Coconut Oil White Chocolate cookies are soft and chewy with firmer edges and moist, soft, dense interiors. The white chocolate chips complement the flavor of the dough perfectly and are oozing in every bite.
I don’t know why I waited this long to make cookies with coconut oil.
Cookie baking will never be the same.
I’m no stranger to using, cooking, and baking with coconut oil. I have 40+ Coconut and Coconut Oil Recipes. I’ve used it on Roasted Vegetables and Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips. I’ve made No-Bake Coconut and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites and have baked Samoas Bars, but had never made cookies with it.
I worried the coconut oil was going to turn the cookie dough into a soupy, sloppy mess and I hate wasting time and ingredients. But curiosity got the better of me, I tried it, and I’m in coconutty lust with the results.
Normally I am a butter-only girl with cookies. The taste and richness are hard to give up, and as a baker, it lends a consistency to dough that’s difficult to replicate. Of the probably 35 cookie recipes on my site, only one uses shortening, Puffy Vanilla and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies. Ironically, they got pretty popular on Pinterest for awhile, but they aren’t my personal favorite because I miss the butter.
I sure didn’t miss the butter in these cookies. Coconut oil proves to be every bit as flavorful and rich as butter does, but in a different way. Coconut oil is not a flavor-neutral oil and anyone who says it doesn’t make your food taste like coconut has different taste buds than I do. Or they use a brand I’ve not tried.
I’ve tried many brands, including Tropical Traditions, Kelapo, Trader Joe’s, Nutiva, Nature’s Way, Spectrum, and Artisana. For these cookies I used Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Unrefined Organic Coconut Oil. The main distinctions among coconut oils, after organic versus non-organic, is in the refined versus unrefined aspect. Refined is more highly processed and generally has less coconut flavor; unrefined is processed less and has more coconut flavor. It’s been suggested that people who don’t like coconut should try refined since it’s less in-your-face.
However, I think all coconut oil, no matter the brand or type, imparts flavor. Here, the coconut oil perfumes the dough and the overall coconut flavor is palpable, but it’s in the background. It doesn’t cause me to feel like I’m eating tanning lotion or anything. It’s subtle yet present.
If you don’t like coconut or coconut oil, I won’t tell you to make these cookies. There are plenty of other cookies to try. But for anyone on the fence about coconut, who likes it, or if you love it, please make these cookies asap.
Coconut oil keeps them soft, moist, and tender. It imparts richness, fattiness, and a melt-in-your mouth quality without being greasy in the least. I’ve had greasier storebought granola bars than the cookies. And because coconut oil and the overall flavor of the dough base was just begging for a little something extra, a copious amount of white chocolate chips prominently rounds out the flavors.
I made the cookies by adapting one of my favorite cookie dough bases, the Sugar-Doodle Vanilla Cookie base. I’ve used it in Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies, and now these. It worked beautifully.
Begin by combining coconut oil with sugars, an egg, vanilla extract, and cream the ingredients until they’re soft and fluffy, about five minutes. It’s important to use coconut oil that’s softened to the consistency of softened butter. The same consistency you’d use for creaming butter with sugars and eggs in traditional cookie dough.
If your coconut oil is rock hard, microwave it in a small bowl for five or ten seconds, or just until it begins to soften. If it’s runny or melted, place it in the freezer momentarily until it firms up. A tiny amount of runniness is fine; it’s an oil and that happens. But do not use melted or purely liquid coconut oil because you can’t effectively cream a liquid; it would be like trying to cream liquid butter. Doesn’t work.
Add the flours, baking soda, and mix to just incorporate. I used a combination of bread and all-purpose flours in these cookies. I feel like a broken record saying this, but bread flour has a slightly higher protein and gluten content (11-12%) than all-purpose (10%), and that little bit of extra gluten helps create chewier baked goods with greater structure. Cookies made with bread flour are chewier and less prone to spreading while baking.
I didn’t want my cookies to spread, and figured with the coconut oil they could use all the help they could get. You could likely get away with exclusively using all-purpose, but I haven’t tried. For $4.99 and a bag of flour, you have insurance against spreading, and you can make more cookies, dinner rolls, and soft pretzels, too. Lucky you.
The dough is thick yet light, and reminds me a bit of Play-Doh. When pinched, it should hold together it’s shape and stick together, but it’s not tacky like regular chocolate chip cookie dough. If you pull off a little hunk and make a marble with it, it should hold together easily, not crumble; nor should it be oily, loose, or falling apart. If your dough isn’t holding a shape and is loose, add a tablespoon or two more flour to dry it out; or if you’ve overdone the flour, adding a teeny tiny drizzle of coconut oil will moisten it back up.
