is dangerous. So dangerous. Their cookies are one of our office favorites for birthdays. If I could make them and bring them in… hero status!
Where can u buy the coconut???
Buying coconut chips — I usually find them at health food stores, organic stores and sometimes well-stocked regular grocery stores. I bought these at Whole Foods, which sells two brands of coconut chips. If you live in NYC and use Fresh Direct, they sell them too.
You can also order directly from Bob’s Red Mill, which, because of pandemic supply weirdness, I’ve done a few times.
I’ve made these a few times and they don’t last long! I got the “flakes” at Trader Joes, but admittedly it wasn’t recently. Since Ida hit the area around N.O. food items are much more scarce and items like this haven’t reappeared on the shelves.
Toni, you can get Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes on Amazon if you cannot find them locally.
Thanks, I saw that. Also some grocery stores here sell BM chips. But Trader Joes are just so much more affordable.
OOPS Sorry I meant the chips–they had flakes too but as Deb recommends chips are better.
I just made these. Followed the recipe to a T and they were perfect! I added a few extra flakes of sea salt after they came out of the oven, and WOW! These cookies are special!
I have a picnic/potluck thingamajig to go to this weekend and was wondering what to make…Smitten Kitchen to the rescue again!!! Can’t wait to try these. I may even have all the ingredients already. Win-win! Made Nancy’s Salad last night for dinner to help use up the massive amount of lettuce our garden is being overrun with. Four out of five said it was a make again meal.
Could you just use the browned butter in liquid form rather than waiting for it to solidify? I’m curious what might happen but don’t want to mess with a recipe you’ve taken serious efforts to perfect! Hmmm…. maybe I’ll do it both ways and compare. Oh, the sacrifices I’ll make in the name of a good cookie. ;)
Just when I was celebrating getting bathing suit ready (courtesy of the flu), these come along to ruin everything. I suspect they’re worth it.
After a life time of being somewhat against to more recently ambivalent about coconut, just THIS WEEK I’ve discovered I LOVE coconut. Coconut, lime chai seed pudding… coconut lime fizzy… Yummy! Gonna have to find time to make these cookies this weekend. And I’ll be sure to get them all to myself as my husband still is in the coconut haters camp. Though I’m sure I’ll get the side-eye from him for taking the time to bake something he’s not interested in. :)
My husband loves coconut, I may have to break these out for Father’s Day! Or maybe just because. I didn’t realize the same person was also behind the caramel/almond/cranberry tart…I made that for Thanksgiving two years ago and it went over like gangbusters. I’ve also worked in your apple pie recipe from the cookbook and between those two the pumpkin pies don’t stand a chance.
That’s a long winded way of saying that these are probably good and I will give them a whirl!
These look incredible. I think brown butter makes everything better. I made brown butter chocolate chip cookies last week and they might have been the best thing I’ve ever made. Will have to make these to try to compare! I wonder if they’d be good with some chopped nuts for a little added crunch?
I love coconut and will definitely be putting these on my “to bake” list!!
I do not, repeat DO NOT, believe in making cookies. Love to eat them, but I refuse to spend the time futzing with dropping/rolling/etc cookies. I don’t understand where this stubborn streak comes from as it relates to cookies, because I spend time/effort on other foods. However, I have to make these. So, you’ve breached my cookie-making defenses with this recipe.
When I make these, they taste delicious but they always spread too thin. Thoughts?
I have yet to use the flaked coconut even though I ADORE coconut! I actually just bought a whole coconut yesterday and made chocolate macaroons last week. I cannot wait to try these!
Any chance these could be made with gluten free flour?
Elizabeth — I can’t say without trying it; that said, there’s more coconut than flour, and recipes that hinge less on flour are often the ones that are more likely to work with a GF baking mix.
omg, I have a bag of Bob’s coconut chips in the fridge that are waiting for the perfect recipe! I have to make these tonight. I have leftover buttermilk-brined chicken in the fridge for dinner, so I don’t have to spend time making dinner tonight. Long-time reader here, but only recently started to actually use your recipes (and cook in general, haha). Time to start exploring more of your recipes; everything I have made so far has been absolutely delicious! Thank-you!!!
Hi Deb, this looks amazing! Thank you for sharing.
Just want to know if these would be possible to make without a stand mixer?
Meg — You can use an electric hand mixer if you have. If you don’t, it’s a bit trickier to whip the butter, but it can still be done with a whisk, and you probably want the butter a touch softer than you’d need for an electric mixer.
OMG..This looks like the coconut cookie of all cookies..Can’t wait to indulge.
Do you think using desiccated coconut would work for this recipe?
Lisa — Coconut chips are a wider desiccated coconut. If you want to use a more finely shred dried, unsweetened coconut, I’d use the weight as an exchange.
Does anyone who has actually baked these cookies have a comment? Im interested in how they have turned out for most people.
Thanks!
I made these, they were great as is. I made a portion of them with chocolate chips. The ones with chocolate chips were also good but it did drown out the browned butter a bit. These were chewy, buttery, coconutty, everything good.
Oh dear Lord are these good. Froze them so I wouldn’t eat too many at once. Well, that strategy was unsuccessful😂
Could I add rolled oats into this recipe? If so, how much and are there any adjustments I would have to make? Thanks!
Very buttery and decadent. Mine were very flat even though I followed the recipe exactly. Still delicious
Yumm! These look and sound incredible. I love coconut and who doesn’t love cookies. Lately I’ve been playing around with natural sugar substitutes like monk fruit extract and coconut sap and coconut palm sugar. These are purportedly healthier than organic cane sugar or evaporated cane sugar and of course aspartame and other chemical sweeteners. I’ve not tried to bake with coconut sugars or monk fruit extract. I think I will give these a cookies a whirl and try the coconut sugar with this recipe. I will also sub coconut oil for the butter and gluten-free, wheat free flour for all purpose flour. I will definitely let you know how it turns out. By the way, I’m not vegan at all, jut having fun experimenting with other ingredients.
As a coconut addict, I guarantee these will be coming out of my kitchen before the weekend is through! One safety note: you say to put the hot butter into a measuring cup and then add water. Shouldn’t the butter cool a bit before adding, otherwise it’ll splatter? Thanks Deb!
Erin — It should fizz a little but it shouldn’t splatter you.
I’m so impressed how dedicated you were to perfecting this cookie. Worth making it right there. I mean, I pretty much OWE it to you at this point, right? :)
What a great recipe, I’m so happy you posted this!
BUTTTTT I’M ON WEEK 9 OF WEIGHT WATCHERS! Pity Partay for me!
I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of coconut… But Father’s Day is coming up, and a certain someone in my household adores coconut; I think these will be the perfect surprise for him.
And I do like making browned butter. It makes the house smell like heaven. Brown two sticks of butter? Twist my arm. We just bought butter from a local creamery; I’ll be curious to know see what happens with the water volume.
I’m allergic to coconut, so these are a no-go for me, but I love the idea of making the base with browned butter and going from there. The possibilities could really be fun here.
Oooh, I can’t wait to try this – brown butter AND coconut? Yum!
these look like coconut heaven – would you say even better than your toasted coconut shortbread!?
i feel your pain of visiting four stores for coconut chips. why aren’t they more common!? and un-sweetened coconut is the same! there needs to be all-coconut all the time store out there.
I could eat just the dough.
I am tearing through the dough as I wait for the first tray to bake
Thank you for the browned butter tip at the end! I made your favorite chocolate chip cookies the other day, but browned the butter, and the dough was so dry and crumbly I had to bake them up blondie-style since scooping wasn’t even close to an option. Can’t wait to make these and also try again on a browned butter version of the best chocolate chip cookies ever.
This recipe made me decide that I no longer care if I lose weight. I’m just fine the way I am, and how many more years do I have to enjoy cookies such as these? The only problem is that my husband doesn’t really like coconut. Oh, YES!! That’s not really a problem, is it?
SRLSY. YUMMMMM!!!!!!!
These look amazing!! I love love love (basically obsessed) with anything coconut!
A chef whose recipes I have been following and making for over 30 years had this to say recently about Mrs. Wakefield’s Tollhouse Cookies “A key step in Mrs. Wakefield’s recipe is allowing the dough an overnight rest in the refrigerator. Omitting it will give you a tasty cookie, but it will lack depth of flavor due to less caramelization during baking. I’ve refrigerated the dough for 2 days, and the cookies tasted even richer. Supermarket refrigerated Toll House cookie dough may owe its popularity, at least in part, to this simple step.
The Baking Wizard Says:
1. Refrigerating cookie dough overnight allows sugars to dissolve completely resulting in increased caramelization during baking.
2. What this recipe shows is how seemingly small changes—which by themselves may seem trivial—can produce radically different results. But it’s the cumulative effect of the changes that are important.”
This chef won the James Beard award in 2003 for his cookbook Baking in America.
I wonder what would happen with these coconut cookies if you allowed the dough to sit overnight in the refrigerator?
Think I will try the recipe both ways when I can finally find some unsweetened coconut when I get to the big city again, sigh. Patience required here in the hinterlands.
Wendy — I have read about resting dough and definitely do it with some other drop cookie recipes, the ones it improves. But part of the beauty of these is that it’s entirely not necessary here. It’s not the way they do it at the bakery and it’s not needed at home. I baked some off right away and some a day and two later from the fridge and it made no difference. If anything, the coconut gets softer/chewier, maybe not even in a good way.
Oh Deb! I wish I had read all directions before running out to the store for the coconut. Now I am impatiently waiting for my brown butter to cool. Hint to those who follow- make the brown butter first,and while it’s cooling run out to the store for any needed ingredients. Good things ( like brownbutter coconut cookies) will come to those who wait.
These are going to be a great Father’s Day treat! Thanks for the post!
Living in Germany I would like to know if more or less water is needed when Using europeanstyle-butter…? I really would like to try These Cookies!
If using European butter — Could you skip the water? It’s so hard for me to say because I didn’t audition them with it (I seriously cannot test these again for a bit; we are drowning in cookies!) but I think it can’t hurt to find out. If the first tray comes out puffy and doesn’t spread, you know to add a couple teaspoons of water and try again. Hope that helps.
I have a bag of coconut flour that I’ve been wondering about. I may try it in these.
These look great. I love coconut. Will probably add a few drops of coconut essence along with the vanilla. Can’t wait to give these a whirl with the coconut chips that I purchased a while back from Fresh Market. The quantity is just right – I can’t continue to bake up a recipe that ends up with 90 or more cookies!
I had a hard time finding coconut chips (flakes) this year. And then by chance, found them at my health food store! For anyone still looking, try there. And they sold it in bulk which was nice. Good luck! These cookies sound delicious and need to be made!!! :)
Butttt supposedly butter and coconut fat are not bad for you anymore rightttt? Love that this has flaked coconut chips.
thank you for linking to what coconut chips you use! when i was reading the recipe, i thought maybe it was a specialized chocolate chip-type thing, like peanut butter chips or mint chips.
Hey Deb, I saw your comment above that using sweetened coconut would result in too much sugar in the cookies. But I was JUST looking for a recipe to use up some sweetened coconut in my pantry. What if I reduce the white and/or brown sugar in the recipe to balance the sugar in the coconut flakes?
Megan — You can definitely try it, but I can’t say without seeing it/trying it if it would work. However, I am sure if your report back with your results/adjustments, other people would be thrilled to hear. I know the flaked sweet coconut is much easier to find.
Long-time lurker here! I just made these with sweetened shredded coconut, and reduced both sugars to a little less than 1/2 cup each. I also diced up some candied ginger and dried cranberries I had lying around, and added a handful of each along with some white chocolate chips (probably overkill). They’re definitely a bit puffier and more macaroon-like than the photos, but are still super tasty–and the ginger and coconut play real nice with each other!
Just yum.
Mmmm. These look absolutely incredible! I’m imagining a drizzle of chocolate over top with a big ol glass of milk!!
Thanks for sharing!
This is like all of my favorite things in one cookie — I can’t wait to try them!
Out of curiosity, what is the importance of re-solidifying the butter before mixing the batter? Does it change the texture of the cookie?
Evangeline — Whipping air into the butter and sugar helps give the cookies lift. That said, I wasn’t a thorough enough recipe tester that I tested it just using the melted butter directly — I perhaps should have. That said, many times when cookies spread too much, it’s because the butter was too melted going in, not sure if that would be a problem here.
i just made these. i used plugra, which i guess is considered a european-style butter. after browning, i still added the 2 tablespoons of water to make it a full cup. mine look exactly like the photos, in terms of spreading. the color on mine is slightly different (more uniformly brown). not sure why, but they are delicious! kind of like a ranger cookie, but with much more coconut. we buy our coconut flakes/chips at whole foods in the bulk section.
Wow these look so tasty, think my hubby would love them!
If you have an Indian market near you, you can find large bags of coconut chips there. Way cheaper than Whole Foods.
… actually I am one of those who go to the City Bakery and first grab the coconut cookies. I am most grateful for the recipe!
I bet the house smells wonderful too when these are baking/out of the oven! these actually look like a beautiful addition to a holiday basket or stacked in a cellophane bag, ala Ina Garten.
I have to point out an amusing type-o, just because it made me smile. this post would have been perfect for talk like a pirate day! “…what an incredible pairing brown butter and coconut air.” :)
AngAK — Thanks, now fixed.
Just waiting for the butter to solidify. Used salted butter, so omitted the salt. Only had sweetened coconut, so I will post an update on my untalented efforts. Wish me luck! PS The brown butter overflowed with each of the 2TBSP of water :/ Has anyone added nuts or mini choc chips?
I just finished these…after my second try. The first time, the hot butter melted a hole in my plastic measuring cup. Umm duh, blonde moment! After a quick trip to the store for a GLASS measuring cup, these are baking up quite nicely. I added 2 tsp of water after the first batch came out a little thick, and now they are perfect. And really yummy!
those will be perfect with cherries warm from the tree.
I think using the butter in a melted state would work, I use Alton Browns “Chewy” chocolate chip cookie recipe which uses melted butter. It also calls for bread flour, which of course contributes to the chewiness. Anyway, definitely worth a try, and next time I make chocolate chip cookies, I’m browning the butter first!
These remind me of the Anzac cookies you can get in Australia which also contain equal amounts of coconut to flour however they also have the addition of oats. I am not familiar cooking with flakes but I am sure going to give these ago because your very buttery description of these have me craving coconut badly.
Brown butter and coconut? I will be forever grateful!!
Update: swirled a touch of melted semi sweet chocolate on top and they were very good :) Thank you…
If you are ever on the UWS, stop into the birdbath on Columbus Ave. We don’t always carry the coconut cookies though :( And that Martha Stewart video is priceless.
I just made these cookies and they are the best thing I have ever eaten IN MY WHOLE LIFE. I stuck with your recipe. Life-altering.
