Our weather has been acting quite tropical. We’ve had weeks of extra hot and rainy, humid days. Tropical cookies fit right in! Coconut Milk Cookies are a crunchy treat inspired by Thai cookies called Tong Ek (Golden Cookies). Coconut milk plus shredded coconut add tropical flavor and cacao nibs add crunch. These cookies are a little bit exotic and a lot delicious.
In the United States, both in big cities and smaller towns, it is usually easy today to find ethnic foods at the regular supermarket. Salsas and Sriracha are stocked along with ketchup and mustard. Tofu, hoisin sauce and won ton wrappers are generally easy to acquire. Belgian Biscoff and Italian Nutella sit on the shelf right next to all-American peanut butter. I am so accustomed to this convenience, that I sometimes forget that supermarket inventory wasn’t always so diverse.
A long time ago, when I was in high school, my family moved from New York (via 2 years in Europe) to South Carolina. Grocery shopping produced culture shock. Supermarkets in the 70’s weren’t the coast to coast companies we are used to today. Small regional stores stocked products for the local palate. There was no internet to expose and flaunt the world of food. For the first time, we encountered pimento cheese, black eyed peas, greens (such as collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, or poke), and okra. No one seemed to know what a bagel was. Today, national chain supermarkets provide a wide array of choices.
The inspiration for Coconut Milk Cookies came from a newspaper article from 1967 and a cookbook published in 1987. The recipe in both sources was identical, though the directions for making the dough were quite different. Both recipes, published 20 years apart, noted that coconut milk was a “hard to find” and gave directions for making it at home. I was amazed. First, I can’t remember when coconut milk wasn’t a standard supermarket item. Second, homemade coconut milk is easy to make? Who knew? Because we are all up-to-date, modern world, never-have-enough-time people, I decided to make the Coconut Milk Cookies with canned coconut milk. It worked great and saved time. The coconut milk gives the cookies a delicate coconut taste and smell.
However, have you ever read the ingredients on a can of coconut milk/cream? Technically, coconut milk is a liquid extracted from coconut meat. The can of Trader Joe’s coconut cream I used, lists as the ingredients as: coconut extracted, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (a synthetic gum that provides creamy taste), xanthan gum (another thickening agent), and water. If that bothers you at all, and you have an extra 30 minutes, my Coconut Milk Cookies recipe includes optional directions for easily making your own coconut milk or cream. I love finding out that I can easily make things myself that I had never considered making before. For ½ cup of coconut milk, combine 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut with ½ cup of water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow the coconut to seep for 30 minutes. Strain out the coconut and the remaining liquid is coconut milk! For coconut cream, follow the same process using milk instead of water.
Coconut Milk Cookies are quick and easy to whip up (even if you make your own coconut milk)! No mixer is needed for this easy dough. Coconut lovers are sure to be delighted with each crunchy bite!
Coconut Milk Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut milk or coconut cream**
- ¾ cup cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut shredded
Topping
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut shredded
- ¼ cup cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.
- Cut in the butter with a fork, until the dough is crumbly like coarse meal.
- Mix in the yolks, vanilla, and coconut milk.
- Fold in the nibs (or chocolate chips) and coconut until evenly distributed.
- Using a small (2 teaspoon)cookie scoop, place balls of dough on the prepared cookie sheet 1”-2” apart.
- Top each coconut cookie dough ball with a pinch of shredded coconut and a few cocoa nibs (or mini chocolate chips).
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool five minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- **To make homemade coconut milk: In a small saucepan combine 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut with ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow the coconut to seep for 30 minutes. Strain out the shredded coconut through a sieve. To make coconut cream follow the same process using ½ cup of milk instead of water.
Notes
- Turn these into a chocolate chip cookie by using mini semisweet chocolate chips instead of cacao nibs.
- Sweetened shredded coconut can be used in place of the unsweetened for a slightly sweeter cookie.
- For more intense coconut flavor, add ½ teaspoon coconut extract.
- For hot weather care packages, use only a sprinkle of coconut as the decoration on top of the cookies. Cacao nibs or chocolate chips might melt. However, the chocolate is fine inside the cookie.
- Wrap small bundles of 2- 3 cookies, bottoms together, in plastic wrap. Stack the bundles in a column in a freezer weight zip lock bag or airtight storage container.
Nutrition
I suggest using the left-over coconut milk in Coconut Milk Toffee Blondies or Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Pound Cake!
Coconut lovers have also enjoyed these recipes!
Julie Newman
Thanks for helping me use the last bit of a can of coconut milk! My husband doesn’t like the texture of shredded coconut so I left it out – however, these cookies need something so next time I’m going to add pecans or macadamia nuts and bigger chips. I may also cut down a bit on the brown sugar as they run a teensy bit sweet for me. But otherwise a nice recipe!
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Julie. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and hope your adaptations will turn these into just what you are looking for! Enjoy!
Cildia
Possibly one of the best cookies I’ve ever made!
Wendy Sondov
Thank you, Cildia for your great comment and 5 star rating! I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies!!
Cameron
Hi Wendy! I had some leftover coconut milk from a curry and found this recipe. I’ve tried it twice but each time, the dough has been a little goopy and sticky. Not the standard cookie dough texture. The resulting cookie is more pancake-like, rather than a crisp or crunchy cookie. Is this the intended result? Or am I doing something wrong? Thank you sincerely!
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Cameron! I am stumped as to why your cookie dough was goopy, which would certainly account for why the cookies came out flat. I know the recipe is ok because of the number of people who have successfully tried it, as well as my baking at home. So, I can only guess at what might be going on in your kitchen. You only used the egg yolks, not the whole egg? You used canned coconut milk, not coconut milk in a carton (which has added water)? Your butter was room temperature (about 30 minutes out of the fridge), melted? I hope one of those ideas may solve the mystery!
Rachel Hamilton
This a great cookie and I used a dark chocolate chip and it just enhanced the coconut. I’m definitely going to make again
Wendy Sondov
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Rachel! I agree that a dark chocolate flavor, either from chips or cocoa nibs, really enhances the coconut. Thank you for leaving a 5 star rating!
saltandserenity
You had me at coconut!! These cookies have my name written all over them. Love the idea of cocoa nibs. This would take the sweetness down a bit. Off to get some coconut milk.
Wendy Sondov
These cookies were a pleasant surprise to me, Cindy. I was intrigued by the idea of coconut milk in cookies, but not convinced just by the name that these would be winners. I was amazed at the delicate flavor and lovely texture of these cookies. They are only lightly sweet. The addition of cocoa nibs does add a touch of chocolate without adding sweetness (as you mentioned). These cookies began my coconut milk baking extravaganza which ended up producing coconut milk pound cake, coconut milk snack cake and coconut milk blondies! 🙂
Alyssa
WENDY, what a gorgeous cookies ! Your directions make this seem like such an easy approach, too. I would love to make this soon!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Alyssa! These cookies were exotic to me at first, but I have since learned why so many people are looking for coconut milk recipes! These are so tender and delicious! 🙂
Jessica
I have to be honest. I don’t know what will happen once the timer goes off because I started out using a vegan recipe (accidentally) then once I had already mixed a few ingredients I felt that the recipe was missing something. I then stumbled upon your incredible recipe but didn’t have 1/2 of the ingredients listed. LOL. So no eggs, cacao nibs, shredded coconut or vanilla. However, I am optimistic! I will report back soon!