Coconut Lime Cookies

by Jillian
Soft and chewy cookies flavored with the sweetness of coconut and the tang of lime, loaded with white chocolate chips and toasted coconut!

Soft and chewy cookies flavored with the sweetness of coconut and the tang of lime, loaded with white chocolate chips and toasted coconut!

Unlike most people who have been taking advantage of their summer breaks by flying to tropical paradises or soaking up the sun poolside on some ginormous cruise ship, my summer has consisted of a big FAT nothing.

If I’m being honest though, that’s kinda how I prefer it. Sure, it would be nice to spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii, bodysurfing in the crystal blue waters, eating excessive amounts of Hawaiian shaved ice, and collecting puka shell necklaces at all the fun little souvenir shops. (Do people still wear these in 2019?) However, just because I’m not in a tropical paradise doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy the tropical flavors of paradise at home.

Feast your eyes on these babies.

Obviously, these aren’t your average cookie. These are Coconut Lime Cookies. They’re loaded with the heavenly sweetness of coconut and the satisfyingly sweet tang of lime. Truly, you won’t find two tropical flavors more perfect for each other than lime and coconut. I mean, why do you think there’s an entire song written about them?

So what makes these cookies so spectacular? Well, first off they’re ultra soft and delectably chewy–just how I like my cookies! To achieve that soft and chewy texture, I used one of my favorite baking ingredients–instant pudding mix. In this case, I used coconut-flavored pudding mix. Not only does it assure that these cookies bake up with that perfectly pillowy thickness, but it also infuses them with the sweetness of coconut.

And since we’re on the topic of coconut, to boost the flavor even more, I added shredded coconut. TOASTED shredded coconut. I beg of you, do NOT skip the toasting. Most would say that toasting coconut enhances its flavor, but to me, toasting IS the flavor. This is especially true when it involves shredded coconut, which tends to be rather flavorless and chewy on its own. For this recipe, I prefer the finely-shredded unsweetened variety which you can usually find in the bulk section of your grocery store, or in the natural/organic aisle. If you can’t find this specific kind, just use the regular shredded kind in most stores.

To infuse the cookies with lime, I added both freshly-squeezed lime juice and lime zest. All you need is 2 Tablespoons of juice and 1 Tablespoon of zest to give you that delicious hint of citrus.

One odd ingredient you might notice in the recipe is cream cheese. Swapping out some of the cream cheese for the butter is a trick I’ve tried in other cookie recipes, and I was always amazed with the results. The cream cheese adds so much richness, depth, and softness to a cookie that butter alone can’t mimic.

Of course, a cookie would not be a proper cookie without that extra element of sweetness, whether its chocolate chips or frosting. For these cookies, white chocolate chips was the obvious choice due to their creamy vanilla flavor. As you can see, I made sure these cookies were LOADED with chips.

To see just how quickly these cookies come together, check out the video below!

So if you’re like me and spending the summer as a hermit, just make these Coconut Lime Cookies. They might not be the perfect substitute for an all-inclusive resort stay in Fiji, but I bet they come pretty close…

Soft and chewy cookies flavored with the sweetness of coconut and the tang of lime, loaded with white chocolate chips and toasted coconut!

Coconut Lime Cookies

Soft and chewy cookies flavored with the sweetness of coconut and the tang of lime, loaded with white chocolate chips and toasted coconut!
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 31 minutes
Servings 3 Dozen

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • ¼ cup cream cheese softened
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 Tablespoon lime zest
  • 1 (3.4 oz) box instant coconut cream pudding mix
  • ¾ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut toasted*
  • 1 ½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until combined; set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese, and both sugars together until lightened in color and creamy.
  • Beat in the egg, vanilla, lime juice and zest, followed by the pudding mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture, and continue mixing. Add the shredded coconut and white chocolate chips, mixing until just combined.
  • Scoop the dough out and place onto the lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set. Centers may appear undercooked, but will set up as they cool.
  • Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

*Finely shredded unsweetened coconut can usually be found in the bulk food section of the grocery store or in the natural foods/organic aisle.
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