Oooohhhh!!!! Brown butter is my absolute favorite!!!!!!!! But I’ve never paired it with coconut and now I’m thinking why that idea never occurred to me ’cause these look DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! I soooooo need a massive batch of these stat!
Almost like Anzac biscuits (my absolute fave!)
yummmmi!
So good.
I did not brown my butter. I forgot I was out if sugar – coconut sugar worked really well, I think. (They’re still hot, though, so not sure what cooled texture will be like)
I used Jacobsen vanilla sea salt, but I think 1/2 tsp was a little too much. Maybe.
Roh, please let us know how yours turn out and taste. I would love to also try with Coconut sugar.
Hey Deb – As a former professional artisan bakery “cookie-girl” (pre-kiddo) I have rarely met a cookie I didn’t like – or couldn’t tweak until I liked it… So, help me out here – This recipe looks and sounds amazing except for the fact that, (please forgive my blasphemy, I know I’m totally in the minority here) I hate coconut. Is there anything else you can think of that might go well with the chewy-brown-buttery goodness?
KC — I have a buttery lacy cookie over here (with oats and white chocolate) that you might like. For some people, they puff, others, they flatten. You won’t care; they’re delicious.
Oh, YES! These look delicious as always. The only problem I ever have with your amazing recipes is that I live alone (so sad, I know) and I can’t math my way into figuring out how to cook for just one, so I always end up with too much. Not a problem for cookies, haha, but for other things sometimes it’s a bit puzzling. Still, though, your stuff is amazing. :)
These look absolutely amazing. After a period of neglecting cookies (got distracted by cake!), I made a batch of almond ones recently and they got me excited about cookies again. I will definitely be trying this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Deb – What do you mean by ‘European butter’? I’m in the UK, would the ordinary supermarket butters here work as an equal substitute – they come in a block not sticks, but I have found that generally 8 oz weighed measure is equal to one cup or two sticks US. Or do you mean French butters like ‘President’ brand? I really want to try this recipe but don’t want to mess it up from the start! Thanks.
King Arthur Flour sells coconut chips online if you can’t find them in a store.
These look amazing!
AngAK brought up “talk like a pirate” day. When I told my son about it he replied “EVERY day is talk like a pirate day–arrghh!”
I think I may have to make these cookies for our monthly birthday party at work. My husband is also in the no-coconut camp.
Making these today!
I love the brown color. It came out perfect. I am using the same baking sheet with you. One of the best bakewares I recommend, especially for cookies.
Guess what I’m going to make now? These look amazing. Thank you!
mmm! I love brown butter anything! I love the addition of coconut to these cookies to give it a special summer feel. Also, it doesn’t hurt to dream of the beach while I’m eating a cookie.
xoxo
Taylor
YES. I love these. I also bulk ordered a certifiably insane amount of coconut flakes for making granola, and now realize that I am swimming in coconut, and need every excuse to use it up. Perfect for the picnic my friends and I have planned for this weekend.
I wonder how using rice flour would work for the regular flour – want to make these for a friend that is gluten intolerant.
I have friends and co-workers beg me to make cookies for them…almost daily. This is somewhat of a recent event. I have discovered that melting the butter before mixing it with the other ingredients helps make my cookies chewier! I was reading the comments and noted how many wrote about waiting for the butter to set. While I wouldn’t use it HOT, warm browned butter is, in my opinion GREAT to use. You should note, cookies made with melted butter shouldn’t be baked right away. I usually scoop out my cookies onto a cookie sheet and then place the sheet in the fridge for a few hours. If I am not going to bake right away, I put the now chilled scoops into a baggy and leave in the fridge until I am ready to bake. (This works great if some days you would kill for a fresh from the oven cookie but don’t want to bake the whole batch.)
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
For those wanting to make great gluten free cookies, try “Cup-4-Cup”. Measures out the same as all purpose and has the best mouth feel of any gluten free mix that I have ever tried.
Gina, thanks for the information on baking with Cup-4-Cup gluten-free flour. I will also be baking with a friend in mind, and didn’t know how to substitute.
Nooooooo! I just got to the bit where I put the cookies in the oven (truly, 3 heaped 2-inch scoops on the baking tray beside me) and I don’t know how long to cook them for. AAARRRRRGGGH! Help!
I don’t even having a working oven light to watch without door opening.
Halp!
Oh wait. Updated page. Updated recipe. Phew. Thank you Deb – in the oven they gooooooo!
Could I use freshly grated coconut instead of the one you mentioned?
Lydia — I’ve never tried freshly grated coconut in a cookie, or here. I am sure it would be delicious but I’d be concerned about the added moisture, which could make these spread too thin or not get crisp.
Hi Deb,
I love just about ANYTHING that comes from City Bakery, but with a recent celiac diagnosis, will have to forgo my favorite treats until I can jerry-rig them as GF at home. :( However, reading this recipe, I wondered about using coconut flour as part of a GF flour blend? I’m not yet experienced enough with that to really figure it out, but flavor-wise, do you think it might be over the top? Or could it work? Thanks!
These look great. I think coconut adds a fun flavor. If it’s not too strong, even coconut-haters will enjoy the flavor depth it brings.
Funny. I’ve never seen these at City Bakery or Birdbath and I’m a regular. I must only have eyes for those outrageously delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Thank you for opening my eyes!
I will be making these!
These sound awesome! I have extra flaked coconut and just browned butter last night. It was meant to be!
Just a request regarding threaded comments— I hope all comments will still be searchable on each recipe page. On some sites (I don’t know if it’s the browser or certain platforms) minimized threads will not be picked up with ctrl-f page searches. I really love searching the comments for key words, eg searching “chocolate” here to see if anyone added it and how they fared. Thanks! :)
MelissaBKB — That’s the plan! I agree, not being able to cntrl-F is annoying. We’re also going to keep the comments on a single page, as I prefer them. Otherwise it’s also impossible to find a key word.
Just made these and they are REALLY good fresh out of oven. Haven’t tried them yet cooled. Used Bob’s Red Mill brand shredded coconut b/c couldn’t find the flakes at the market- used equal weight as Deb suggested in one of her comments. The cookies come out more uniform looking than the ones in Deb’s pictures, though I doubt the flavor is much different. (These almost look like oatmeal cookies in appearance.) When I first read the recipe I thought about adding mini-choc chips b/c I love Mounds and Almond Joy. But once I tasted the cookie, I realized chocolate would subtract from the flavor. They have an almost butterscotch/caramelized flavor due to the brown butter and salt which I think would be masked by chocolate. Didn’t need more than the original 2 tbsp water.
The coconut cookies in those tins of Danish butter cookies we used to have in my childhood were always my favorite. This one looks even more amazing. Thnks!
Deb,
I am planning a trip to the store to buy the coconut chips. When i read this I immediately thought of your salted white chocolate oatmeal cookies which are my personal favorites. How do these compare?
Mary Ellen — Actually, I think they have a lot in common, that crisp buttery thing.
You can find that large flake coconut in any health food store bulk bin, usually, fyi…
I used to make Browned Butter Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting at Christmas.. they were one of my Mom’s favorites, not mine though. She loves coconut I think I will have to surprise her with these!:)
Wow! These are outstanding! My friends recently lost their son and I’ve been taking them meals. We’ve shared so many meals together I really wanted to take something different. This was the perfect recipe for them.
Thanks Deb! Love your site!!
Sher
These are outstanding. I used a multigrain flour blend for the AP flour and I think that may have even enhanced the brown-butteryness. Thanks for an amazing recipe, Deb!
See, I read too quickly through the directions and added water to the browned butter to bring the volume back to 1 cup. I was a quarter cup shy, so added 4T water, and honestly, the cookies looked almost exactly like the ones pictured. (I say almost because I couldn’t find the coconut chips so I used unsweetened shredded coconut instead – the whole bag from Bob’s Red Mill).
Anyway, delicious. My 19-month-old has been saying “Cookie! Cookies!” all day, and when I ask her if Mommy can have a bite of a cookie (that she stole right out of my hand), she squishes up her face and says, “Noooo…” while shaking her head at me. Sigh. :)
I just made these and they did not spread out at all … they are much more the consistency of macaroons, and not the thin, chewy-but-with-crispy-edges-perfection that I expect from the pictures. Details:
-had to substitute some dark brown sugar because I ran out of light brown
-used Bob’s Red Mill unsweetened shredded coconut because I couldn’t find coconut chips
-added the extra 2 tsps of water after the first batch, and then even added a THIRD tsp of water after the second batch was still not spreading, and the cookies still did not obtain the appearance as pictured. They also did not get as golden brown.
Tips? They were delicious, but I am desperately craving the cookie from the picture …
I made these today and they were incredible. My 7 yo daughter has proclaimed them her favorite ever!! Thanks again for a great recipe!!
Sara,
I just noticed that your post says “tsps” of water but the recipe says 2 TABLESPOONS.
J
I made these last night. They were super delicious, however I found them just slightly too buttery/greasy (for which I feel shameful to admit). Also, I ended up adding an extra half cup of flaked coconut because the batter seemed to be lacking it visibly (in hindsight, I’m sure I should have packed the coconut into the measuring cup more, or even better, used the scale instead). Next time I think I’ll cut the butter back by a few tablespoons (again, shameful, I know…), and bake at 325. For science.
Thank you for these wonderful delights!
Thank you for a wonderful and easy recipe.
Just made them, The house smells amazing, and they are so tasty. Will make them again and again.
When I make brown butter cookies, i brown the butter first, let it solidify then i take the measurement. I guess in the end i end up using more butter fats than you do. Never thought to add a bit of water to make up for water lost…
Just made these cookies and they are fabulous. By accident, I came upon a way to make them even easier to make, I think.
I decided to make this recipe last night at dinner time. I then realized I wouldn’t have time to bake them before my granddaughter’s bedtime so I browned the butter (while I was making our dinner) and refrigerated it. It was ready to go this morning when I had plenty of time to make the cookies with my grand-daughter. No waiting for it to cool/solidify at all.
Thanks so much for a great new addition to my cookie file.
RE: browned butter
I have had great success making browned butter in the microwave. I use a tall, straight-sided glass measuring pitcher (from IKEA) and nuke on high for exactly 3 and a half minutes for one half-cup stick. I put a paper towel over the top to catch any splatters. Mess-free, worry-free browned butter! hope this helps some wary home cooks.
Stopped for some coconut chips on the way out of town. ( fairway has several varieties).. Later looked at the Bob’s website. If you really love these cookies you can buy the coconut in 25 pound bags!! Thatsa lotta Cookies!
Another great recipe, thankyou! To add to Catherine’s comment re amount of coconut: I filled a 4c measure, then weighed – it was only 150g. Weighing out another 90g to make up 240, I got it all into the 4c glass, but it was packed! I was thinking, wow, this is just too much coconut for the amount of batter, but it all mixed in just fine. They taste wonderful and look like the pictures, but the eating is hard work, the coconut flakes are tough to chew …. which got me thinking my flakes/chips were dried out; they are bordering on crispy instead of leathery. (They’re an organic product packaged by my grocery store.) Maybe this could account for the extra I needed to get the weighed amount, cuz being dry they’d weigh less… ? Could try steaming the flakes to soften, next time, or, just let the batter sit for a while to meld. Goes to show the endless variations from volume and weight differences!
Re, coconut weights — When I get mixed weights, I default to the weigh listed per cup on the bag, which I did here as I figure that’s the weight they want you to use. With coconut chips, you’re going to get an especially wide range in weights because some will be crumbled small and a lot will fit in a cup and some will be large and will fill your with much less.
I made these yesterday using some coconut flakes from the asian market, and they were a HUGE hit. Thank you for posting this recipe. They were the best cookies. My husband who usually only has one had 4. My boss had one, left for home, the came back from the parking lot to get one for the road. Irresistible for all.
PS I did want add I weighed out the ingredients per your instructions, as the coconut and flour varied in weight verses measure.
I just substituted the granulated and brown sugar with the same measurement of coconut palm sugar and Honeywell almond flour for AP flour and they turned out amazing. I was obsessed with City Bakery’s coconut cookies until I had to go gluten free and thanks to you, I’ve got them back!
yum.
Oh me of little faith. I used Challenge unsalted butter. When I poured it into the Pyrex glass measure I got an exact cup. I opted to not add the extra water, figuring since I got my full cup I was good to go. Wrong. The dough was fairly crumbly and I proceeded with my test sheet. They came out exactly as I had put them in, in perfect pucks. I added water to the remaining dough and the rest came out perfect. Thanks!!
Just made them and followed your guidelines. Only thing I added was about a quarter cup of toasted Pecan pieces (tiny pieces usually used in cookies). I’m in Texas and Pecans are part of the Texas Hill Country. Mine spread as I think they should, but look a little flatter than your pictures however not much flatter. They are bursting with simply mouthwatering flavor. Thanks!
Gluten free version-
+1 egg white
+1/2 tsp guar gum
+1/4 cup gf flour (I use the trader joes brand)
+ 1/2 tsp psyllum powder (spelling?)
Swapped coconut water for water
Super yummy !!
I just made them and they were super! I’d like to try them with the shredded coconut to see if there is a different!
Thanks, Deb for the wonderful recipe!
I just made them and like Audrey, used Challenge unsalted butter. I didn’t have a small Pyrex measuring cup so just used the metal 1 cup one I always use. My brown butter almost filled the cup, only had to add a teaspoon or so of water.
I made small cookies, scant Tablespoon and flattened them out some with my fingers. Took about 11 minutes. Mine came out thin and a bit crispy, which is how I like cookies. Really not very sweet. I don’t like overly sweet things but this definitely is not too sweet. I’ll make them again, maybe with chopped pecans added, as Jack did.
Thank you, Thank you for this amazing recipe. I converted it to Gluten Free and was successful! The instructions were most helpful. The first batch was great and the second batch, with the added water, was even better.
Indeed, I’ve never tasted this before and i wonder how it will taste like. I would have to check it out as i always love to try new recipes but, i don’t know if i will be able to see it where i am and, i don’t know how to prepare it either.
Any suggestion?
Thanks a lot for sharing this with us.
BTW: This is my first visit to your site and I’m loving it :).
In the process of making these now. I made my brown butter yesterday and it foamed quite a bit, cooked for around 6 minutes, and turned nice and dark. But when measured, it was still at 1 cup, so I did not add any water. I hope that will turn out ok?
Also: Took longer than 2 hours to get the butter solid again.
They are in the oven right now, can’t wait! Bob’s Red Mill is so awesome, it was easy to find at the local grocery or at the Co-op here in my area. It’s gonna be a great Sunday!
The recipe worked perfectly, they are so delicious! I’m glad I bought two bags of coconut. Wow!
Results = amazing.
