Toasted Coconut Shortbread Recipe (2024)

In A. Roman's coconut shortbread recipe 1 3/4 c flour= 255 g. In M. Clark's cultured butter cookies, 2 c flour= 250 g. Could you please standardize?How did you like this recipe?

Just noticed this note in the recipe for Alison's salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies:If you have Alison's book, you might notice a 1/4 cup discrepancy in the volume measurement of flour. That's because NYT Cooking uses a different standard metric cup measurement. Alison uses 145 grams, we use 128 grams.Might this answer your question? I suspect that the volume measures are approximations and that using the weight would yield a better result.

I had the same problem with lacy and spreading cookies, even when I weighed the ingredients and chilled the dough. I noticed that Alison Roman's companion recipe for chocolate chunk shortbread calls for 2 1/2 c. flour(326 g), rather than the 1 3/4 c(255 g) flour called for in the coconut version. I remade the coconut shortbread with the flour and butter proportions a listed in the chocolate chunk version. It worked! I am convinced the flour amount for this recipe is incorrect.

Susie D,Although weight measurements yield better results, it's confusing to know whether to weigh flour as 140g/cup as done here, 125g/cup as in MC's cultured butter recipe, or 130.4g (326g divided by 2.5) in Roman's salted chocolate chunk recipe as it displays in the NYT database. Coincidentally, both King Arthur & Gold Medal measure 1 cup of flour as 120g; obviously those are different sources, but it'd be good to have some consistency at least within NYT recipes....

These taste delicious, especially the slightly crunchy coconut. I added about a 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom with the flour, which I think was a great complement. However, the cookies were far too flat. They are almost lacy and too delicate. I think the flour ratio is off. My dough was kept very cold, and it did make exactly 24, so it wasn't that.

Made using the ingredient quantities in the recipe (by weight) and turned out fine. BUT there does seem to be some glitches in the recipe. (1) In Step 3, I there should be something about "rolling out the dough" to some size or thickness, so after sprinkling with cinnamon, you roll up into a log. I chose about 1/4" thick, 6x9" and that worked fine.(2) Rolls of about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" are sufficient that went sliced 1/4" thick, you will end up with 1-1/2" to 2" cookies - they DO spread.

OK I found the egg wash use, as I was rolling the dough into logs - suggestion: ingredients list should specify that the egg is for egg wash. I often use powdered egg whites to make a wash, it's economical, and you can thin it out as much or as little as you desire.

Something went wrong for me with this recipe. The cookies spread and turned out flat. I did not weigh the flour, so that may be the problem. On the bright side the flavor is wonderful so I have decided to throw them in the food processor and use as a cheesecake crust. Wish me luck.

If 3 people all measured 1 cup flour, each cup would way a completely different amount. We all scoop differently. Some whisk the flour first to aerate it; some inadvertently pack it down. Allison's 1 cup measurement will not weigh the same as Melissa's 1 cup measurement will not weigh the same as King Arthur's 1 cup measurement. Which is why we can all thank god for scales. Just follow the weight, which should be based on the recipe writer's method of measuring.

I made them exactly per the recipe.I ate them and drank champagne.I am a happy camper. This recipe belongs in the Cookie Hall of Fame. Thank you for sharing!

Without a moist ingredient (milk, eggs ), granular salt will not melt and evenly distribute. Therefore, salted butter is the preferred fat.

Am I missing something? Where are the instructions for toasting the coconut?

I was worried about all the comments about the dough being crumbly, but all that needed to be done is to knead it by hand until the flour is incorporated into the butter/sugar mixture. They are absolutely delicious! Recipe is a keeper.

Delicious and beautiful-the coconut, cinnamon swirls and sparkle, buttery, tender, lots of coconut flavor and crunch from the sugar. No problems with the dough. It was very easy to shape and swirl the cinnamon. Used open paper towel cardboard insert cut open to help keep a round shape. I was very careful to make sure the butter was properly softened before beating to super fluffy consistency with the sugars. Also always whisk the flour a bit to lighten it. Amazing and professional quality.

So, I made these and formed into 2 logs. the first log I baked after a couple of hours and the cookies spread like crazy and were lacy. I measured my flour by volume rather than weight. So, for the next roll, I brought back to room temperature and kneaded in some more flour, like 1/4, and some salt b.c. I forgot to add salt and didn't notice the salted butter part..... This roll baked up almost perfect. So, my advice is make sure you have enough flour in your dough - it should be fairly dry.

These cookies are always a huge hit. It takes some fiddling to get the shape of the log just right. I find 1/4” slices make for a good, hefty cookie. However, in my oven to get a nice golden brown I have to up the temperature a little and let them bake for at least 15 mins. After you work out the kinks, these cookies will make you the hit of the cookie swap.

Needs more flour

Knead the dough to be sure all is well combined and firm

I used 285 grams of flour bc I was nervous after reading other comments. No spreading at all and wondering if those who had an issue didn’t blend the coconut *into* the batter? And I got 65 1/4 thick cookies from 2 logs. Wayyyyyy more than the 24 suggested. Not a bad thing! Very delicious cookies.

Excellent recipe! I made this as instructed by weight. That is essential. A recommendation for success is to make this dough the day before, let it firm up in the fridge. I did not have any problem with the dough cracking while cutting it into rounds. The dough did not run while it baked. My only change to this recipe was to increase the baking time to 14/15 minutes. My preference on shortbreads is to have a bit of a snap and crunch. The lower baking time results in a more tender mouth feel.

I was reading the notes before making this. I’ve made the chocolate chunk shortbread version many times. I froze. The dough got approx 15 min once cut, and the shape held up well!

Listen to the commenter who said to use 326g instead of 255g. The cookies came out perfectly with that ratio.

Mine came out nicely, I think keeping the dough chilled is important for preventing spreading. I took both logs out of the fridge at the same time, but sliced the second one while the first batch was baking, and the second batch definitely spread more.

So delicious, substituted cardamom for cinnamon and just mixed it in instead of attempting to roll up. Very little spread while baking , I think weighing the flour made a difference - using my usual airate and scoop method the flour amount would have been way off (normal scoop method 2 c = 240g)

Made these with some slight alterations based on the notes: added an extra 50 g of flour and a 1/4 of cardamom. My "swirl" came out nicely by flattening the dough, sprinkling it on and then rolling up, but even for pure visual experience I'd add a bit more cinnamon and it wouldn't overpower the flavor. I used JustEgg for the egg wash and should have added a bit of water to lighten it up but the coconut did stick well. Took an extra 10 min. with 32 cookies but coconut looked "toasted".

Wonderful cookie … great crunch, fabulous rich taste, fun to make. Will make again following the weights and instructions as written but will try other flavour combos e.g., orange zest plus cardamom, lemon. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Thanks

Made exactly as written. Chilled overnight. Baked in the morning. Turned out perfectly. Gone by noon. Yummy.

Wish I had read the comments before making! The flat, lacey cookie was not at all what I was looking for. They smell wonderful while baking and folks ate the crumbly mess but for me they were a fail. I will try other shortbread recipes and may attempt this one again, weighing the flour and potentially adding more as others have done.

I placed a pinch of coconut under the cookie when arranging to bake. It made the cookie just a bit nicer.

3/12/21. These were very successful. I made the following adjustments:– increased the flour to about 2 cups.– Before I did the refrigeration, once my 2 halves were in a log shape, I rolled them in a little bit of the coconut.– I sliced them to about 3/8 of an inch thick. It required slightly longer baking time – about 13 minutes. They really did not spread at all.– I rarely have salted butter on hand, so I used unsalted and added a little bit of salt in the mixing stage.– I did not eat all of them when they were cool!