Fold in the white chocolate chips and although you could use milk or semi-sweet sweet, I think white chocolate and coconut are the perfect paring. And even though I hate nuts in baked goods, I mean, I despise pebbles in satiny dough. But if there was ever a cookie that I could really see macadamia nuts working with, it’s this one. It would be take the classic white chocolate macadamia nut cookie to new heights. But I had no intentions of putting rocks into this soft, buttery, butter-less dough.
Form the cookies into mounds that are 2.25-ounces each by weight, or just shy of one-quarter cup in size, about three heaping tablespoons of dough. The recipe only makes 15 cookies so you could just divide into fifteen equal-sized mounds. I used a cookie scoop to dig out the dough from the mixing bowl, then rolled the balls in my hands a bit to smooth them. If the white chocolate chips are falling out, just keep putting them back in and squeezing them in.
Flatten the mounds slightly. They still should be domed, but don’t keep them in perfectly round balls with tons of height because they won’t cook through properly. It’s very important to get your dough in exactly the shape you plan to bake it inbecause after you chill it, you can’t change the shape. And it goes without saying, warm Play-Doh is not suitable for baking. Don’t even think about not chilling it. Place all the mounds on a large plate, cover it with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days, before baking.
Bake the cookies at 350F for 9 to 11 minutes. My dough was rock hard coming out of the refrigerator after a 3 day chill session, and I allowed it to sit on baking sheets at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. I baked for just under 10 minutes, rotating trays midway through. Keep an eye on these and err on the lower end of the baking time range if you’re unsure. The tops should barely be set, and will be glossy and appear underdone at 9 or 10 minutes, but they firm up as they cool. Any longer than 11 minutes and you run the risk of the bottoms browning too much. Everyone’s coconut oil, oven, climate, and personal preferences are different, but they taste best when they’re pale, soft, and gooey.
The cookies are a new favorite and I can’t wait to try other cookie recipes with coconut oil rather than butter. It was just like using a stick of butter, except it smells so much better than butter. The fragrance and flavor of coconut oil isn’t over-powering. It’s just right, even for those who don’t love-love coconut oil. Scott didn’t know what was different about these cookies and couldn’t put his finger on it until I told him. Then he proceeded to inhale a few.
The cookies have chewy edges and tender, dense interiors. They’re moist, soft, and stayed soft for days. They’re oozing with white chocolate and it’s a pronounced flavor. I’m a white chocolate fiend, so that’s especially perfect.
I feel like I’m on vacation when I inhale the scent of one of these.
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Coconut Oil White Chocolate Cookies
There's no butter in these cookies and it's been replaced with coconut oil. If you've never baked with coconut oil, you're in for a real treat. The cookies don't taste overtly of coconut and instead, the coconut oil creates a subtly sweet undertone and perfumes the dough with a luscious scent. The cookies are soft and chewy with firmer edges and moist, soft, dense interiors. The white chocolate chips complement the flavor of the dough perfectly and are oozing in every bite. The coconut adds richness, depth of flavor, and you'll never miss the butter in these new favorites.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened (softened to the consistency of soft butter; not rock hard and not runny or melted, see below)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup bread flour (all-purpose flour may be substituted and used exclusively; bread flour yields chewier cookies that will spread less and is recommended, see below)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips
- 1/2 to 1 cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts, optional
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine coconut oil, egg, sugars, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed to cream until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Note - Coconut oil should be the consistency of soft butter like you'd use to cream with sugar and eggs in tradtional cookies. If coconut oil is rock hard, microwave it in a small bowl for 5 to 10 seconds or just until it begins to soften. If coconut oil is runny or melted, place it in the freezer momentarily until it firms up. A tiny amount of runniness is fine; it's an oil and that happens. But do not use melted or purely liquid coconut oil because you can't effectively cream a liquid; it would be like trying to cream liquid butter.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flours, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Solely using all-purpose flour will work, but the cookies will not be as chewy, may not rise as well, and may be more prone to spreading while baking. Bread flour creates chewier, puffier cookies that spread less.
- Add the white chocolate, optional nuts (I didn't use any and if using the full cup, reduce the white chocolate somewhat so the dough can hold it all) and beat momentarily to incorporate or fold in by hand.