I made these with the sweetened shredded coconut because that’s all I could find at the store. I like to imagine everyone in town rushing to the store for the unsweetened version, and buying every last bag, as soon as this recipe was posted. The cookies are delicious!!! Even with sweetened coconut. We did not find them to be obnoxiously sweet. I used 1 T size scoops and they really spread during baking into thin, crispy, coconut yumminess. I would not hesitate to use the sweetened coconut again, though I’d like to try unsweetened just for curiosity’s sake. Some of you want to know about adding chocolate. My amateur opinion is that the cookies are too thin and delicate for adding chocolate chips to the batter. After baking, I melted some chocolate to drizzle over the top of a few cookies. Then my kids and I ate a whole bunch of them, both with chocolate and without. We liked them both ways but the sweetness level was a little too much with the added chocolate. I may be tempted to try again with bittersweet chocolate if and when I find unsweetened coconut. One more comment about using sweetened coconut: it weighs more than unsweetened, so I measured the 4 cup volume rather than the 240 grams.
To Jenny K: I used the Bob’s Red Mill unsweetened flakes and used a scale and 240 grams came to less than 4 cups, about 3.5 if I remember correctly.
Sounds like a delicious cookie.
Was curious why you still use brown sugar as a separate kind of sugar. I hate it when my brown sugar used to clump together so I decided to stop buying it all together. Now when I want to use brown sugar in a recipe, I just add the right amount of molasses to white sugar — 1 TB molasses to 1 cup of white sugar, more for dark, less for light.
After all, brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses in it.
Topol — I have, in fact, been tempted to write recipes that way. (For example, I’ve gotten away from suggesting cake flour in recipes in the last couple years, when I can instead suggest regular flour + cornstarch.) However, not everyone keeps molasses around, and also, I suspect I’d get a lot of “I don’t like molasses, what else can I use?” comments and then the recipe really wouldn’t be the same.
These look amazing! I can’t wait to make them.
Just curious: If I use honey instead of sugar, how terribly will these turn out? (I’m on a no-refined-sugar kick–but clearly not a no-butter kick. One out of two ain’t bad, I guess.)
Dagny — Not sure about honey. It doesn’t really work the same in recipes, but if you do try it, please let us know how it goes. It might helps others too. Thanks!
Update from Comment 66:
I tried these tonight, with sweetened coconut flakes. I used about half the sugar prescribed in the recipe (1/4 cup of white sugar, and a heaping 1/4 cup of brown). They turned out great! Not too sweet at all.
I just made these cookies with no adjustments to the recipe, and they are amazing! The last tray–of course–turned out best of all. I rolled the dough portions in my hands to form real balls, then pressed them with the back of a spoon dipped in water. They are to die for!
They turned out perfectly. I used imported Irish butter but still added in the same amount of water recommended. I added an additional 1/4th tsp of vanilla because I love an intense vanilla flavor.
These were a huge hit. Everyone loved them. Crunchy chewy crisp and coconutty.
Perfection.
I knew based on the title that we were in for a great and the recipe did not disappoint. My butter seemed to take forever to brown (maybe 25 minutes) but it was so worth it. I couldn’t find unsweetened flaked coconut like that so I splurged on sweetened coconut chips. Pricey but delicious. I would make these again in a heartbeat.
I’m a bit confused by this statement…
“Scoop dough into 1, 2 or more (Rubin recommends a 2-inch wide scoop for bakery-sized cookies) balls”
Would that be 1 ot 2 or more tablespoon balls?
In case anyone else is still wondering, I believe it means to make one or two (or more) balls as a test run. The question of what size is then addressed when Deb talks about the size scoop. I had the same confusion!
That looks very tasty! I want eat them :)
Any recipes with honey based cookies?
I’m totally considering skipping work to go home, cuddle the baby and make this cookies. It’s such a perfect cookie making day here in the Northeast. Suck it, Monday.
Oh my gosh! So good! I used costco salted butter, added the 2 T of water. Mine were a little thicker than yours but I liked them that way. Not too salty using the salted butter. Wouldn’t sub sweetened coconut. Wow. Perfect as written.
Just wanted to say that I used whole wheat flour because that’s all I had on hand and the cookies came out great. And also, now they’re totally a health food. Right? Next time I make them, I’ll use regular flour, but for now, we are all happy with how they turned out.
If there is anything I despise is perfectly good butter that is browned on purpose (or accident for that matter!!) UGH!! Just nasty. My question is…can you make these cookies WITHOUT browning (and in my opinion, ruining) the butter? Thanks, Deb :)
I adore butter. Love love love. But I actually think these might have too much butter. Can’t believe I’m saying that. Maybe it is because the browning process makes the flavor so pronounced? Still very tasty though. I might try without the brown butter step or reduce the butter slightly.
Rick — I couldn’t be certain but I think it’s a 3 to 4 tablespoon scoop.
These look chewy and delightful. Can never get enough coconut.
I’m with “danielle a” where I brown the butter first and then take the measurement. I actually weigh it, which probably isn’t the best, but I’ve never had any issues. I’ve been wanting to do an ATK test with regular butter, browned butter with nothing extra, browned butter measured by weight, and browned butter measure by volume. One advantage I see to adding liquid to even up the amount is that you could theoretically add in some different liquids like alcohol or pomegranate molasses or etc…
Best cookie ever!
I added a cup of white chocolate chips, and they turned out pretty good!
Phenomenal recipe. As good as the coconut bread recipe!
Thank you.
Yum these look amazing!
I’m looking forward to making these for father’s day- can you tell me how much salt to use if using Maldon Salt or Diamond Kosher Salt? I wasn’t sure if table salt would be the same in this case for some reason.
Rupi — I used Morton; Diamond would make it slightly less salty but you’ll be fine. Table salt is not an exchange; it is saltier per spoonful; you should use half.
I make these cookies, and they taste great, but mine came out several shades darker than what is pictured. Any ideas on how to fix that?
I tried these cookies, and although I am notoriously awful at baking cookies, they came out well! I added 1 Tbsp water to my browned butter, but ended up needing more when my dough was still a bit crumbly. I am baking at high altitude, so that might have made a difference. I also over baked them a bit, so we are eating them over the sink to catch crumbs. I will definitely make them again! The browned butter/coconut are really amazing together, and a very easy cookie to make.
I made these and they were just awful. :( I guess it was the browned butter that ruined these cookies. And no, I didn’t burn the butter. It was the same color as pictured in the recipe. Next time I’m trying these with just melted butter.
I love that you used coconut chips! The texture of this cookie looks amazing. I die for a nice, chewy cookie and anything with browned butter :]
Thanks for sharing!
My first batch just came out of the oven and they smell delicious. I doubt they will have time to cool before I start picking at one.
One warning (because I learned the hard way), do not stir the water in the melted brown butter. Mine was sputtering so I stuck a spoon in it and it bubbled over the top of my measuring cup. Made a lovely mess and I had to brown another stick.
Totally worth it though!
Follow up…they’re so, so good. I smashed some dark chocolate chips in a few but I think I like them the original way best. I’ve eaten one of each just for comparison purposes of course.
These cookies were delicious! I used the unsweetened coconut flakes from the bulk section of my grocery store and just measured out 4 cups. The browned butter made my house smell so good. Note, it is important to flatten them slightly prior to baking. I forgot on two of my cookie sheets and they weren’t cooked through. No big deal, I lightly flattened them at that point, put them back in for a few minutes, and they came out fine. Next time, I may try dipping them in chocolate (not that they need improving).
Lovely cookies! Made them to bring to work and am sure they will go down well. Just wanted to say that I always get good results from you recipes and think this is because you give the wight measurements. I live in Canada but am from the U.K. And have never been able to work out why everything is in cups, wights are much more accurate and make for better results.
I have made this recipe twice. The 1st time I measured the butter after I browned it. I didn’t add any water & the cookies came out crunchy not chewey. On the 2nd batch I still weighed the butter after I browned it & added 2 Tbsp of water. The cookies came out chewy like they were supposed to. The next time I will add 3 Tbsp of water as the batter seemed to dry out by the time I got to the last pan for baking(I live in a warm state). I will also be adding 1 or 2 Tbsps of pecan meal to the batter in place of some the flour. Was also wanting to know about putting unsweetened coco to the batter(1 Tbsp?). I know someone who loves chocolate & coconut together.
Do you even make larger batches of brown butter and then freeze for future use? I think about doing this every time I make brown butter but have never tried it. Thanks. These cookies look amazing.
Deb, you mention that thes fabulous cookies last about a week at room temperature–I made them three days ago, and they are wonderfully soft, chewey, altogether delectable! I’ve given some away but still have quite a few; I don’t think they’ll last a week, they are just too yummy. Next time, I’ll give more of them away because I can’t stop eating them. Awesome cookie!a
Great recipe. I LOVE the rich brown butter flavor. I might add a couple of extra T. of flour, however. My cookies spread very flat. They didn’t look like yours, but tasted fabulous.
Okay these? Did not last ten minutes after I set them out at the baby shower. Also, I made them because
I’m notI wasn’t a big fan of coconut. I figured I wouldn’t eat them all before the baby shower. Only my shame stopped me. FYI I used shredded since FreshDirect didn’t have chips, and with the weight it worked fine – shredded was more like about 2 heaping cups. Oh. And I made them along with the lemon bars. Which I also thought was something of which I would not be a big fan. Two for two, Deb. My expanding waistlineblamesthanks you.Oh my goodness! These look incredible. They HAVE to happen.
I was in a hurry so I put the browned butter in a metal bowl and put that bowl in ice water. It only took a few minutes of stirring to solidify!
Bought the book few days ago at last and I love it :)
Having said that, coconut cookies:
I live in Poland which means that sometimes I can’t get the same stuff many cooking sites ask for and I have to make allowances. But this time I seek experience, I use clarified butter for my baking (butter with no water content), can it be used for browning? Or is normal butter better for this?
These cookies are fantastic! The browned butter really does add a lot. It’s totally worth the wait.
Also for anyone who is wondering: In the middle of this recipe, I realized I only had I cup of unsweetened coconut and had to use 3 cups of sweetened coconut. For each cup of sweetened coconut I used, I decreased the sugar by 2 tablespoons. I am pleased with how this substitution worked – the cookies are not too sweet, just right!
Absolutely divine! And I made mine gluten free and used our fresh duck eggs in mine. Might put a white chocolate chip in next time, thanks!
Is there any chance you can put a photo up of what the butter looks like when it’s the right “nut brown” color? I think I made mine too dark, and realized that it would be hugely helpful to know when browned butter is sufficiently browned.
Terri — The fourth photo shows the butter when it’s nut brown. If you’re browning it for the first time, go a shade lighter. I tend to take it over the edge a little but it will still darken as you’re removing it from the pan, so it can hurt to remove it a moment sooner.
You know what, never mind, there are plenty of pictures already on the internet of browned butter – my second try turned out perfect and the cookies are baking right now. Thank you for the recipe!
Am eating one as I’m writing this. These are extremely delicious cookies. My Whole Foods didn’t have the coconut chips, so I used unsweetened shredded and they turned out great. I weighed the coconut. I doubled the recipe, browned the butter and my measurement was almost spot on, but I went ahead and added the water. They turned out perfect from the first batch. No tweaking needed. I love everything about these. The texture is crisp and chewy at the same time. And the browned butter flavor is perfect. Great recipe!
I subbed a little bit of coconut flour, used half coconut oil, half butter, not browned. I also used white sugar and “natural sugar”. They worked out well. After I had baked off a few sheets I added a little water, a little cocoa powder, and a little more sugar. OMG, even more amazing, if that’s possible.
Hey Deb – Made these as directed with 365 brand unsalted butter from whole foods. Had to add about 2 tbsp butter to bring up to 1 cup. When I baked off the first 6 cookies, they were much flatter than yours and a little oily, but still with great flavor. I added in an additional 2 tbsp flour to the remaining dough and baked off again, increasing the baking time a bit too – much better, and less oily, but still flatter than yours. Next round, I might try not adding any water to the dough. BTW, I scaled the ingredients so it shouldn’t have been a measuring issue. Browned butter – so delicious, but such a pain in stuff like this :)
These were so good. It was difficult taking them to the event for which I baked them because I wanted all of them to myself.
I love visiting the City Bakery when I am in town. I mostly go for breakfast. Or the hot chocolate in the winter. Never the cookies. I will have to try these. They look super good.
I made these just the way you suggested and they were perfect (surprise, surprise). Nothing better than starting a Sunday by making brown butter – thanks!!
Just made these as a treat for my grand daughter on her 17th birthday – cake following at a suitable time…..and Ohmigod! They are delicious. I just hope I don’t eat them all before I see her tomorrow.
I made these as the dessert for our Game of Thrones finale viewing last night and they were gobbled up! We had a heavy Westeros-inspired dinner (pork wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans with a pan gravy) and the cookies did just the trick! They were sweet, but not too sweet and were nice after such a heavy dinner. Here’s to a great new season next year!
I made these cookies over the weekend and did feel like I had to add a bit more water to it. I made the batter as instructed and used plain Land O Lakes unsalted butter with the additional 2 tablespoons of water. I baked 3 cookies as a test batch and noticed it was a bit thick or fluffy so i added what amounted to an additional 2 tablespoons of water and it thinned it out just enough to get them thinner with the crispy edges but still chewy in the middle. This was a test run and they were a success so I will be making them for a fish fry this weekend. Thank you for the recipe, Deb!
I used half coconut chips and half shredded coconut because that’s what I happened to have. I sort of thought the batter wasn’t salty enough so I sprinkled some sea salt on top before I baked them. They are *divine.* next time I make these I might use almond flour instead of white flour because hey – why the heck not?
I also used the cookies with vanilla ice cream for ice cream sandwiches. Try it and thank me later.
I’m gonna try dark chocolate gelato….I’m thanking you ahead of time :)
Just made these…amazing! Just as I expected. Also, being as impatient as I am, I put the browned butter in an ice bath and into the frig–only took 20 min to cool down:)
I’m not a coconut fan, but my husband is, and I just made a batch of these for him to take to work. Just out of curiousity, I baked a few without the coconut to see what would happen. Oh. My. Lanta. I’ve paused just enough to make a cup of chai, and I’m sitting down to blow my diet the second I post this comment.
3rd tray is in the oven now. They smell and look gorgeous. I am a little concerned, thought, as they are a bit oily on the bottoms… I’m hoping the oil dissipates once fully cooled or possibly refrigerated.
Hi! Would it be ok if I use fresh coconut meat for this recipe? :D
Brown butter + coconut??? I’m so excited! It took me a few tries to find coconut chips in my city, but I finally found a **1kg** bag of coconut chips at a health food store for $6.99!!!
last batch is in the oven at i type. I am very please with how these cookies turned out.
