Coconut Shortbread Cookies are made for coconut lovers! Finely shredded coconut adds a tropical touch to a perfectly buttery shortbread inspired by a French sablé cookie, with a coconut glaze and sprinkling of coconut for extra pop!
Combine the granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl to be used with a hand mixer. Add the butter and beat on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the butter mixture is creamy.
Add the egg yolk and coconut extract and mix until it is just incorporated. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Slowly stir in the coconut with - do not over mix.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal parts. Form each part into a ball and flatten into a disk between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll each disk to an even layer 1/4 inch thick while between the parchment paper. Stack the sheets of dough and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. Alternatively, you can chill the dough for 1 hour in the freezer.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven.
Working with one rolled out sheet of cookie dough at a time, use a 2-inch round or fluted cookie cutter and cut out the cookies. Place on a lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Re-roll and chill any remaining scraps of dough, and continue cutting out cookies. Repeat for all the dough; you will have enough for about 36 cookies.
Bake the cookies one tray at a time for 8-10 minutes, or until just lightly golden on the bottom. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the icing. Mix the confectioner’s sugar, almond milk, and coconut extract in a wide bowl until smooth. If you feel that the glaze is too thick, add more milk in sparing drops, a few at a time, until the glaze is thick enough to coat a cookie but thin enough for excess to drip away.
Dip the top half of the cookie into the glaze and hold it over the bowl to allow the excess to drip, giving the cookie a twirl to allow the glaze to slide off. Sprinkle the glazed half with coconut and place on a cookie rack to dry.
Notes
Cookie dough adapted from Vanilla-Bean Sablés by Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).
SHORTBREAD COOKIE TIPS
Rolling the dough: Rolling the dough out before chilling not only makes it easier to roll out the dough but helps prevent any dough cracking from working with cold dough.
Make ahead: The layers of dough can also be frozen so that the cookies can be baked at a later time. You can cut and bake directly from the freezer.
Storage: Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature
Coconut in this recipe: If you can't find fine macaroon coconut, give your shredded coconut a few blitzes in a food processor to get the finer texture that makes these cookies delicate and beautifully shaped.