- Using a 2-ounce or medium cookie scoop, form heaping mounds weighing 2 1/4-ounces each. This is a scant 1/4 cup of dough, or 3 heaping tablespoons; or divide dough into approximately 15 equal-sized pieces. They will look on the large side. Place dough mounds on a large plate, and slightly flatten each mound. Very important to get the dough mounds in the exact shape you want to bake them in because after chilling, flattening or re-shaping them is very difficult. Cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; up to 5 days. Do not bake these cookies with dough that has not been properly chilled because they will spread.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat,, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place dough on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart; I bake a maximum of 8 per sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until tops have just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center. They firm up as they cool and I recommend the lower end of the baking range because they taste best when softer and paler. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before moving. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Adapted from Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sugar-Doodle Vanilla Cookies
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
15Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 252Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 127mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 3g
Related Recipes:
Sugar-Doodle Vanilla Cookies – These cookies inspired both today’s recipe and Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies because the dough base is just so scrumptious. There’s nothing fancy in the ingredients, but they combine so wonderfully to produce soft, chewy, and moist cookies with fragrant vanilla notes
White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies – The cookies are rolled in a cinnamon-sugar coating prior to baking, making for a truer snickerdoodle than the Sugar-Doodles (above), and they’re loaded with white chocolate chips
Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies – Inspired by the Sugar-Doodles, these cookies are part chewy sugar cookie with chewy edges and tender, soft, pillowy centers. And part Cranberry Bliss Bars, in cookie form. They’re bursting with texture and each bite is loaded with either tart and chewy cranberries or sweet and smooth white chocolate. As the cookies bake, the white chocolate melts and meshes with the buttery dough in a scrumptious way for a soft and moist cookie that’s a 2012 favorite. Since I posted them in December, I receive more praise and success stories from readers on these cookies than any other
Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies – Maraschino cherries play a starring role in these very soft cookies with chewy edges and tender, soft, pillowy centers. Coupled with an abundance of white chocolate in every bite, there’s plenty of texture in these uber moist cookies. A perfect choice for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, girlie birthdays, showers, or for anyone who loves cherries and melt-in-your-mouth cookies
Coconut Cream Pie Smoothie (vegan, GF) – A coconut cream pie in a glass
Coconut Oatmeal Toffee Cookies – Coconut flakes and oatmeal lend lots of texture to these hearty cookies, that are filled with toffee bits, chocolate, butterscotch, and white chocolate chips. I made them one day to clean out my pantry odds-and-ends. It’s a small batch recipe with an adaptable ingredients list
Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies – One of my favorite cookies on my entire blog. From the peanut butter included, to the texture from the oats, and the sweet bits of white chocolate in each bite, they’re an all-time favorite. They stay soft and chewy for days. Very easy to make and no-mixer-required
Magic Eight Bars – Even people who claim they don’t like coconut have no problem devouring these bars, which are a spin on the popular Seven Layer Bars, Magic Bars, or Hello Dolly Bars as they’re also known
Coconut and Coconut Oil Recipes – 40+ recipes included that either use coconut oil, coconut milk, or shredded coconut. Everything from knockoff Girl Scout Homemade Samoas Bars that taste like the popular cookies to Coconut Milk Kefir to Roasted Fennel with Coconut Oil
And White Chocolate Recipes here
Do you like coconut and coconut oil? Do you bake or cook with it?
If you have favorite recipes feel free to share the links.
Thanks for the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System Giveaway and Kind Healthy Peanut Butter Snacks Giveaway entries
I made these cookies the other night and they are absolutely delicious! I didn’t have any bread flour or nuts, but these cookies still turned out phenomenal. The recipe did require me to mix the batter with my hands since it was a bit on the crumbly side, but I think that’s due to not having the coconut oil melt long enough. They still turned out great, though, so if this happens to you don’t worry.
They also made my boyfriend feel bloated and a feeling of being sick, but I think that’s due to the chocolate chips I used.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
I’ve used several of your recipes before, and now regularly add cream cheese to my dad’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, which he happily approves of. I wanted to combine this recipe with your cream cheese white chocolate cookies (I had to sub the pudding mix for cornstarch.) Also I didn’t have any bread flour and had to use AP. The result was absolutely delicious, creamy and fragrant. The texture I’d liken to playdoh with a crisp top, which I loved but the boyfriend found a little too gooey. He wants me to cook them for longer than 10 minutes but I’m concerned about excessive browning. Next time I’ll be sure to try bread flour as you directed.
Thanks for inspiring me, Averie!
Thanks for trying many of my recipes and glad you’ve been tweaking and playing around with things. Bread flour will make them chewier and if your boyf likes more of a ‘hearty’ cookie, less gooey, I think he will like. I’ve stopped using bread flour as much in cookies because I find it almost TOO chewy and doesn’t give me as much softness as just using all AP does…it’s a case by case basis and always a bit of a trial and error though :) Thanks for the field report and glad to hear these were absolutely delicious, creamy and fragrant!
Seriously my new favorite cookie! Everyone loved them and was asking for the recipe! Thanks so much!
Thanks for trying these and glad they were a hit with everyone and they all wanted the recipe! And that they’re your new favorite cookie!