Placing browned melted butter in the mixing bowl and then placing mixing bowl in the frig speeds up cooling process…check on it in 1/2 and scrap down the sides.
i love to play with recipes….variations on a theme. this time i added a handful of honey roasted slice almonds from Trader Joe’s and some mini chocolate bits ..worked well …next time around and there will be a next time i will add little bits of pineapple.
My DH, like yours, always suggests adding chocolate chips to most anything (pancakes, scones). When we did that here (about 1/3 cup) they tasted like those addictive Girl Scout cookies (can’t remember the name)! Or like a chocolate-drizzled macaroon. Delicious. Thank you!
I just made these using 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 brown butter (combined and cooled together – eliminated the need for the water) and they turned out lovely! Perhaps a bit crispier around the edges then they appear, but SO good.
Thanks :)
We’ve had a giant bag of dried coconut flakes languishing in our pantry. Your timing is perfect.
These are amazing — and far, far too good.
These are to DIE FOR! I made them for a cookie tray I was bringing to a graduation party and they were the FIRST cookie to go. Everyone was completely enamored by them and had to know all about them. They were lovely in every sense of the word.
I made the first batch exactly as written and baked them using a Silpat but I found they spread out a little more than I preferred so I decided to refrigerate the dough overnight and then cook them on parchment lined cookie sheets instead and they turned out exactly as I wanted them – perfect disc shapes and just “puffy” enough but not too much and they were FABULOUS!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me another recipe to add to my cookie repertoire!
I’m based in the UK and made these with supermarket own brand (Sainsbury’s) unsalted butter. I add a the 2tbsps after melting the butter and did a test batch which came out just right so I didn’t need to add any more water.
Thanks so much Deb for another perfect recipe with helpful and thorough instructions. I’m a huge fan of the popcorn cookies in your book and your salted oat and white chocolate cookies too!
I’m very excited to make these. Since moving out of NYC I’ve so missed the deliciousness at the City Bakery – and really miss the adorable old Birdbath in the West Village. Am about to make these but wondered – had the thought – if you ever tried making using coconut butter/oil instead of the butter?
Aria — You can definitely try it, but my goodness, I love the flavor of the butter so much here. Too much!
I just made these–they were quite a hit! With Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter I had to add at least 2 TB of water to make a cup of the brown butter part. I didn’t have light brown sugar on had but dark brown worked fine–I decreased the brown sugar a bit and added to the white sugar a bit (nothing precise). I made half a batch first as the recipe described, and then decided a semi sweet chocolate chips would make them even better!
So I made them – sans brown butter – and they came out pretty greasy in texture and mouth feel. But great flavor though. I chilled the batter overnight so wondering if that messed anything up? Oh and I used the pound of butter and 8 cups of coconut you couldn’t cause there was a block party so had to make a ton. Nonetheless the cookies were a huge hit and pretty much gone the minute I set them down on the table. ;)
I went the lazy, just softened non-brown butter route and was pleased. I almost want to add more sea salt (but that could be my own salt addiction). My Whole Foods has this brand of coconut and it works well (http://www.iherb.com/Edward-Sons-Organic-Coconut-Flakes-Unsweetened-7-oz-200-g/32715). This cookie is butterylicious and not for those who want non-greasy fingers. Now pondering uses for my extra flaked coconut (like using in the granola recipe from your cookbook). Thanks for the recipe!
Ok. I made these exactly as the recipe stated. I ended up with brown butter/coconut pancakes. Delicious brown butter/coconut chewy pancakes.:). Methinks I need to up the volume of flour by at least 1/4 cup. Perhaps, since I live in a very tropical climate (Caribbean coast of Mexico), my flour has a higher moisture content. Experiment, experiment.
We’ve tried it now with both coconut flakes and unsweetened shredded coconut (measured by volume, will try weight sometime). I actually prefer the more uniform texture from the shredded coconut, but it tends to be puffy instead of thin and crispy. It’s still more crunchy than chewy, but it doesn’t caramelize as much.
I woke up early today to brown some butter before I go to school. I used a whole square of unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter (227 grams). It came out to exactly 1 cup after I browned it, but I added the water anyway. It’s chilling right now, I’ll report back with my cookie results!
Update: WOW SO GOOD.
Quite possibly the best cookie I’ve ever made! Instructions perfecto!!!!!
So delicious! I used Trader Joe’s unsalted butter and found that topping up with water to reach one cup produced a lovely spread in the oven. I fit about nine of the 1 TBspoon sized cookies on each sheet and especially enjoyed how the hot spots in my oven yielded cookies to sample at slightly varying levels of brownness! I think I favor the browner cookies for their crispness although after a couple days in the tin they are more or less equally chewy and utterly wonderful with breakfast coffee!
Thank you for including the note about saving the dough–I ran out of patience having used about half the dough & am happy to know that I can easily bake up a fresh batch when so moved (prob very soon!).
Ooh forgot to mention: I’d measured coconut flakes from a bulk bin by volume & when I weighed them at home came up about 40 g short of the specified weight. This did not seem to have any adverse effects so I may stick with the volume measure next time.
Forgot who asked about making these GF, but YES! I make them GF, and, talk about overkill, I use a mix of sweet white rice flour & coconut flour in place of the ap flour and they come out divine-ly. I also up the amount of vanilla to 2 tsp.
Mmmmmm!
I prefer my coconut toasted. Would that work here or do you think it would just get too much color/burn?
Kitten — The cookies get really brown, so I wouldn’t recommend it or it might seem overcooked.
Hey Deb!! I never comment on here ’cause you have such an influx of feedback, but I had to share this…
There is a traditional Belizean coconut candy called cotobrute which is fresh cubed coconut cooked in condensed milk and caramelized sugar with a ground ginger added. My boyfriend is from Belize and I wanted to take this recipe and make it a sort of “Cotobrute cookie.”
I swapped out all brown sugar for the white, added a quarter teaspoon of caramel coloring from Belize, and added a tablespoon of ground ginger.
They’re perfect. Evocative of the candy with a tropical warmth from the ginger.
Ha! I just made these – a double batch – and realized I used the wrong coconut! I had sweetened, shredded coconut, but only 6 cups so I added 2 cups of oats (I’ve seen other recipes that use oats with the coconuts). The cookies are delicious, but there is a weird chemical taste to it, I’m guessing the preservatives in the sweetened coconut? Just as I was tasting them I wondered how they would be with the coconut I prefer to use (the unsweetened version), and now I can’t wait to make them again the right way (though I might add the oats again – they were wonderful with them!).
I have 10 kids so I tripled the recipe. :). Turned out picture perfect! However, I only doubled the browned butter, and used 1 cup coconut oil. I also only doubled the coconut flakes (which I found at Menards!!!!) and added 2 cups oatmeal. Great way to make them a little healthier and stretch a little farther. Even the non-coconut lovers LOVED them.
I’m in the kitchen about to make these for the third time and have a couple of notes for those of you crazy people like me who read the comments before baking. Firstly, if you live in NYC or anywhere with Indian groceries, you can find incredibly inexpensive dried coconut. I’m noticing the now empty bag of coconut flakes I bought at one store in Jackson Heights was only $2.49 for a whole pound! Secondly, these were fantastic the second time I baked them using shredded dried unsweetened coconut instead of flaked since I had run out. I used the same weight. They came out with a very different look, perfectly round and evenly flat, almost not home baked looking but still got great reviews from party goers at a potluck. Still totally coconutty, crisp and buttery. I’m now making them to send in care packages through the mail since I think they’ll hold up. Left overs will go in the freezer, where they bake up from really well. This is a keeper of a recipe for me, as if you couldn’t tell.
I’m baking these cookies right now and just wanted to know if the consistency of the baked cookie is supposed to be chewy and crispy around the edges. As if the coconut is barely being held together by the other ingredients and the lovely brown butter. They are amazing, but very coconuty. Just making sure I’m doing it right.
Susan — I’d say that’s about right, leaning towards being more crispy all over as they cool. It should taste very buttery. The coconut is prominent because there’s not much else going on (besides the aforementioned buttah). Hope that helps.
Deb, OMG these are the very best!! Made my first batch on 7/21 and have my 4th batch in the oven as I write this. Everyone I have served them to raves about them and I just can’t seem to get enough of them. Found the coconut chips in bulk so they are quite reasonable. Thank you for this fabulous recipe. My new favorite cookies.
I’m curious about why you choose baking soda over powder. I don’t see any acids in the list of ingredients that would activate the soda. What am I missing?
Thomas — I was a terrible science student in college, but I suspect that the slightly acidic ph of the sugars is sufficient to activate the baking soda. (Which does indeed activate here, as the cookies are puffed and brown.)
I always bake something for my boyfriend as part of his Christmas/Birthday present (his birthday is on the 22nd, so I always try to do something extra). He looooooooves coconut, so I can’t wait to make these for him this year. He’s gonna go nuts!
Speaking of nuts, what do you think about adding some toasted macadamia nuts? Would it throw off the texture/make them too crunchy?
Hi Deb,
I made these cookies today and while they tasted delicious (and filled my house with the amazing scent of browned butter and coconut, two of my favorite things!), they turned out very flat and oily. Can you help a girl out? I would love to turn out cookies of similar thickness as the ones in the pictures above, as I’m more of a thick and chewy cookie kind of girl than thin and crispy. Mahalo!
Kristin
As a health professional i have to rename these the “ACS cookie” (Acute Coronary Syndrome) – but i can think of worse ways to go!
These are so delicious! I mixed in chocolate chips and pressed some of the batter into a 9×9 and the resulting blondies had crispy edges and chewy centers–so good. Thank you, Deb!
I’ve made these twice now. Both with and without the browned butter and I can honestly say that while the browned butter takes them over the edge, no matter how you do it, these are some of the best cookies out there. One of the best things I’ve ever baked.
I just made these for the first time. The flavors are fabulous, but the unsweetened coconut seems to make them a bit on the dry side. Is this normal? I used Bob’s Red Mill. Thanks!
Margaret — What kind of coconut did you use — those big chips or something smaller? I never found it to be dry but the cookie isn’t moist either — texture is more buttery, crisp and almost chewy-caramelized in parts. Maybe we just perceived it differently?
Wow these are fabulous. Had it bookmarked since this summer and finally got around to making them. Added the 2T water and then an extra T because dough seemed crumbly although not dry. Used unsweetened shredded coconut. Cookies did spread more than I thought they would so making the 2nd tray a little smaller. I let the butter chill overnight and it was hard to beat with my hand held. Maybe should have left it out for awhile. Hope they don’t get hard because they are on the thin side, but I’m sure they won’t last long around here. Thanks for the recipe(s)!
I am making these cookies today. I ADORE coconut and browned butter. I did shed a tear or two though when I cooked my brown butter and then poured it into the measuring cup to have it foam over and overflow ALL OVER THE FLOOR! Half a cup of that delicious butter was gone! Re-did just a half cup of the butter to make the full brown butter and hoping for no more catastrophes! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m so excited!!
Hi Deb, my kitchen is smelling like brown butter now, heaven! Just need to ask you: Do you PACK the coconut when measuring it or is it more loose in the 4 cups?
THANK YOU for letting me know as I would imagine this would change the result significantly!
I do not pack it when measuring cups. If you have a scale, though, that’s definitely the most reliable measurement.
Thanks Deb, they came out DELICIOUSLY!
Somebody asked if you could just use the butter soft w/o resolidifying it. You said to try it and report back. Not sure if this counts, but as it was cooling I would stir it w/a spoon to keep the solids from settling and I finally used it when it was @ the consistency of caramel. The cookies came out kind of tough but I guess that’s what you mean by “chewy”. I could not find the flakes and used regular grated coconut and substituted by volume not weight and that may have had something to do with the toughness. And BTW don’t pour the browned butter in a plastic measuring cup. Yes, it melted and I had to do a second batch of butter, LOL. It sounds like a comedy of errors but the cookies came out great and will definitely be made again.
I’ve made these cookies 3 or 4 times and just realized that I haven’t exactly been making them correctly. I’ve been using unsweetened shredded coconut instead of coconut flakes because that’s what I had the first time I made them. That’s not where I’m “messing up” though. I hadn’t realized that I should be changing the measurement for the shredded, and was using a full 4 cups of shredded coconut for these cookies. They are packed with coconut and delicious. I seriously can’t stop eating them and I don’t feel that guilty about it because they’re mostly just coconut, right ;) I follow everything else in the recipe. So, if anyone wants even more coconut flavor, you can up the coconut content and still come out with delicious cookies. Note that you do have to form them a bit when you’re putting them on the cookie sheet as the dough is a little crumbly. One of these days I’ll have to try it with coconut flakes.
i have looked at this recipe for the longest time. well here in northern vermont its been really cold and perfect days for baking.
i made the cookies but substituted the flour for almond flour.
this has to be one of the most perfect cookies i have ever tasted.
Bomb.com!
Very flakey and chewy at the same time, I am in love with these cookies. Thank you!
flakey coconut is often available at your local Winners/homesense (Canadian) – In the US it would be a store like Marshalls = they often have odd stuff you cant
find in the supermarket.
I found your page while surfing for recipes using coconut flakes and love the look/sound of these cookies! I’m curious though, is browned butter similar to ghee? I made my first batch of ghee last weekend and it’s a wonderful, nutty caramel flavour and looks like the picture you show above. Though I strained out the browned bits from mine :) Do you think my home made ghee would work in place of the browned butter in this recipe?
You know, I haven’t worked much with ghee, but I know that it’s clarified butter. The milk solids have been removed. In brown butter, they’re what provide the delicious flavor. So, they’re not the same exactly. I would personally choose browned butter over ghee in these in a heartbeat, because it’s all about the flavor.
Hi Deb! I just did a Passover/gluten-free/flourless adaptation of this recipe! It turned out so beautifully. Check it out! http://nosherium.com/2015/04/the-most-decadent-flourless-cookies-you-will-ever-have/
I made these yesterday since my boyfriend just adores coconut everything and has been working long hours. My lord are they delicious! Crispy, coconuty outsid and chewy inside. Plus they are a cinch to make! Thanks Deb, I love everything you make and have gifted your cookbook many times.
I just made these and immediately ate two. I love browned butter and coconut but my cookies spread out as flat as a pancake so they sure don’t look very impressive. Any tips on how to avoid this in the future?
Much like a song that worms it’s way through your brain, these cookies taunted me. Try as I might, I could not fight it! I got off my duff and made these dangerously delicious cookies (again). Thank you for the recipe … that is until I am once again taken hostage by the siren song of brown butter and coconut…
Organic coconut flakes Can be used as topping for cakes and pastries. You have to try delicious coconut flakes today, you would not be disappointed
I had to special order the coconut flakes, but it was so worth it! I ended up in a time crunch, so I followed the directions without browning the butter, and the cookies were chewy with crisp edges and packed with coconut flavor. Next time I’ll definitely make the version with browned butter. I think I’ll also try it using the Cook’s Illustrated method of using the browned butter in its melted form. This recipe is a true keeper!
