Soft and chewy White Chocolate Coconut Cookies made with sweetened coconut and creamy white chocolate chips. No chilling required, ready in under 30 minutes! Perfect for coconut lovers and an easy, crowd-pleasing treat.
For a bakery style presentation, be sure to press white chocolate chips into the top after baking (this keeps them from browning in the oven while baking).
Aimee’s Recipe Notes
Taste & Texture: Soft, chewy cookies with sweet white chocolate chips and shredded coconut for added texture.
Prep Tips: No need to chill the dough; bake straight away for quick cookies.
Serving Suggestions: Enjoy warm from the oven or at room temperature with coffee or tea.
Top Tip: Press extra white chocolate chips into cookies after baking to avoid browning.
Ingredient Swaps: Swap 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with coconut extract for more coconut flavor.
Gluten Free: Use King Arthur measure for measure gluten-free flour as an equal swap.
Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 1 week or freeze for 3 months.
I adapted this recipe from my Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe, so you’ll get a lot of that same texture and flavor in the dough—crispy edges, a chewy center, and that signature buttery, brown sugar flavor.
I still keep the chocolate chips from the original recipe—but in the form of white chocolate chips. The addition of coconut adds tropical flavor and a fantastic texture, too.
Important Ingredient Notes
The full ingredient list is in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here are some highlights.
- Unsalted butter – Let this soften to room temperature so it combines easily with the rest of the dough ingredients. (Learn more: How to Soften Butter.)
- Sugar – You’ll use a combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar. The brown sugar adds moisture to the cookies, which helps make them chewy. It also adds a nice caramel note!
- White chocolate chips – Use a good one! It really matters with white chocolate chips because some varieties are better than others. I like Ghirardelli.
- Shredded sweetened coconut – You could use coconut flakes, which add even more texture to these cookies.
How to Make Coconut Cookies
Mix the Dough: Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, then mix in flour, salt, and baking soda until just combined.
Add Mix-Ins: Fold in white chocolate chips and shredded coconut.
Bake: Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 11-13 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
Cool & Serve: Let cookies cool on the pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Tips and Tricks
- If you want more coconut goodness in these cookies, you can use coconut extract instead of vanilla.
- For some crunch, you can substitute a portion of the white chocolate chips with macadamia nuts.
- If you’d like, you can use regular semisweet chocolate chips in these cookies instead of white chocolate.
- To make gluten-free coconut cookies, use a measure-for-measure gluten-free flour substitute like King Arthur’s. Do not use coconut flour—it won’t work in this recipe!
- You can add up to half a bag of extra white chocolate chips to this recipe; if you do so, I recommend reserving that half bag for pressing into the tops of the cookies after baking.
- Store these coconut cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. (Here’s how to freeze cookie dough if you prefer to freeze before baking.)
More Coconut Recipes to Try
- When you want a cake that’s ultra moist, this Coconut Pudding Cake delivers! It’s a poke cake, so there are little pockets of pudding inside, making it irresistible.
- Lemon and coconut pair very well together, as these Lemon Coconut Cupcakes attest. They’re great for spring and summer parties!
- These Coconut Kiss Cookies are inspired by Samoas (also known as Caramel Delites, depending on the region of the US you live in). Make these when it’s not Girl Scout cookie season!
- Treat your friends and family to these homemade Coconut Truffles and they will love you forever!
- For another way to use coconut in cookies, try my Coconut Macaroons Recipe, a fantastically chewy classic! Or, for a twist on traditional banana bread, try this Coconut Banana Bread.
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Coconut Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 11 ounce white chocolate chips, see notes
- 2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut (7 ounce bag)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars for about 2 minutes, until fully blended. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat an additional 2 minutes, until well combined.
- Add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat JUST until combined. Add in white chocolate chips and coconut and mix until blended.
- Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, drop dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Remove cookies from the oven, allow to cool on pan for a minute or two then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- No need to chill the cookie dough! This recipe is based off my easy chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- For extra coconut flavor, swap out 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract with 1 teaspoon of coconut extract.
- Gluten-free: Swap out the all-purpose flour for King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour. I have not tested this recipe with other brands.
- White Chocolate Chips- I use one bag. But if you want to make these bakery style, either put half the bag in the mixture and save the remaining chips to press into the top after baking. Or add the entire bag to the dough and open a second bag to press morsels into the top of baked cookies.
- Extra Chips- with some of my cookie recipes I press the chips into the top before baking. However, with white chocolate chips, they tend to brown too much, so I press them in immediately AFTER baking.
- Store- Keep baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- Freeze- Cooled cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw on counter overnight.
- Freeze cookie dough. Want to make the dough ahead of time? Use my tips on how to freeze cookie dough, making the dough balls and freezing in advance.
Made these today exactly as written. Sooooo very good! Inside is soft and chewy outside slightly crispy. I can see where this would be a great base cookie to change things up with the add ins! Thanks Aimee
Sue