LOVE this recipe. I made them last night for the first time, and it took all of my willpower NOT to eat all the dough. I ended up with only 12 cookies at 2.25 ounces each. Also, they didn’t flatten when baked, so they resembled pucks more than cookies. Thankfully, shape had no effect on taste. ;) I didn’t have bread flour, so I don’t know if that had something to do with it. Also, the dough stuck to the plate when chilled. Getting them off the plate to bake them was a challenge. Nevertheless, these puppies are getting made again soon!! Thank you!!!!
Glad you loved them! Regarding sticking, put a piece of plasticwrap on the surface of the plate, put dough mounds on that, fold edges over and seal up. Problem solved. Not flattening when baking – I would say then make the cookies less mounded when forming the balls and shape them a little flatter since yours didn’t spread much at all. Problem solved :)
Hello, what if i wanted to make a peanut butter version of this cookie? how do i go about the measurements of peanut butter?
I have a PB coconut oil cookie here – https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/03/soft-and-puffy-peanut-butter-coconut-oil-cookies.html It’s very, very popular with readers!
I made these using all all-purpose flour and they were delicious! I only put them in for about 9 minutes and it was the perfect amount. Although I might have made my cookies a bit smaller because I got a batch of 22 instead of 15. Which in my opinion was even better!
Glad you loved them! Thanks for trying the recipe!
You”ve inspired me to try to bake with coconut oil!
You’re going to LOVE IT!
And thanks for all the pins today!
Hi Averie!
How long should I leave the cookie dough out after freezing?
Until they reach room temperature?
Huge fan of your sublime recipes!!
Thanks!
It really doesn’t matter. You can bake with it rock hard. You’ll just need to extend baking time, as necessary. 2-3 mins extra I would estimate for frozen dough. But use common sense and watch your cookies, not the clock!
Maybe this is a silly question, but does coconut oil generally tend to make baked goods spread more than butter during baking? Either way, these cookies look delicious! Your photos are always sooo gorgeous!
Is there a good substitute for the granulated sugar in this recipe? Trying to cut the refined sugars out, but would love to bake some cookies!
I have not tried replacing it. I am sure if you are a confident cook you could start tinkering around with coconut sugar, palm sugar, etc but they are not ‘common ingredients’ for many readers and don’t always give the same results that good ole granulated does (so I don’t usually write recipes using them); but LMK how your recipe trials go!
I made a few alterations, one being coconut sugar. They’re chilling right now, can’t wait to see how they turn out!!
The coconut sugar was great! I replaced both the brown sugar and granulated with it. I also ran out of AP flour and ended up using 3/4 AP and 1 cup oat flour. The color of the cookies is totally different since the coconut sugar is brown, but omg they’re so delicious and have a great texture! http://instagram.com/p/gca6csr_Jl/
They look wonderful! I use a darker brown sugar in these https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/02/soft-batch-dark-brown-sugar-coconut-oil-cookies.html and they’re some of my fave cookies ever! Also have a new coconut oil cookie recipe for the holidays on my blog on Tuesday next week! Stay tuned! Glad the oat flour worked and thanks for the IG pic!
I made these tonight! Delicious! I have being looking for low fat desserts. Even fat free desserts. That still taste wonderful! Thank you!
So glad you tried them and are pleased! I just posted them to my Facebook page and was hoping a few people may want to bake cookies today :)
You are the cookie queen! They all look absolutely delicious.
I made these cookies last Sunday afternoon. They were absolutely amazing! There was only a hint of coconut flavor left after baking, and even my husband (who hates coconut) ate a few and said they were my best cookies to date :) The whole batch was gone with in 48 hours…so I’ll have to make more soon! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that they were gobbled within 48 hrs and that even your hubs was impressed. The coconut oil adds such a special flavor that’s not true ‘coconut in your face’ flavor. Glad your hubs gives them the best cookies ever vote – and hates coconut :) Thanks for the comment and coming back to LMK!
Hi Averie!
Thanks so much for the great recipe and the comments on my re-blog! This recipe is great– I had a similar problem to some of the other commenters, my flour was a bit dry but like you said it’s a pretty easy fix. These cookies are best warm and gooey, but I am so, so happy to have found a cookie recipe that doesn’t use butter!
Mmmm thanks again :).
Melissah
http://princessinthekitchen.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/coconut-oil-white-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Yes with varying climates, moisture content in flour, and varying brands of coconut oil (some are more ‘oily’ than others), playing with the ratios of a tbsp or two of oil, or flour, either one in either direction can help anything. Just some tiny tiny little tweaks is all that’s necessary. Glad you loved the cookies!