Delicious recipe you have shared.Sure i will try these yummy brown butter cookies.Perfect to gift someone and for celebrations.
These were so so good. I realized halfway through I was 100 grams short of the coconut flakes the recipe required and so I subbed 100 grams of rolled oats and the cookies were PERFECT. I might make that mistake again next time because I don’t know how a cookie could be any better. Thank you!
I added about a shot of dark rum. These cookies came out amazing. I love that they are not floury. They are more like a sticky chewy sugar crust.
I want to use cookies for a coconut cream pie. Do you think they will be crispy enough?
Deb, what do you think about making these and dipping them in or drizzling them with very dark chocolate? Too much? Is that a thing? And if it’s not a thing, what kind of chocolate would you use?
Jessica — For me, too much. I would dip these coconut shortbread, but this cookie, so dynamic and buttery, needs no extras.
Thanks so much! I’m sticking with these, because that brown butter is all I’ve been thinking about.
I really don’t like coconut at all, but my husband loves it. I decided to make these given the rave reviews and the brown butter. I had completed the batter when my husband mentioned he didn’t like coconut cookies???
I baked them anyway, figuring he would probably like them…oh holy tastebuds! These are just so wonderful. I love the chewiness and the crispy edges. I only had sweetened shredded coconut, left over from the Twinkie cake cum Snoball cake I made for my husband’s birthday…weighed out the same amount in grams as the “chips” called for…still not two sweet and so delicious! Thank you for this really great recipe!
These are ahhhhh-mazing! Hunting for Christmas cookie recipes and found this in your archives. My kids know you as “my friend Deb” and mock me because I call you that, though we’ve never met. Your recipes have saved the meal more than once, and your writing reminds me of the delight in cooking. My son tried these and knew they were your recipe!
Thanks so much!
PS- Pleeeeeeeeze come to FL on your next book tour<3
Two words- Plu-gra. Salted Plugra, 8 oz, browns so beautifully. Could eat it raw. (And I do.) And it is exactly one cup. No water adjustment required. I also found that they hold their shape better with parchment than silpat, used both this batch. Dee-liscious! (Also 2 words.)
This was my first foray into the world of brown butter. The lovely deliciousness was so worth all my time & patience. Pulgra butter, Bob’s Red Mill flaked coconut, and flaky sea salt. Wonderful, wonderful layers of flavor!
OMG Just made these. They are to die for. This will become part of my “must bake” cookies for the Christmas Season. Thank-you very much!
Thank you for this fantastic recipe! They came out truly and utterly amazing. These cookies are a heavenly burst of sweet, nutty, salty and coconut. I savored every morsel. I drizzled mine with a little melted dark chocolate to up the ante even more, and will be giving them away for a cookie exchange. This may be best cookie I’ve ever had.
I made these tonight and I am amazed at how delicious these cookies are! I have celiac disease so cookies and other baked goods became a thing of the past when I was diagnosed. I used gluten free flour (Cup-4-Cup brand – awesome!!) and not only were the cookies perfect, my family had no idea they were gluten free. I made enough to bring to the family Christmas Eve dinner. I can’t wait to hear the raves when everyone tries them! Thanks, Deb! This one is a keeper!
Thank you so much for this recipe and for your detailed instructions.
You should know that my “I’ll only eat it if it has chocolate in it” family members actually tried and really enjoyed this cookie, as did an entire Youth group at my church. The cookies turned out buttery and perfectly chewy and crispy (that’s a combination I never thought would be possible).
I really appreciate the time, effort, and honesty you put in your posts. Thank you!
Deb,
I am new to using dried unsweetened coconut flakes. I bought the Bob’s red mill, but am not certain if I need to rehydrate the flakes before using them in this recipe. Can someone clarify? Thanks. :)
Theresa — No need to rehydrate.
Just saw this in the mailer, started reading, and ordered coconut flakes on Amazon about halfway through. :P
I made these delicious cookies yesterday. Followed recipe exactly except used unsweetened shredded coconut (Costco) but next time will either sub salted butter or increase kosher salt to 1 tsp and also increase vanilla to 1 tsp. Made 40 using 1 Tbl scoop – baked for 10 minutes.
I made these today – SOOO good. I made 1/2 a recipe, 1 T (15 g per cookie), and made 20. I agree with Kim’s comment of a little more salt and vanilla. Thanks!
Made these again, almost 6 years later! Ah, six years ago – I miss you. You had it good!
*
I doubled the (sea) salt, tripled the vanilla, used a #40 scoop to get 24g of dough, 36 total, and baked for 12 min. SERIOUSLY perfection.
Thank you so much for listing ingredients in grams also since I had to combine finely shredded and flaked coconut I tried to make brown butter in the microwave in an 8 cup glass Pyrex. I won’t repeat that. It was popping and splattering. I then covered it with wax paper and a wooden spoon. it burnt part of the spoon; [I was able to scrub the burn part away.] Most of the milk solids were a strange shape – unlike what I’m used to so I poured most of the browned butter into another measuring cup, and tossed the funny-looking, weird textured milk solids, ending up with 6 ounces & adding 2 ounces of water. I used a medium Oxo cookie scoop for the first batch and the cookies were quite large. I defaulted to a T. measuring spoon for the rest and they still came out plenty large as compared to my typical cookie size with other recipes. I’m not sure I loved the coconut flakes and would probably use all finely shredded coconut next time. [both kinds purchased from Whole Foods bulk section.]They definitely spread while baking as I learned when the batch after the trial one had a few pairs of connected cookies. I’m thinking there were at least 30 cookies. I forgot to count before sending my daughter home with a canister-full. btw, dinner started with cookies tonight. A recipe to save, share, and remake.
I made these cookies a couple of years ago and I didn’t write a review. I remember these well. THEY ARE DELICIOUS. I am belatedly thanking you for a cookie that may have sealed my reputation as a baker to my Sunday School class. They are special, they are unique and they taste so good. I need to find a less pricey source of coconut chips so that I can make them more often.
These spread like craaaazy in the oven and I ended up with cookie pancakes the first go. Chilled the dough for 2 hours and made much smaller scoops and that turned out better.
I used Central Market (HEB) brand unsalted European style butter and added 3T of water to bring it back to about a cup. They turned out perfect and delicious. Maybe my favorite cookie ever.
Saw Martha Stewart make coconut cookies on “Martha Bakes” and searched for the recipe. When I saw Deb had tweaked the original, I knew I had to try it. OMG! I had never made cookies with browned butter before (WHAT! How could I not have?). These were amazing! I made the recipe as written, using weighed measurements (my fav!), in the small size. Yielded 3 1/2 doz cookies. We still have some left and at 5 days old, stored at room temp in an airtight container, they’re still great.
I’ve made this multiple times, and everyone should too! (Loving the redesign btw, and especially the newly partitioned comments section – it’s everything I dreamed for in a food site, not least one as popular and heavily trafficked as SK! Thank you for your hard work!)
I’m a weird person for whom making cakes–and now pies, thanks to SK’s foolproof crust tutorial–is less daunting than making cookies (the scooping, watching the timer for each batch, the more scooping and timing!). That said, this is one of these rare cookie recipes that makes me dig out my sheet pans and parchment and deal with the tedium. I especially love letting different batches brown to different degrees, so even the timing aspect doesn’t feel as annoying to me. I personally favor the toasty brown crisp batches, but some favor the chewier paler ones. Each to their own, hooray!
I’m wondering if it would be a huge inconvenience ( I don’t know web design) for you to include a PHOTO of each dish when I ask to PRINT?
I’m grateful for the recipe.. but I like looking at a photo of the finished product.
Thanks in advance.
I agree and we’re looking into a solution. (Basically I had to pick one — with or without top photos — and for the short period of time it had included it I got a lot of complaints about wasting paper and toner and so I had the default set to photo-less.)
Can I make the brown butter in advance? If so, how far in advance? A few days? A week? More than that?
It should keep easily for a week; just refrigerate.
Used gluten free flour, toasted my coconut flakes and added some toasted almonds too. These are SO GOOD but they do spread a lot in the oven, so be careful that you don’t put too many on the same sheet, otherwise they’re prone to run off. They’re the first gluten free variation on a cookie I’ve tried that has actually yielded a really lovely, crisp texture (and the chewy texture inside is to die for). Thanks Deb!
These are among my favorite cookies!
Have you tried using a gluten-free baking mix for the flour? I would love to make these for a gathering at my home soon, but have a friend who really cannot be glutened. I am trying to have very little if anything that she cannot eat.
The first time you posted this I was thrilled to make them and the next day I went to a meeting where woman had made and brought them. People didn’t think they looked like much so nobody really ate them – after taking one bite I realize what they were and I confirmed with her. They are absolutely gorgeous and delicious in every way. I made my own batch a week or two later and they were excellent as well. Incredible recipe.
Hello there.
I love baking and when I measure flour I also weigh it too so that it can be more accurate . I usually weigh 1 cup of flour , it is 150 g .
When I see the recipe , I don’t think the flour is 175 g for 1 1/4 cups plus 3 Table spoon .
How many grams is in 1 cup of flour ?
Hi… can’t we just ‘brown’ a larger amount of butter and weigh again to ensure you get 1 cup / 225 grams of butter?
Can I use regular sugar if I don’t have light brown?
Yes, but they won’t be as chewy and might spread differently. Still going to taste amazing.
These cookies are soo good – just took the last batch from the oven – but can I freeze them for Christmas?
I don’t see why not…
I made a full batch and froze the raw dough in balls. I’ve been baking them off according to my cravings and it’s working just fine. I haven’t frozen the baked cookies, but it should work without a problem if you separate them with parchment or wax paper.
I saw these and my preggo cravings demanded I make these immediately! My house smells heavenly and cookies for dinner is well underway. Super easy to whip up with minimal ingredients. I used Land-o-Lakes butter and found that I did need to add the extra 2 teaspoons of water after my first test batch. Making sure to give them a good pat down also helped to get them nice and thin. Although not sure if it matters what size these come out because they are fabulous! I will definitely be making these again! Perfect crisp, chew and coconutty-ness :)!
An unsung hero on a holiday cookie plate! Turned out perfect for me. I’m thinking about adding pecans next times, after toasting in the (little) residual brown butter left in the pan.
So, I don’t see the temp to cook these cookies at. I am ready to pre-heat oven.
I just made these. I made my own brown sugar, and reduced the total sugar by about 1/3 cup b/c I find many cookies too sweet. They’re delicious. I added 3 tb of water (to bring my butter back up to 1 cup) and the spread was perfect!
Has anyone tried making these gluten free? My daughter would love them but can not eat gluten.
I have had success making them gluten egg and dairy free. With the zest of a lime or two….incredibly good!
OMG! These are amazingly delicious cookies! I love the brown-butter technique and am considering trying this on other cookie recipes. But for these with the coconut, it’s heaven. The house smelled so fantastic just with the browned butter. I used Plugra butter and the 2 Tbsp water was perfect. I also used the 2 Tbsp scoop and fit 9 cookies on each cookie sheet for a total of 31 cookies out of the batch. Fantastico!
These cookies are ALWAYS a hit when I make them! They also taste great with other mixins too in place of coconut so it’s fun to experiment with as well. :)
These cookies were great! Used shredded coconut instead (just over 2 cups) and 2 tbs water. The flavor and texture is awesome, crispy and a little bit chewy; and the salt really makes the cookie. Thanks for another keeper, Deb!
I have my brown butter chilling in the fridge and can’t wait to try these! I’ve already made some modifications to the recipe even before trying it because I’m coconut crazy. I subbed some of the AP flour for coconut flour. I subbed some of the white granulated sugar for coconut sugar. I added coconut extract along with the vanilla (but did not reduce the amount of vanilla because I generally prefer more vanilla in baking recipes). Will follow up with the results later today!
I made a half batch of these for our Super Bowl party yesterday and they got a ton of compliments. The only weird thing is that when I poured the browned butter into my 1/2 cup measuring cup (see half batch comment) I didn’t need to add any extra water at all. But the butter was definitely browned. So I chilled it and when I mixed it back in I added about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of water to the mixture just in case. Either way, they tasted amazing!
Love these. They turned out so buttery, sweet and chewy/crunchy. Thanks, Deb!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have spent countless effort and wasted an enormous amount of ingredients trying to find that perfect cookie, well this coconut one is a start. It is so amazing! I have had serious doubt at first as all other cookie recipe I have tried from other sources where people raved about, given them 5*, but were all turned out wrong for me. This one is exactly how I want it to be, from my first attempt!!!! To anyone else who is still doubting this, you have to try it! I have promised myself if I find that ONE cookie recipe, I will leave positive feedback and rave to all the people I know. Well, your search end here. Start baking!!!
Deb, I made these again today, haven’t for ages. They are still fabulous, I use 100 g less surgery tho.
Yummy! I live in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, with a few coco’s shading my garden. I harvested 30+ nuts last week. Shucked the outer shell, reserved the water, cracked the hard nut shell, and pared off any remaining soft brown skin…whew! Prep was a 7 hour job!
As I make my first batch of brown butter coco cookies, Im sipping a strawberry gin coco cocktail…. I can’t wait!
These worked brilliantly! I was in a dessert rut and you have catapulted me out of it- merci!
Hi Deb, I have a question about baking with browned butter after making these cookies. They were really tasty and the butter always adds that magical nutty flavour, but it tends to make my cookies and bars very greasy (residue in mouth all over fingers kind) almost every time.
Is this something you experience too? Is it just the nature of the browned butter beast? Or am I doing something wrong (it doesn’t happen so drastically when I add it to cakes)?
I added the water and measured everything with a scale. Is it possible that I needed a little extra flour? This batch of cookies in particular did turn out kind of flatter and “meltier” looking in the center than ideal, but I do work with a crotchety old gas mark oven so sometimes strange stuff happens.
Any input would be appreciated! Congrats on your new book!
Thank you. These cookies are, plainly, very buttery. It may not be for everyone, of course.
I had the same issue and added 1tablespoon of flour to the half batch I hadn’t baked and they turned out a little puffier and leaked less butter.
They do taste great regardless. I’m currently baking some for a friends birthday.
This recipe looks so good! I’m for sure gonna make it as soon as possible! I also have a similar recipe on my blog, you are welcome to give it a look! :)
Can you use coconut flour in place of regular flour?
Haven’t tested it but I’d be nervous to do a full swap.
I did these cookies at the weekend and they were gone in minutes!! So delicious, I would give you 10 stars if I could!
I just made them and they are delicious! On my last 2 batches I sprinkled on some sea salt on their way into the oven and that made them even yummier!
I was strong and resisted the inpulse to add chocolate chips!
