Coconut cookies recipe

Our coconut cookies are gluten-free and take 30 minutes to make from start to finish. 

If you love our easy chocolate chip cookies but need a gluten-free treat, these coconut cookies are perfect. They taste a little like a coconut macaroon and have a wonderful chewy texture and sweet, nutty flavour. 

Ingredients

• 60g (2oz) butter, softened
• 125g (4oz) caster sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 75g (2½ oz) desiccated coconut
• 150g (5oz) gluten-free plain flour
• 8 glacé cherries, halved

Method

1. Set the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Line a baking sheet (or two) with non-stick liner or baking parchment.
2. Tip the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat them together until smooth. Add the beaten egg. Reserve 2 rounded tablespoons of coconut and add the rest to the creamed mixture and then the flour. Mix all the ingredients together to give a smooth, firm-ish dough.
3. Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball and then roll them in the reserved coconut. Flatten the balls to about 4-5cm (1½-2in) in diameter and place them on the baking sheet. Press half a glacé cherry on top of each biscuit.
4. Bake the biscuits in the centre of the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until they are a light-golden colour.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, and then slide them on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Top tips for making coconut cookies

We used Doves Farm gluten-free plain and self-raising flours, available from most supermarkets and specialist health food shops. Continue reading for more tips and tricks for making the best coconut cookies.

Jessica Ransom

“An easy way to upgrade these coconut cookies even further is to drizzle with some melted chocolate. Wait for the cookies to cool completely before adding the chocolate otherwise the presentation will be messy and the chocolate won’t set properly. My preference is dark chocolate but if you have a sweet tooth, white chocolate works nicely too. 

The quickest way to cream butter and sugar together is by using an electric hand mixer. 

Kenwood Hand Mixer - View at John Lewis 

This compact hand mixer will quickly become one of your favourite pieces of equipment. It shaves minutes off of your baking prep time and will cream butter and sugar together in less than five minutes (as long as the butter is soft when you begin). 

Our sugar cookies recipe is another easy bake you can make with kids or our vanilla cookies are easy to decorate with icing pens on a rainy afternoon. If you prefer a chewy cookie, try these Millie's cookies.