Hi Averie! I just found this recipe over at the Milk & Cereal blog, and I thought I should give you adequate props for an inspired recipe! I just invested in a huge jar of coconut oil and I’ve been searching for ways to use it (having read all about the health benefits etc). I’ll be trying your cookie recipe… and yes, my friends are also in the coconut-aversion camp. I’ll be hoping that this will convert them! x
Coconut oil haters and doubters, listen to me. While I am completely cookoo for coconut, I have a family that has a burning hatred for the stuff. And even at the mere mention of coconut, their faces turn sour. But Averie’s recipe was far too droolworthy for me to ignore, so I made them and neglected to tell anyone what went in the cookies. The smell alone hooked them–they kept commenting about how it smelled so good and “vanilla-y” but they didn’t realize that I had used coconut oil for that distinct, nutty, sweet flavor. I am not joking when I say that I ate almost every cookie by myself and they are easily THE BEST cookies I’ve EVER had. PERIOD. My family enjoyed them, too, but basically they only got the scraps I left them. I told you I was cookoo for coconut :)
I heart you for this comment! Thank you!
“they kept commenting about how it smelled so good and “vanilla-y” but they didn’t realize that I had used coconut oil” — I couldn’t have said it better myself. It has a nutty, sweet, distinct smell; far more so than the actual taste, but it just perfumes the house and it’s heaven-sent, I agree!
I had to keep from eating the whole batch myself and tried to hide them from myself :) I don’t know if you sampled any raw dough (I sure did…and I lived) but it’s some of the best cookie dough ever! Crazy good! Thanks for making these and taking the time to come back and tell all the coconut haters they have nothing to worry about! :) xoxo
Um, yeah, there was a brief crisis in which I almost ate half of the dough. Next time, I may just make the dough and omit the eggs (and replace with milk or something) to just eat the dough plain. SO GOOD.
Also, if coconut haters still dislike this idea, please make the cookies for the heaven-sent aroma Averie and I are talking about. It’s unreal, and I have a feeling if we could bottle it, we’d make millions. And you can always ship either of us the cookies when they’re done :)
Oh wow! These look delicious! Im deffinitly going to have to give these a try, specially knowing there is coconut oil in them. The cookies just come out so much better! I as well have a cookie recipe that uses coconut oil. They are Chocolate Chunk-Chip cookies, http://saddlingupinthekitchen.weebly.com/2/post/2013/01/chocolate-chunk-chip-cookies.html
And I just made more coconut oil cookies…will blog about them next week I think!
Unfortunately, I had a problem with this recipe. The dough was so dry!!! I added a little water, then about a tbsp more coconut oil, then more water, and more water. After all of that I still had to compress each cookie into a ball by hand and then press them down or they would not spread. I think I’ll try 1/4 cup less flour next time…That being said, there will definitely be a next time! They were quite tasty! Please let me know if you think less flour will help or more liquid. I have made many of your other recipes and never had a problem. Thank you!!!
I would guess that variance in brand to brand of coconut oil is the issue. My coconut oil may have been more oily and yours more dry and that’s why the same amount of flour for me may be a bit much for you, hypothetically speaking. Unless you’re making bread, I would never add water to dough. You could have probably added another tablespoon or two of coconut oil OR reduced the flour by 2 to 4 tbsp and been fine. Minor, minor tweaks and you’re all set! Baking is part art, part science, and part looking at your ingredients in the mixing bowl and deciding how to remedy things. Sounds like in your case 1/4 less flour and maybe slightly more oil would be the ticket! LMK how things go next go-round!
Thanks! I’ll let you know how it goes :)
I actually have a jar of coconut oil in my pantry just waiting to be used up!
Thanks for the awesome recipe – I’ll be sure to make this soon. I’m out of snacks at home so I really need these cookies around!
Oooooh boy I’m excited to try these cookies! So much do I love white chocolate. I haven’t yet tried baking with coconut oil, but I think now is the time to start! I use Lou Ana All Natural Pure Coconut Oil, and it doesn’t taste like coconut at all to me (which is good because I do NOT favor coconut flavor!). I bought it because it was the cheaper coconut oil, but I was very pleased with the neutral flavor. Like I said though, I haven’t baked with it yet. Guess I’ll just have to make these cookies to test it out!! :D Thanks for the recipe, Averie!
If you try them, LMK!
Coconut oil has been finding itself into more of my baking. I love coconut flavored everything, but I honestly have never thought the oil tasted like coconut. Maybe it is the brand I use? Just a generic one from Walmart. I love how soft and puffy your cookies always look, no matter what you use!!!
Different brands vary widely in taste – I would say experiment with a few others until you find one you like (for some people, they’d actually prefer what you describe; sort of neutral & non-coconutty). Some of the organic unrefined brands are pretty strongly coconut scented I’ve found. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not as much, depending on what you’re making.