I have been sitting here trying to figure why mine weren’t coming out right. I added water, then added some more. Then it hit me. I forgot to add an egg! :( Bummed, since I had been looking forward to making these for a while. They still taste good but I can tell I needed that egg to bind really it all together.
I will say the dough tasted amazing (a good base for other cookies as well)!!! and the cookies alsol tasted good. Looking forward to doing it right next time ;)
Oh, and on a side note. I live in europe, so I weighed my ingredients. I bought 2 bags toasted coconut flakes (couldn’t find untoasted) that were 200g each, but when I added the first bag it seemed like a lot of coconut, so I dumped the second bag into a cup measure and it was around 3 cups. Not sure if I should go by weight, cups or feel next time ;)
Oof, re: the egg. For the coconut: go by weight! Coconut chips are wildly inconsistent in weights vs. cup sizes because some will be crushed and others will be in big flakes still. So, I make sure to measure by weight when making these.
I made these last week but didn’t comprehend 4 cups coconut!! I though I had a lot at 2 cups. Duh! So I cut up some other dry stuff I keep in the pantry. Dried cranberry, cherries and walnuts. 2 cups more then I scoop them with my one inch scoop. Delisioso!! But I put a cup and half of the batter for later…2 days later I had to use my fingers to mold them in mounds for baking. They were more intense and they disappeared !! Now I’m trying then your way!
Hi Deb, So, these cookies are great, but I wanted to mention that my first pan in the oven was starting to burn, so for the second batch, I cooked them at 325 and they were perfect. Good recipe.
This are delicious and everyone at the office is very pleased that my husband doesn’t like coconut.
One comment about the butter situation: I live in France and do most of my measuring by weight. However, since butter and water don’t have the same weight/volume ratio, I poured the browned butter into a cup measure to see if I needed to add water, and I had MORE than one cup of butter even after the browning. I proceeded with cookies as directed without adding water, however, didn’t have enough coconut chips so substituted 90g coconut flour for chips. Cookies didn’t spread at all (I was expecting them to spread a bit, but not as much as the originals due to the extra “flour”,) so I did end up adding some water.
Second try, with the correct amount of coconut chips: I measured the browned butter by weight this time and found that I had to add 2.5 tablespoons of water to get back up to 225 grams, and they turned out perfect. Thanks Deb!
Hi Deb! Do you think I could sub a little coconut oil for some browned butter (maybe 1/4 cup)? I’m looking for a way to make these extra coconutty for a coco-loco friend’s birthday. Thanks!
This cookie is so amazing it is absolutely my favorite. Chewy, buttery, coconutty- AMAZING! I doubt I will ever find another cookieI love as much as this one. Even chocolate chips added couldn’t make it better. It is stunning just the way it is.
I have made these cookies about 5 times in the past month or so – they are spectacular. I’ve altered it a bit – and think it takes these cookies to a whole new level! I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 3 oz. chopped dark chocolate. They are divine! Thanks for the recipe!
These look great
Wow. Fabulous cookies! I normally mess around with recipes, but these are perfect just the way they are. Will make again and pass this recipe around, too.
For allergy reasons I can’t cook with eggs. Do you think subbing a flax egg here would work? Thanks!
I can’t do eggs because of allergies. Do you think subbing a flax egg here would work?
Made these for Christmas….throwing out every other cookie recipe that I have ever made!!! Added chocolate chips to the last 12 cookies before I baked them…hiding those :)
I almost gave up after browning the butter…poured into measuring cup, then added about 2 T of water (per directions to make 1 cup) and watched in disbelief as half of the browned butter foamed all over my counter & down the side of my stove….guess I should have let it cool a bit first!!
…also forgot to note that I used equivalent amount of coconut sugar instead of brown sugar….very good, I will have to fight my husband for the last one :)
I adore these cookies, make them all the time! Could I swap out lightly toasted sliced almonds for the coconut chips?
I make these all the time, they’re a favorite of ours! I was wondering do you think it would be possible to sub out lightly toasted sliced almonds for the coconut chips. I have a ginormous bag from Costco and thought it might be fun.
Thank you!
Sorry about the dupe question..iPad told me the first hadn’t posted. Sigh.
My grandmother had a very similar recipe that was everyone’s favorite, except instead of 4 cups of coconut it was 1 cup of coconut and one cup of bran flakes. The bran flakes have it a nice flavor and crunch. Based on this I’m going to try upping the coconut a bit, though.
Oh, Deb! I knew I’d like these cookies! They’re so delicious and simple to make. I’m just wondering how much more decadent they’d be with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts? Pure heaven, though without them they were just that!
OMG, Mount Vesuvius on my counters!
When I added water to my browned butter I literally had an entire cup of butter running all over my kitchen counter. (I had doubled the recipe)
I’m eager to find out how I could have have done this differently.???
Nevertheless, the cookies were amazing!!!
Rose
Rose!
I just had the same exact problem! It was a disaster – I don’t recall this ever happening to me before. The good news was that I only lost half of the butter so I just cut the entire recipe in half. Now I am having trouble with the cookies crumbling. That could be due to the fact that I used Pilsbury GF flour. I’d also love to know how to avoid the geyser that happened on my counter earlier this morning. Any ideas?
The cookies were still delicious!
Kristen
Trader Joe’s unsweetened coconut chips are $1.99 where I live. I picked up two bags to make sure I had 4cups. Worked out great :) Thank you for the recipe.
I’ve made these several times – got hooked after the first batch! I usually toast the coconut because why not, although they’re a bit darker in colour. Last time I made them with 60% bread flour and 40% cake flour – which sounds nuts but I’ve recently started baking bread so I figured why buy all-purpose if I already have the bread part. I’ll definitely repeat them that way next time too – highly recommended if you have a pantry with all the flour anyway – even more chewy! :)
I’m not usually one to snack on my I cooked baking, but I ate a DEEPLY troubling amount of this cookie dough. The finished product is so terrible I think I shouldn’t share with anyone. I will take it upon myself to eat all the cookies #martyr. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
I will try these, as they sound delicious. But first I need to wean myself from making your chocolate banana bread. Sooo terribly good!
Making these! lucky for me Bobs redmill is almost walking distance to my house so I can definitely get the correct coconut! Thanks heaps.
Love, love these! I make them vegan and gluten free. Would you have nutritional info on these, by chance? Many thanks, they are amazing!
I usually use this recipe analysis tool when I want to check information.
This (sort of) brings to mind coconut washboards that I made from Elinor Klivans’ “Big Fat Cookie” book; I’d be interested in your take on them.
Like these, they were coconut butter cookies but designed to be a bit snappier in texture, fashioned into gently rounded rectangles, and marked with the characteristic vertical lines.
It’s a recipe that could use improvement–namely a generous slathering of white chocolate on the undersides (I’ve already taken care of that) and a less onerous, less counter-sticking-falling-apart-they-will-never-look-like-the-picture-why-did-i-ever-decide-to-make-this set of instructions.
I made these as written minus 1 tablespoon of water and plus a few tablespoons of flour; I preferred them to be a little thicker and less spread. I also upped the salt a little, and next time I think I would a little more, probably up to 3/4 or 1 tsp. table salt. I liked them a lot and got lots of compliments on them. They are a little greasier to touch than most cookies due to all the butter, but I don’t think it was very off-putting to anyone.
This coconut recipe is so great and the story even adds more to my deep appreciation for your hard work sleuthing recipes! Hooray for brown butter !
Hi Deb,
I really want to make the cookie dough a day in advance, but Im worried the coconut will soften in the fridge. Do you think I can prepare the dough the night before, and just mix in the coconut before baking?
Thanks!
I’d think so, but it will be hard to mix. I wonder if even if it softens, it might still crisp in the oven? But not positive.
Made these today and they are heaven! Salty, sweet, buttery, crispy, and chewy. Thank you so much.
Very Nice Recipe ,
These look great,I like your recipe blog . I also like the https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepikasCookhouse
Thanks
I have a bag of bobs red mill shredded coconut-would that work in this recipe? I see you are using the flaked. Thanks in advance!
I really feel this recipe needs the wide flakes for the right texture. That said, if you really want to try it, maybe make a half-batch to see. They won’t be bad tasting or anything.
Deb, I think it should be mentioned in the directions, that when you add the tsp or so of water to the browned butter, that it foams up and you end up losing half your butter. -Very discouraging after spending over 20 minutes getting my butter browned.
I only had 200g shredded coconut and now wish I had coconut chips or more shredded coconut. They do spread beautifully in the oven. The texture turned out to be both crispy and chewy due to the coconut. I always like brown butter but don’t make the effort and these ones weren’t as greasy as some other brown butter cookies. Baked 11 mins and got about 34 cookies from the batch so will freeze some for another time.
“Scrape chilled browned butter and any bits into a large mixing bowl. Add both sugars and beat the mixture together until fluffy.” Did you cut up the butter into cubes first? Or did this come to room temp after solidifying? Trying to understand how this will turn fluffy if butter is cold still.. help!
Hands down one of my favorite cookies on earth. I don’t usually like eating raw cookie dough, but I could NOT STOP EATING the dough. Or the cookies. So dang good. I think the coconut chips are essential. My friend made them with shredded coconut and they were nowhere near as good in my opinion. I have made the recipe as written as well as gluten-free, substituting Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Blend. Worked like a charm both ways!
Of course I read your post AFTER I posted about making these cookies with gluten-free flour. We use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 for a great deal of gluten-free baking (we don’t have gluten intolerance issues but many of our friends do), so I have it around all the time. Good to know.
I added “unsweetened coconut chips” to my grocery list as soon as I read the recipe, because I knew I needed to bake these cookies soon. I made the dough on a Sunday evening but for various reasons did not get around to baking the cookies until Tuesday evening (the dough was covered and refrigerated in the meantime) when my daughter informed me that she needed to bring cookies to her choir rehearsal. I told her that I hoped that not too many of the women in her choir have issues with coconut, because coconut cookies were what she would be bringing. We had to beat a few tablespoons of water into the dough to get it to adhere, and at the last minute I dumped in a bag of miniature semisweet chocolate chips. We kept a few for ourselves, and my daughter received lots of positive feedback on the cookies from her fellow choir members. These are good! Next I’ll be experimenting with making them gluten-free, since several of our friends are gluten-intolerant.
Do you think this cookie dough would freeze as well as a normal cookie dough? I can never eat a whole batch of cookies and love to keep unbaked dough in the freezer instead.
I have made this recipe and have kept unbaked dough in the freezer with no problem. It’s handy to take a few out to bake off when the cravings strike!
Yes. Drop cookies usually freeze very well, just need 1 to 2 more minutes of baking time.
These are a perfect cookie….the combination of thin and crunchy and coconut-y. The flavor of browned butter is amazing, just as it is in Deb’s rice crispie treats. I had to give half away because I cannot eat just one…or two.
Love these. I’ve made a few adjustments to make them gluten free and dairy free. Any suggestions in combining lime and coconut for a flavor twist?
Yes!!! Do it! You won’t regret it!
These are delicious. Fragile and yet melting in your mouth. I could eat the whole batch of these cookies. My husband thought they were fantastic
Wouldn’t it make sense to restore the water content of the brown butter by weight?
It’s not necessary here.
Made the batter last night, reducing both sugars a bit. Had 200 grams of coconut flakes. Fridged overnight, weighed them out in the morning cuz I hate to see my friends get self-conscious when selecting a cookie. I thought I’d burned them, but no, just got ’em really dark-caramel, crispy colored. And chewy. And scrumptious. Dangerously good. Yes, a bit oily. Yes, I thought I noticed a tad of baking soda flavor on my tongue. Who knows, do not care enough to risk more alterations; I’ll be making these again, ugly plain janes as they are. FABU, thanks!
These were good, but I would prefer them to spread less. I used a European style butter and had to add about 2 tbsp to bring volume back up to a cup. I wish I hadn’t added the water in at that point though, then I’d have had a chance to not add it if my first batch spread just right. So second batch onwards I didn’t flatten scoops at all.
As per chowhound users, I’d increased salt. I went with an extra 1/8 tsp and then added a few grains of kosher on each cookie. Next time I’ll just use 1/2 tsp total in the dough. I also upped the vanilla to 1 tsp.
The thing though that is keeping this cookie from greatness is the slight residual taste of baking soda and the slight greasiness. And it’s not that I don’t love brown butter. So next time I will reduce soda to 3/4 tsp and butter by a couple of tbsps.
Not sure if you are still answering comments, but have you tried toasting the coconut first? I tried adding chocolate chips to the last six cookies that got baked and it was good but you lose a bit of the brown butter nuance.
I am Meg, not meh :) and the cookies were lovely, also definitely not meh ;)
Did anyone use dark brown instead of light brown sugar?
These look delicious! I am wondering, can I add in chocolate chips? Will the consistency be the same?
these were phenomenal!! made them with 2c dessicated coconut because i couldn’t find flakes anywhere. i definitely needed the extra 2tbsp water to allow the cookies to spread enough, but once i added it (and a little extra sea salt), they were perfect. made them for my partner and got to watch their face light up when they ate one :) thanks deb!
Do you think they would come out well if I rolled the dough into logs and refrigerated them and then the next day did them as a slice and bake? My only concern would be that it would be hard to slice through the coconut shards?
I made these today. They have a great chewy texture. Not too sweet. I used dark brown sugar with no problem. It made just a slightly darker cookie than the ones pictured. I used Whole Foods 365 Organic Unsalted Butter. After browning the butter, I added the suggested 2 Tablespoons plus an additional 2 teaspoons to get to one cup. Used a small 1.5” scoop and then just slightly flattened as suggested. Baked for 10 minutes and out came a golden, tasty, chewy, light and buttery batch to cookies. Thanks, Deb!
I’m coming here to the comments to say that if you live in the UK, Country Life butter, browned, comes out to an exact cup
Just made these during the first week of Coronavirus social distancing. I made a double recipe which worked out well. I was wary of using cold butter, but chopped it into small pieces so it was easier to smooth in. Then, because of emotions or just zero self control, I ate a bunch of them while they were still warm. I only found this morning that they are a dish best served cold, as you can’t really appreciated the browned butter flavor as much when warm. I packaged them up with gloves on so I can distribute them to a couple neighbors safely. Thank you!
I always love you and your recipes but these cookies are the ultimate! Thank you and God Bless! M
Everything was going well as I was cooking the butter. Put the cooked butter into a one cup container and added very small amount of water and the butter exploded. Bubbling over the top. Butter all over the counter. I was able salvage most. Note to file, use a bigger container!
I’ve been looking for a cookie recipe to use up pantry ingredients! However, I only have sweetened coconut flakes – how much would you suggest I cut from the white and/or brown sugar to compensate for the sweetness of the flakes I have on hand?
