These tender nuggets are a coconut-flavored riff on classic Wedding Cookies. Packed with toasted coconut, scented with coconut flavor, and enriched with coconut milk powder, they literally melt in your mouth. Got a friend or family member who's in love with coconut? This will be their new favorite cookie.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To make the cookies: In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter and salt until soft and fluffy.
Mix in the confectioners' or glazing sugar, coconut milk powder, and coconut flavor. Add the flour and toasted coconut, mixing until well combined.
Form the dough into 1” balls; a teaspoon cookie scoop is a real time-saver, and your cookies will be nice and uniform. Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. They should be very light brown on the bottom, and feel set on top.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes before disturbing; they're very fragile when they first come out of the oven.
Sift the confectioners' or glazing sugar with the coconut milk powder and place in a shallow pan.
Roll the warm cookies in the sugar/coconut coating.
Let the cookies cool completely, then re-roll in the sugar.
When completely cool, store them in airtight containers for 1 week, or freeze for longer storage.
Optional glaze and garnish: Instead of rolling cookies in sugar, you can dip completely cooled cookies in glaze, then roll in flaked coconut.
To make the glaze: Sift together the sugar and coconut milk powder. Stir in the flavor and 8 tablespoons milk. Add the remaining milk a bit at a time, stirring until the glaze is smooth and the thickness of honey.
Dip each cookie in the glaze, roll in the coconut, then put on a cooling rack to harden. Or skip the flaked coconut, and simply dip each cookie in glaze.
If you use salted butter, omit the added salt.
If you use regular sweetened coconut, chop it finely to ensure the best texture of the finished cookies.
Substitute 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of coconut flavor (to taste) in place of the coconut extract, if desired.
