Coconut shortbread cookies are buttery, crisp shortbread cookies with fantastic coconut flavor! They're dipped in chocolate & dusted with more coconut for a delicious cookie combination.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and coconut extract.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture gradually, mixing until it's all well incorporated.
Blitz the coconut several times in a small food processor so that the coconut is a more fine texture. Reserve 1/4 cup and stir the remaining cup into dough.
Shape dough into a ball. Cover or put in an airtight container and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut dough into tall rectangles about 3/4" wide by 2" tall. I start by using a ruler to cut sections 3/4" wide, then cut the segments 2" tall.
Arrange the slices 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Bake the cookies on the top rack of the oven for 22-24 minutes.Let cool on tray for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to fully cool.
Once cookies are cool, you can dip them in chocolate. Heat chocolate chips in microwave for 1 minute. Stir gently and continue heating in 15 second increments until smooth. Hold cookies by the top corner and dip them at an angle into the chocolate. I like to dip half the cookie in chocolate- you can choose whether you want to dip the entire cookie, or hold the cookie so that just the front part is dipped.
Set dipped cookies on parchment and sprinkle the chocolate with the remaining coconut. Let cool to set. Enjoy!
Notes
Yields about 4 dozen cookies. Store in an airtight container. Cookies are fresh for about a week after baking. Cookies can be frozen without chocolate.