How would you feel about a little dip in melted chocolate post baking? (no more than 1/4 of the cookie)
I have a small amount, perhaps 2 cups (scant) of coconut chips (I use for granola) and tons of sweetened coconut in the freezer. Am I out of luck for making these?
Can I add chocolate chips? Ps thank you for all your recipes! Loved the leek soup and zucchini bread last week.
Just made these and they are AMAZING. I only had unsweetened toasted coconut flakes and they worked great. Probably not as chewy as the untoasted flakes would have been but I used what I had – but still came out delish! Thank you!
Just made these.. they are so good . Trying to resist eating the whole tray.. I added more vanilla instead of the water
Hey! Just a comment . . . I added the two tablespoons of water to the browned butter immediately, which I should have known not too . . . And I volcanoed melted butter all over my counter and floor. So just a tip for other bakers, don’t add water to the hot butter!
I’ll add my voice to the chorus that these are awesome. Made exactly as written, using store brand unsalted butter and coconut flakes. Delicious – so delicious, in fact, that after we split one the boyfriend ordered me to put the others in a bag and deliver to the neighbors (for the sake of our waistlines). He’s right.
I just made these…and they are fantastic!! My husband (who loves Almond Joy candy bars) suggested a little chocolate drizzle on top text time! By far, these are my favorite quarantine baking project to date. That combo of brown butter and coconut can NOT be beat! Do yourself a favor and make these!
Deb, I love your recipes and am so excited about these cookies. First batch came out golden brown but thick. I added the water, just like you said and yes-it felt scary!!! I just finished baking-cookies are cooled and I have to say; they are sooo good. The first batch is different than the last two. Adding water helped a lot. Mine are much more golden and less Lacey looking-but they are delicious. The flavor is not too sweet, but flavorful and the amount of coconut is just right! I can’t wait to make them again and again. My one question for you is- should they be crunchy at the edges?
Mine are not that crunchy but again, no complaints:)
Deb! These are so delicious! My first batch came out thick-so good, but they definitely did not look like yours. I added water as you said, which felt wrong, but I’m so glad you added your note to give me the confidence that it would be okay! I used Whole Foods Brand Unsalted butter and anded up adding about three tablespoons of water, maybe 4. The cookies came out very golden-and not super crunchy around the edges but so so good. Should there be a real crunch at the edge? The center was chewy and the flavor with that brown butter, incredible! I also didn’t have Coconut chips, so I used Unsweetened coconut flakes instead-Trader Joe’s band. Would that make a difference? Let me know your thoughts if you have time. Thank you! I can’t wait to make them again:)
I just discovered this recipe online this week. I immediately knew I had to make these, so off to the store I go to get coconut chips. It’s 10:00 on a Friday night, and I’ve got the last tray in the oven. This recipe is a total keeper! 5 stars for sure! I can’t wait to bake more and share them with friends!
Thank you for this delight Deb! Full of pantry staples, perfect for a treat in these endless days inside our own homes. I added some chopped bittersweet chocolate and some caramel bits I had cooling in my freezer, and ended up with a very fancy, adult take on my favorite Girl Scout cookie!
Did anyone use shredded coconut and not flaked? It’s much finer. I wonder if I should use less?
I did but only used a hefty 2 cups bc I also added white choc chips and chopped pecans and wanted to have same ration of “mix-ins”. Texture is perfect.
These are amazing! Used Unsweetened shredded coconut instead of flakes bc of pandemic and added chopped pecans and white choc chips along with maldon salt to top after baking. So amazing one of the best cookies I’ve ever made! Thanks for the recipe:) It’s all about that brown butter…
I could only find sweet coconut shreds so I tried it and did 1 cup of brown sugar total instead of the 2 sugars. Overall it worked out well! The cookies turned out chewy with crispy edges. Could have been a tad bit sweeter. Also had an oily feel – wonder if the additional sugar would have helped to fix that.
Just made these for a friend who is crazy about coconut. Giving them to her unbaked and frozen so she can bake them off as she wants them. Used Trader Joe’s gluten-free flour mix and added a bit of xanthan gum. I let the brown butter get only semi-solid in the fridge thinking that would be easier to fluff up wIth the sugars. Using a 2T scoop I baked off two cookies – at 12 minutes they had spread very thin to 4-5” across. Just like a Florentine. (Did the butter being very soft cause this?) I then added 2T flour to remaining batter and baked another two cookies. Better; a little less thin and brittle. For me, these are a bit too short, but I think my coconut-crazy friend will love them! Thanks for all your creative and inspiring offerings.
It was probably the gluten-free flour. There’s a lot of butter here and it needs to be “held” in. You might be able to tweak it for gluten-free with less butter for less spreading.
Hi! I’d like to make these cookies, however, I can only find sweetened coconut flakes at my grocery stores. Could I use toasted sweetened coconut flakes in lieu of unsweetened coconut chips and reduce the white sugar by 2 tablespoons (so using only 1/2 cup white sugar)?
Also, what does derrera/raw sugar do in cookies like these? I was making coconut cookies for my parents at their house and despite assurances to forgo trips to the grocery store as they had *everything* i would need, they did not, in fact, much of anything. They were short on flour, eggs, and butter, and only used brown sugar. Interestingly enough, they had coconut extract. I found a small jar of raw sugar and used that as a replacement for white sugar, and substituted the lack of butter with coconut oil. The resulting cookie was shortbread-y and was delicious. I tried to replicate it as much as I could when I came home and had no success. If I were to add/sub raw sugar in for white sugar, do you have an idea of what effect that may have on the dough? Obviously, I 100% understand if you’re like, “no, why the hell would i know the answer to that.” I only ask because you’ve clearly had a lot more experience experimenting with coconut cookies than I have (and are, ya know, an expert/professional baker) and thought you could have some insight to offer. Thank you for reading this and for your consideration!
There’s so much coconut here, I’m not confident that the swap will work well — sweetened coconut is soft and chewy, not crisp, and these cookies should be crisp. Raw sugar often works fine for white sugar in recipes, but not always. I haven’t tested these with raw.
If you’re looking for a coconut shortbread, you might start here: https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/02/toasted-coconut-shortbread/
My novice baker daughter made these and had the same water+hot oil reaction that others had, resulting in the loss of about one third of the browned butter. We replaced it with coconut oil and that worked out well. These are absolutely DELICIOUS, but maybe add the water to the dough rather than the melted butter?
These are so so good! The first time I made them I broke my only steadfast rule: I did not read the recipe all the way through. I was so excited about the brown butter! I had started the cookies after dinner and by the time I read about chilling the brown butter, I knew I didn’t have the time to finish them. So I covered the measuring cup I had used and stuck it in the fridge and went to bed. In the morning, that brown butter was like a ROCK! It caused my KitchenAid professional mixer to jam! So don’t start these cookies until you know you have time.
Making these now Deb! My husband is doing the antsy pants dance waiting for them. I hope I didn’t the recipe up–instead of adding water I added some left over coconut milk (reduced fat) but I’m eyeing our GOOD coconut rum if the dough still needs more liquid! Just cus’ brown butter and rum? I never feel as if “coconut” recipes of ANY sort have enough coconut flavor.
Do you think I could pull this off with a food processor and then just mix the coconut in my hand? I’m in between moves and my stand mixer is packed but my food processor is not…
I think that could work.
I just made these this evening, and they were delectable. I followed the recipe exactly, but I used shredded coconut (4 cups) because it was all I had. I used two tablespoons of water. Just perfect! Thank you so much for sharing!
Deb, I am trying to eat reasonably. You are not helping I want to make every treat you post! And your gingerbread buche was out of this world, every single person loved it.
can I use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar?
Yes
I just made these and they are now my favorite cookie! I followed all the instructions. I’ve tried browning butter before and ended up burning it, but your instructions helped a lot and I think I must have nailed it this time! This took longer than I realized and I’m the only one still awake, but I’m pretty sure they’re fantastic and it’s not a figment of my imagination. Thank you for this recipe!
I have made these a few times. Every time I see them pop up on instagram again I start drooling and decide to make them. For some reason I always have coconut on hand.
Question: they always turn out a little bit greasy to me. Are they supposed to be that way? Is there anything I can do to get the brown buttery taste but not the grease? Thanks Deb!
You could cut back on the butter by a T. or two and see if you like them better that way. Or, try cooling them on newsprint, the way people used to, so some of the excess gets absorbed.
I need to make these tonight, or tomorrow morning, but I only have sweetened coconut flakes ( I hardly ever have the unsweetened flakes). Can I reduce the sugar and use Baker’s sweetened coconut ? I searched the comments and I didn’t see anyone asking this question which surprised me.
Thank you !
Linda
I made these and found them fabulous, if a tad too sweet. Next time I might try making the recipe with only 100 grams of white sugar (1/2 cup) and/or 135 grams (about 2/3 cup) of light brown sugar. I hope that doesn’t do anything to the chemistry!
One thing to note: I prepared a tray and then having to go to a meeting, chilled the tray for 2 hours, leaving the rest of the dough in its mixing bowl. The room temperature batter made a more appealing cookie, brown on the edges but lighter in the middle, though no one complained about any of them. I froze a few to bake later as well, and I will allow them to come to room temperature before baking them.
(I missed a comma after “I prepared a tray, and then”)
Did you ever make them with less sugar? I found them a bit sweet as well? Just wondering if it still worked with less sugar? Thanks!
OMG, these cookies came out to good! It was my first time making brown butter and it smelled sooo good. I am going to have to hide the recipe because with all that butter I can’t make them very often. Thank you Deb for all of your tips and recipes, I bought both you books and have gone through most of your recipes. I haven’t found one yet that didn’t come out delicious.
Hmmm, you say coconut “chips”, but do you mean flakes? Thanks
You had be at browned butter 🤤 I am just wondering if the coconut could be switched for whole rolled oats.
Going to try this VERY soon! — the photos look amazing!
I scanned for this question and didn’t see anything;
have you ever considered adding “disher-sizes” to your cookie recipes?
(like, say, “a #30 scoop” if your recipe calls for about 2T of dough)
Thanks!
These look amazing. I’ve been wishing to find the Birdbath / City Bakery recipe for their Chocolate Chip cookies too. If anyone has that I’d be eternally grateful!…
These are very good! I am here to report that we used the german butter in the yellow package from whole foods. I didn’t brown the butter, and so did not add water. They spread a LOT. I had six cookies each on two half sheet pans and they started running into each other. Next time I will just skip the flattening of the dough balls as I prefer a slightly thicker cookie. They’re still fantastic. Toddler approved.
Hi there, I made these today because of your recent re-post! For some reason I didn’t get any spread…hardly at all! I’m just curious as to why that might be. The dough wasn’t chilled or anything. Followed it to a T, including the water. The only thing I’m not sure about is the coconut. It was big flakes. (I’m in Europe so Bob’s isn’t readily available) But I weighed it out, and tried to break it up while mixing.
They are excellent! Made them exactly as written using the recommended coconut flakes and the 1 tbsp scoop. Some were flatter, others more rounded but they were all spectacular! Will be adding these into the cookie rotation. Thank you!
The cookies are easy to make and wonderful! Made them as is and got raving reviews. My friend’s son heartbroken when they were all eaten up: “I want the cookies!!!”
Love these ! I added orange zest 2 T
Amazing !! Thank you
I ate a horrific amount of cookie dough while making these.
I used Cabot unsalted butter and the 2 tbsp of water worked well. I also used 2C shredded unsweetened coconut for the coconut because that’s all I had left and these came out so yummy!
I promise I’m not trying to make these “healthy” but would half oatmeal, half coconut work in these?
If I have to guess, the oatmeal might make it a bit “rough” to chew, considering they are more carb and less fat than coconut. If I were you to substitute some coconut, I would probably start with 1/3 or less so the dough will not be too crumble and the product will not be too dry. If it works out you can always add more next time. Also, I guess old-fashion will probably be too thick? maybe using the quick cook one would be better? I am also curious to see how the substitution works out for this recipe.
I just made a batch of these. They had several flaws that made this less than a success. As the recipe says, there is a disproportionate amount of butter and coconut in this cookie recipe, and in the end, those two ingredients proved to be the most problematic. The huge amount of coconut made them hard to chew; you really had to work to get the whole cookie down, because coconut is so dry and tough. Because the coconut is unsweetened (and there’s so much of it), my taste buds registered it as “stale” because it clashed so much with the sweet ingredients in the cookie. Also, the vast amount of butter made the finished cookie very greasy (we had to wash our hands after eating it) and because the butter was browned beforehand, the butter in the cookies I made on a silicone baking mat (as recommended) actually overcooked and took on a bitter, burnt flavor in the finished cookie. The other half of the same dough cooked on parchment paper did not overcook or develop the bitter note. For a similar cookie with a better result, look up Ranger Cookies. Those turn out pretty great most of the time, and have the same flavor profile as these, without the “stale” note or the greasy texture. I love Smitten Kitchen and had a lot of fun making these (it’s a super easy recipe to assemble), so I’m not sorry I tried them at least. :)
This was exactly my experience. Also, they didn’t spread at all.
The hubs and I made one sheet of the small as directed, and they were excellent using store brand unsalted butter and only 2 T water. We needed fresh ones a few days later so we refrigerated the remaining dough. On the rest we sprinkled sea salt flakes on top halfway through the baking time to maximize the coverage of the salt. We also had some leftover homemade salted caramel sauce that we lightly drizzled over a few. Oh my! These make us both happy as the hubs leans to a crispy cookie while I prefer a little chew. One of the best cookies ever!
Hi Deb,
I watched the video on Martha Stewart and it said that they only used light brown sugar and dark brown sugar (not granulated). In your testing for this cookie, did you ever try using just light brown and dark brown sugars? If so, how did they turn out?
I tested this every which way and this was the clear winner. :)
Wow, that’s great! Thanks for doing all that testing for us! Can’t wait to make these!
Terrific recipe … there’s as much coconut as there is
“the rest of the stuff holding the coconut together”.
FYI, a #20 level scoop yielded about 18 cookies — fantastic.
Have made these cookies 2x in the last two weeks… even my brother who isn’t a fan of coconut devoured them! The large coconut chips give such satisfying a chewy texture, the brown butter provides deep flavor, and the sea salt is the perfect finishing touch that takes the cookies to the next level taste-wise. They bake beautifully and I love that they’re not a “typical” cookie. Thank you for this recipe!
If you are a fan of coconut, this is an excellent recipe! The brown butter really puts it over the top. I followed the recipe as written, other than not adding water to the butter before it chilled. I added the water to the chilled butter before mixing, and it seemed to work out fine. It only needed about 20 minutes in the freezer after cooling on the counter for about 10 minutes. Cookies came out just as in the pictures. They were well-received when I made them for a party. It yielded 2 dozen medium-sized cookies. Very pleased with the recipe.