And they’re puffy from dough chilling. That is the secret, always!
Those look amazing! So soft and chewy :-) I love coconut oil and use it regularly myself!
averie…wow…the photos with the melted white chocolate chips…these look amazing. i have 2 jars of cocount oil and have yet to cook with it…been using for homemade body scrub. LOL…so now i get to make my mouth happy with the coconut oil and these cookies!!!!
They remind me lots of the cookie of mine you’ve been making – but no PB or oats but still, lots of parallels, with a coconut flavor added. I bet you’d love them!
Gosh, those look so good! I love coconut oil and never thought to substitute it for butter in cookies.
Have you ever tried baking with coconut butter?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SB8ybJTYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
I love coconut oil but I have never baked with it. these look awesome!!
I really love these cookies, Averie! Coconut oil is just amazing!
I love baking with coconut oil! It makes such incredibly moist baked goods. I can just imagine how these taste. Beautifully done!
L.O.V.E
I’m a butter girl too, but I trust you- if you say the butter us not missed, I’ll believe you. (The way you describe the dough makes it sound very dangerous.) :D
I would not say it if it wasn’t true…seriously I am soooo picky about the butter and really, it’s not missed. I mean, coconut oil is fattier than butter :) But it’s ‘healthy fat’ :) But let’s judge this on taste not health: nothing is missing!
Another keeper recipe from Averie Cooks! Very much appreciate your healthful coconut oil based recipes. Grateful, too, for the tips about bread flour. Japanese bread flour is lovely and will undoubtedly assist in making beautiful white chocolate cookies à la Averie =)
Your bread flour just sounds good and fancy :)
I still havne’t taken the plunge! WHAT IS MY DEAL?! Ok, I have to save this recipe so I can try it out.
Coconut oil in cookies? Love this idea!
These look ridiculously yummy!
And thank you for using white chocolate chips. They get such a bad rap from chocolate snobs who say that white chocolate isn’t “real” chocolate!
It’s delicious, and that’s all that matters. :)
I am such a fan of it, I don’t care what ‘they’ think…I happen to love it :) And white chocolate is becoming sort of trendy (again). It’s had lots of press for a hot food to watch in 2013 :)
Really? Good to know that I’m trendy (food-wise)!
I just stumbled across your blog (not even sure where I linked from), and now I’m on my way to read over every one of your recipes. They all look and sound so amazing so far!
Well, purists will always find a reason to poo-poo white chocolate but I happen to love it and have like 30-40+ recipes all in a collection that use it!
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/05/white-chocolate.html
And thanks for finding me and going on a clickfest!
Oh my gosh, i totally agree. I tried out coconut oil on your roasted veggies the other day and it was incredible. I’m never turning away from coconut oil!!
I need to do more with coconut oils.
Seriously girl these are brilliant!
I finally bought coconut oil a couple of weeks ago when my sis and I made some homemade brown sugar foot scrub with it. The remainder has been sitting in my pantry saying, “try me in cookies!” whenever I open the pantry, and lo and behold, you post this recipe! Kismet! Must try! And I have all the ingredients, too – even the bread flour. Except … I made white chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies recently and they were hell to have in the house – I ate most of them. I’m not proud. Anyway. Maybe I’ll just make these and then immediately have all my ravenous friends over as a little insurance. :)
And I’m sure they will be ‘fine’ without bread flour; just make sure the dough is nice and chilled before baking!
These cookies look perfectly soft and moist and wonderful! I have a cookie recipe using coconut oil I’ve been wanting to try but it may have just been replaced. I have a jar of TJs coconut oil in the pantry. Did you like theirs?
Yes it’s totally fine. There are a few I didn’t like and wouldn’t recommend but the TJs is just dandy! If you make these, LMK!
I have to try these! I’m in lust with coconut oil too. :)
Wait, wait…I can ALMOST taste the awesomeness!! Do you know how much I love these two flavors together?! WOW!
By the way, I went out earlier today to get some coconut oil… I went to 3 stores and they didn’t have any… argh! What is this world coming to?! :-D
I have never baked with coconut oil, but I can’t wait to try. These cookies look awesome!
Coconut oil is so stellar-versatile and yummy. And you had me at white chocolate…Your photos are absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks, Jill!
Um… wow. This may be my favorite of your amazing creations yet.
Yammie it’s one of my fave cookies I’ve made to date…if for nothing else, the batter, the dough, just is like the most heavenly dough EVER! :)
I LOVE coconut oil! Usually if I use any sort of fat in my baking, that’s what I choose, and the fact that you combined it with my true love of white chocolate….It’s basically drool city over here. Can’t wait to try these Averie!