These are the most outstanding drop cookies I’ve ever made. Crispy on the outside and super chewy on the inside. Interestingly, these don’t have a super coconut-forward taste, and people have asked me multiple times “is there oatmeal in these?”
The link to the coconut goes to Bobs Red Mills flakes, not something called chips. Regardless, I’ve made this many times and used both flakes and shredded coconut and it’s excellent either way, so it doesn’t really matter. The version using shredded just has less obvious chunks of coconut. But measure the coconut by weight as I imagine a cup of flakes is less coconut than a cup of shredded.
Gluten-free and sugar-free version was still amazing! I’ve been off gluten and sugar for nearly a year, so I halved the recipe (since I was experimenting with so many variables), and substituted gluten-free flour and regular and golden monkfruit. It worked perfectly! Also added 1/3 cup chopped pecans, because I’ve never met any coconut dessert that couldn’t benefit from pecans. Confession: I was in a hurry, so I didn’t bother chilling the browned butter before creaming with the sugars. Instead, I chilled the dough after mixing everything together and when I made them a few hours later, the cookies still spread and baked up chewy, golden and delicious! Definitely in my top five all-time favorite cookie recipes! Thanks, Deb. :-)
These might just be my new favorite cookie ever. They’re crispy and chewy, sweet with a lovely saltiness, nutty and rich! My first batch out of the oven felt a little dry because I think I didn’t add enough water. So I added some more water to the already mixed dough and it was much better. Second time I made these I decided to weigh the butter before and after browning so I could make up the difference in water more accurately, and added a smidge extra. Next time I plan on ripening the dough over night to see what that does. Just some ideas to play with, but Deb did right with these!
Can you freeze the coconut cookies
I haven’t but I think they’d freeze fine. So would the dough if you’d like to bake it off later.
HI Deb:
I made these cookies using a different brand of coconut chips. I did have to look around for them at a number of stores but found them at Whole Foods. The chips were quite large so to I put them in a bag and used a rolling pin to break them down finer. The cookies are good but the coconut chips are chewy, is that the way they are supposed to be?
Thanks so much,
Jane Howard
I have made these many times, and I prefer shredded unsweetened coconut as the chunkier chips are indeed quite chewy. Just be sure to weigh them as 4 cups of shredded coconut will be too much.
These are really good. I didn’t change a thing. I used challenge butter and only added 1.5 tbsp water after it was browned to bring it up to a cup and my cookie spread perfectly without the need for more water. I will say though, these cannot be undercooked. They are greasy unless they are cooked brown all the way through. They will almost look over baked but once they cool they’re so good and not at all as sweet as I expected.
I just made these delicious, wonderful cookies! I’ve had the recipe for at least a couple of years, intending to make them. Since I have Celiac disease, I made them gluten-free; great success!
After browning the butter, I poured it into a measuring cup, added the water, and left it to sit until it solidified. That worked great and I was able to cream the butter and sugars, no problem. These are a winner!
This recipe is amazing. 2nd time around I tried GF, using non-dairy ‘butter’….. for dietary reasons. GF is great. Non-dairy ‘butter’, using the good stuff, is disastrous. Don’t bother, cuz t’s all in the butter, baby. That umami thing only happens with browned butter. Mea culpa.
Just a note for anyone else so they can avoid my ‘fail’ I forgot about the water until I was mixing the sugar & eggs so I thought I would just weigh the butter and top up with water to get to 225 g… I should have just done the2 tbsp bcs it made my batter too wet. Cookies were still delicious but spread a tad too much and didn’t look as pretty.
Oh gosh these cookies are so very good. Mine spread a bit. I’m ok with that. I do use a local all purpose whole wheat flour and whatever unsweetened coconut I have. I do look forward to using a more flaky coconut in the future.
What I did this time was cook down some crushed pineapple in its own juice (no sugar added) to make a pineapple preserve that I spread on these flatter than usual cookies. They were so damn good.
You have another coconut cookie with raspberry, I’m going to try that one with pineapple.
And, then you go and post that pecan cake which I made a few years back. I’m making that on Wednesday.
Thank you Deb.
p.s. I was the one who suggested toasting your oat groats in butter before making it into cooked cereal on WPR. Of course, nuts go in there too. Oh man I love to eat. And thanks to intermittent fasting I am so happy there are at most 8 hours of food eating enjoyment a day. So full of gratitude
These are really fantastic cookies as written. One small change I’ve made in subsequent bakes of these cookies is to toast my coconut flakes while I’m browning the butter. 8-10 mins in a 350 oven, tossing occasionally until they get a little brown and toasty. Let the flakes cool to room temp while your brown butter is solidifying. It intensifies the “caramel” like notes in the finished cookie and pairs wonderfully with the nutty brown butter and flakey sea salt.
These are absolutely amazing – did not disappoint. It was my first jab at making brown butter and they turned out great. We could not stop eating these – they are very soft and chewy which I love for a cookie. These take some work in the timing with the brown butter and chilling, etc. but are totally worth the effort. Will be forever on my cookie list. I also added nuts to mine and they were incredible if you like a crunch. I didn’t find that this made the cookie bake much differently either from the non-nut batch prior.
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These are excellent! Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made these many times, and to make sure they spread nicely, be sure you cream the heck out of the butter/sugar mixture – I go several minutes on my KitchenAid stand mixer. The lighter your dough, the more spread you will get.
And if you’ve made the dough ahead, be sure to bring it back up to room temp.
I have used both coconut chips and shredded coconut and prefer the shredded. The chips can be very tough to chew.
This seems to make sense to me too, to measure the browned butter by weight, rather than having the first cookies not-quite right and adding more water..?
It’s a little insane to comment on a recipe so many years later, but I just wanted to give a few tips. First, the uncooked dough balls freeze like a dream. Second, They make the greatest cobbler topping EVER. I ran out of the scones I had planned to use and cut each dough ball in half and used them as a streusel like topping. It was so insanely delicious. Everyone should do this.
I made the brown butter last night and couldn’t wait to make the cookies this morning. The flavor is divine! I’ve already eaten two! – I started with 2″ balls, but they were huge, so I did the rest in 1″. Ridiculously good cookies!
These are SO good. Making them again for my Christmas cookie boxes this year! Highly recommend. They can be a little fussy to bake when the butter is too hot. So be sure to follow the recipe and chill the browned butter.
Too buttery and not sweet enough. I would increase the sugar or use sweetened coconut flakes next time. There will be a next time because it’s a good cookie. I added the 2 TB of butter right after removing the browned butter from the heat and it billowed almost out of the pan, so make sure you have your bowl right there and ready to pour. I cooked it directly into my stand mixer bowl so that saved an extra step. I also found it solidified in the fridge in exactly an hour.
Quite simply, one of the most amazing cookies of all time. DO NOT change anything. Make exactly as directed.
The recipe calls for coconut chips – I can only find coconut flakes can I use them instead?
I’m *still* looking for the recipe for the Birdbath Bakery Chocolate Chip cookie. I wish Maury Rubin would share it with the world! The world would be a better place with his Chocolate Chip Cookie out there being baked!…… :)
Yes Ruth you can use coconut flakes
I’ve made these a few times and actually made them this weekend. I didn’t have coconut chips but I had unsweetened shredded coconut. They were still very good, but not as chewy as the flakes make them. They also spread out a lot more from room temp so I refrigerated the dough after scooping and baked from cold which left them a bit thicker. If you only have sweetened flakes, they might turn out a bit too sweet, so maybe back off on some is the granulated sugar?
I’ve tried your brown butter coconut cookie recipe 3 times now. They don’t look like your pics and they come out tasting like shortbread cookies and crumbles like shortbread cookies instead of being chewy. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Help!
What kind of coconut are you using?
The first two times I made this they were fantastic. Just like the picture. This last time they still tasted great but they spread out as thin as lace cookies. What could I have done wrong? :(
The whole batch or just a few?
The whole batch. They just spread so much. And of course they weren’t just for the family I was bringing them to an event. So I was embarrassed. But they tasted good.
Should I have refrigerated before baking? I didn’t see that on the instructions but I have done that with other cookies. They also seemed a little too buttery but I made the brown butter as before and measured it after.
Do you measure the coconut by weight or cups? That’s usually the biggest variable in this recipe. A smidge less = spreading.
That probably was it. Next time I will weigh all the ingredients.
Thank you.
I’m not sure if it was because I made them gluten free (with Cup4Cup) or if I somehow bungled one of the other measurements (too much sugar??), but my first cookies came out more like florentines than regular cookies – the opposite problem than I was expecting based on your description. I measured everything by weight but I was rushing so no idea what I may have messed up, especially since it looks like others have made them with Cup4Cup successfully.
Usually I would chill cookies that were spreading too much, but these seemed way past that. Thankfully, I added an additional 25 g GF flour and then they came out great!
Umm, I searched for this recipe after having a coconut cookie at a cafe in Japan. These turned out exactly as I had hoped! Super good and have more coconut than flour in them. YUMMMY!
Long-time listener (like, 12 years’ worth of lurking), first-time commenter. I made these once a few years ago, loved them, and then could never make them again because I live with a picky eater. Recently, in a twist of fate, that picky eater has expanded their palette. I made one batch. Then I made two batches. Then I split the batch in half, toasted some slivered almonds, and threw in a handful of chocolate chips to make brown butter Almond Joy cookies. So good, every single time. These things make me so happy.
These are fantastic but due to a multi-recipe pileup in my kitchen – multitasking is such a myth – I forgot the egg (and the vanilla) until after the test batch, and now I will make them that way forever because I actually prefer the eggless ones. They held together just fine and they’re deliciously tender.
I’m usually a fiend for chocolate, but I made these recently, and they are just. So. Good. I like my cookies a little saltier than usual, and a little less sweet, but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. These are wonderful with an espresso. A decadent but light treat. Thank you Deb! I’m not browning my butter for every cookie recipe and people can’t get enough of my baking. You’re such a wonderful inspiration!
This has been my go to Christmas cookie for like 8 years. No changes to the recipe, since it’s perfect. Everyone always asks for the recipe and I’m always happy to spread the cheer and send them your way. Thank you for bringing years of joy to my family.
I’ve been making these for about 5+ years now as part of the big Christmas cookie bake, and they are a family favorite. But some in my family really hate the long hard pieces of coconut (they feel the same way when I make granola too). Last couple of years I would break them up in a bag. But this year, I made the entire recipe in the food processor and added the coconut chips before the flour to break them down. Perfect! This was the best and easiest batch ever.
These cookies were delicious on my first try. On my second try, my technique of browning butter was better, I cut the brown sugar to 125g, cut the coconut to two cups and added 1/4 cup of chopped salted macadamia nuts. I did not have flaky sea salt to sprinkle on top so the salted nuts helped balance the sweet. I used Trader Joe’s unsweetened coconut which are called chips but are really long shavings. I loved the cookie even more on the second try.
I made these and have to say they are a “wow” cookie, especially if you love coconut. Out of the oven they were very buttery and left deposits of melted butter on fingers but the next day and beyond the butter had settled into the crusty yet chewy cookies. I gave some away and put the rest in the freezer to avoid bingeing the batch. Delicious! Make these!
Hi Deb- this is a bit out there as an idea, but do you think this dough would work as the base to a key lime pie/coconut cookie/ cheesecake mashup instead of crushed cookies and melted butter? I’m thinking this would be so delicious going all the way up the side of a cheesecake. I make your raspberry swirl cheesecake with a slight swap- using half mascarpone and cream cheese. My idea is a lime curd swirl in place of the berries, this cookie as a base and somehow incorporating full fat coconut milk in lieu of some of the cheese or eggs. Any advice is appreciated- thank you!
have you ever tried throwing a vanilla bean (split with the insides scraped out and throw everything in including the scraped out bean itself) in with the browning butter? it’s a trick i learned from Adam Roberts in his nectarine & Blackberry crisp years ago. i use it in your Coconut bread recipe from 2013 to rave reviews, it also makes the kitchen smell amazing!
These look delicious! What are coconut chips? Thanks
Coconut chips are coconut that has been prepared as if a vegetable peeler was used. They are unsweetened. They are available in most grocery stores in the baking section
Thank you. Are coconut chips the same as coconut flakes?
Christine Beelen, they are bigger. This is a great recipe! If you love coconut you will think you have died and gone to heaven!
They’re dried, unsweetened coconut in larger flakes. I buy these.
Fantastic cookies,made as directed, but wondering how I keep them from spreading far more than your photos.
I used Land o Lakes unsalted butter and the cookies baked a bit flat, compared to your pics. I used a scant 2 Tablespoons of water. I will drop that to 1 tablespoon next
E. The scant 2 tablespoons took the browned butter measurement to exactly 1 cup(liquid measure cup).
The cookies are excellent though. I will definitely make again!
I made these yesterday. The first two trays were much flatter than these look and very crispy. The third tray I forgot to press them down before putting in the oven and did so half way though cooking. The 3rd and 4th tray (which I prepared the same as the first 2) were about an 1″ smaller and a similar thickness to these. This was the same dough batch. Why would this happen? When I made the butter, I added 2 TB of water back in and it wasn’t a full cup, but I went with it. The butter was firm, but not super cold. Could it be the way I pressed the balls down or loaded the cookie scooper. I pressed the dough into it with my fingers so that it would fill the scoop. They were still tasty, but just curious what happened.
One more thing to note- I made them with a 1 1/2 T scoop and baked 12 minutes. It made 33 cookies.
Used the Costco grass fed butter and the amount equaled one cup after browning! Let it solidify in the fridge then slightly soften before starting the recipe. They were perfect with no additional water added! Looked and tasted amazing!
BIG fan, for years and years!! Thank you for you! :) Any advice for working with this dough chilled? Do I need to bring it back to room temp, add H2O? It’s as dense as my last bf. These cookies are bangin though! May cut sugar a tad on next batch.
I’d just leave it at room temperature until it’s easy enough to scoop.
Oh! And pre-shape before chilling or freezing. They were perfect, thank you!!
Amazing cookies! I added chocolate chips. Next time I’ll add chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Absolutely delicious!! Thank you for this recipe
In case anyone is wondering about how these turn out GF: I’ve made them both ways and the GF version (bob’s red mill GF Baking Flour) were a little thinner and crispier, but still delicious. I usually sprinkle flaky sea salt on top before baking.
Deb!! Please, please warn people about the butter exploding everywhere if you add the water when it’s still hot. I just lost a quarter of my butter all over the counter, inside my drawers, and on the floor.
Ah, sorry for the trouble. I just added a warning!
I made this tonight and followed your recipe EXACTLY as written and it’s fabulous! Love the crisp edges and buttery, chewy center of goodness! This is going to be the star of my holiday cookie box and will be in heavy rotation for family treats throughout the year! Thank you, Deb!