Well your beautiful photos are making a believer out of me! I have been trying to use coconut oil more in cooking but have never tried it in baked goods. I must, asap!
I hope you give them a try – I love them! And your other comment, the choc cake w/ chocolate ganache is a winner!
Love the idea of making cookies with coconut oil! Coconut and white chocolate is a perfect combination!
And thanks for the shoutout on twitter!
I love making cookies with coconut oil! And coconut oil leads to coconut sugar…and then a delightful coconut cookie (although subtle) is the amazing result! I love the addition of white chocolate. This really makes me crave a cookie :)
Coconut + White Chocolate + Macadamia Nuts = YUM!
ALL these cookies look amazing and I totally agree, why have I not made cookies with coconut oil? I use it all the time but just not in sweets yet. Mostly really, as a deep conditioner for my hair. I need to move it back out of the bathroom so I’ll think to use it more!
I know what you mean – I love it for my skin but I love it even more in cookies :)
The gooey white chocolate is just k i l l i n g me in these pictures! I feel like I can literally taste them through the screen.
glad I did my job then :)
Your photos are gorgeous. They make me want to grab a cookie right through the screen! And I never would have thought to bake with coconut oil, but these cookies look and sound delicious.
Thanks, Elaine. It rained here all weekend and it was challenging with the photos and lighting but glad they at least conveyed the story about the cookies. The cookies are crazy good!
Wow, Averie, the texture of these cookies looks incredible! So dense, moist and chewy. I have coconut oil on my grocery list for this week. I can’t wait to buy some and get baking.
You’re gonna love it!
Coconut oil is amazing, it keeps things so moist and really kicks up the flavor. White chocolate is a huge favorite of mine forever!!
Coconut and vanilla: heavenly combination! Love it. Although my favorite coconut oil and coconut mild dish doesn’t have vanilla: coconut curry soup with shrimps! I can eat it every day, three times a day. To bad my teenager doesn’t like any curry, and even smell of it. I make it when he is out for a whole day, so by the time he gets back there’s no smell of curry in the house (it gives him headaches and nausea symptoms, weird, ha?).
Cookies, on the other hand, he can eat in bulks , just keep baking! Actually, I started to teach him basic cooking and baking skills. Now if he wants something, he is making it and I am his helper. :) Your recipes are very good for teenagers, you know? No bake one they like the best (no wonder there, right?!). :)
it gives him headaches and nausea symptoms, weird, ha? = NO not weird at all. It does the SAME THING to me. I literally cannot smell it or I feel like I’m going to be sick. I cannot tolerate garlic, onions, and definitely not curry! Omg NO! I actually had allergy testing done once that shows I’m allergic to all of them; and that manifests through a super strong visceral reaction to them!
Wow, that is quite a reaction you have. Thanks for sharing, now I’ll be more even sensitive about cooking it. Allergies are no fun, I know it well myself, although I am allergic to aspirin, not to food. Stay safe!
Averie, I am so blown away. I mean you know I’ve been curious about the coconut oil thing too. Or, I was months ago and I forgot about it!! But girl you did it. and you NAILED it. I remember you saying how much you wanted to try it and results came with a HUGE success. How many cookie recipes will you post before I try cookies with bread flour? Seriously? What is my problem. :)
I am in love with these cookies and I need an excuse to use up my huge jars of coconut oil. I freaking LOVE the stuff and coming from another butter-only girl, I know what it’s like to stray from the familiar. I am LOVING these. And I would def add the macadamia nuts. I love all that white chocolate too! I am SO impressed! And the photos! Ok I’ll stop with the exclamation points and smileys…. :)
Sally you will love love love baking with it. I too have massive amts of it to use and when you start baking with it, it does go pretty quick :) And the smell of the dough, it’s seriously the most heavenly dough I’ve ever had. Not kidding! And we’ve talked about shortening and why we just don’t use it…but you will not miss the butter here. And I’m super!! picky about that :)
These cookies look incredible, Averie! Love the coconut oil/white chocolate combo!
These look amazing, Averie! I’m not a huge fan of coconut oil, but I’ll definitely give these a try! Is the coconut flavor noticeable in the cookies?
Yes I talked about the flavor in the post about where it falls on the noticeable-scale of the spectrum. So just double check that :)
Great tip Averie. I would never have thought to use coconut oil in baking cookies either. Glad you tried it out first :)
You’re one of the few bloggers who appreciates white chocolate as much as I do :D Great cookies! I love cooking with coconut oil but need to start baking more with it too.
Hi Liz! You would LOVE these! I know you love white chocoate/blondies/coconut oil…and this is the cookie form of a blondie! With white choc + coconut oil!
These cookies look wonderful. I love using coconut oil in my cooking and baking too. Love that sweet aroma that you won’t get from anything else. :)
You are so right about that!
“the coconut oil perfumes the dough”<–
Love this Averie! I think I enjoy reading your thoughts/descriptions of your recipes almost as much as I enjoy baking/eating them! :)
I legitimately feel you like you read my mind with these! This morning I was thinking about how I want to bake cookies tonight, but I am all out of butter. Logic would say “go to the store” but instead I’ve been toying with the idea of using all coconut oil. And then here these are!! Oh this is such great news. They look amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
Well isn’t that just a stroke of luck. LMK if you try them!
I’ve never baked with coconut oil, but this post could be the thing that convinces me to finally try it!
Well good!
Okay, these cookies look awesome, but that coconut cream pie smoothie — OMG!
It’s always the simple things like…smoothies that are the attention grabbers :) It can be yours in like 2.2 seconds in the blender!
OMG, the sugar doodles may have been out-done, which is hard to say since I LOVE them, BUUUT… coconut oil? And white chocolate? Be still my heart! I had no idea you could use coconut oil in place of butter but I am SO going to TJ’s right now to pick some up and start baking! Holy cow. I can only imagine how heavenly your kitchen smells when you whip these up. And I love coconut, so this is a perfect little addition to my cookies for that hint of sweet, nutty flavor. Love!
“I can only imagine how heavenly your kitchen smells when you whip these up.” — you cannot even begin to imagine. Hayley, it’s mindblowing good. The dough on these itself is so scrumptious,I can’t even tell you. Insanely.good. Keep me posted on what you make even if you dont blog about it!
I love cooking with coconut oil, but I don’t think I have ever had a baked good with it. These sound amazing. They look really chewy too. Just the way I love my cookies! yum
I know you like it already, so baking with it, well, I think you’d fall in love with it even more!
You always make such pretty cookies!
By the way, those chocolate peanut butter cookies were fabulous! I didn’t chill the dough long enough (I know! I know! I got impatient!), but they were still so yummy!
Well, there’s always next time to chill longer. I have batches of dough balls just chilling all week…and reach in and grab a few and bake them as needed. And hopefully they sit there and make it to the being-baked stage rather than the nibbling-on stage :)
I love the coconut oil in these cookies, great idea! I agree that the recipe would make a great white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, yum yum!
I used to bake with coconut oil all the time, but for some stupid reason I haven’t used it in AGES! I don’t know why, I loved how moist it made things and I really like the flavor. Have you tried Melt spread before? It’s a butter like spread made from coconut oil, and it’s really, really good. I was sent a sample a while ago to try and I fell in love with it. I used it on toast, to saute, bake, you name it. So good! I LOVE these cookies Averie…so yummy looking. :) Pinning!
Melt Spread. No, I’ve never heard of it! I have quite a few combos of spreads to say the least from coconut oil-peanut butter to various forms of coconut oil.
Maybe what you’re talking about is coconut butter? Which is different than coconut oil. And I’ve used Artisana brand in the past. Very pricey but it’s like a gift from heaven. I bet we’re talking about the same thing. Coconut butter, different than coconut oil. Incredibly fabulous!
It’s so funny, because when you posted the veggies last week I was wondering if you ever had used coconut oil for baking. These sound incredible!!! I loooove white chocolate and it sounds like the perfect complement to the coconut oil. I mentioned before that I’m very new to using coconut oil, so I can’t wait to try making cookies with it!
And I wasn’t going to post 2 coconut oil recipes so close but these cookies just had to move up in the list. Too good to not share!
WHAAAT. I love coconut oil. Oh this is a game changer. A GAME CHANGERRRR.
I know you’d love these, Bev!
love, love , love the ‘flavor’ of coconut. i am not a huge fan of the actual coconut flakes. i have never baked with coconut ‘oil’ though, but i will when i try these cookies! they look so moist, and soft. the addition of the white chocolate chips is right up my alley.
I actually love that these DIDN’T use coconut flakes as well; they add texture and something so distinct. And in some recipes, are perfect. But for these, happily omitted them!
I personally LOVE coconut and am happy with that sun tun lotion flavor :)
I haven’t done a ton of baking with it- like you I’m a sucker for the butter flavor. These look so soft though, looks like I need to give it a go!
You won’t miss the butter, Kelley! I am soooo about it with cookies, especially. But here, it’s fine to omit :)
Hey girl! Thanks for trying out the coconut oil for me. I have wanted to try it in my favorite chocolate cake recipe as a substitute for the vegetable oil, but I’m afraid. I know, I sound like a wimp, but I hate to waste all that time on something and not have it taste good in the end. Baking is fun, but more of a chore for me and only something I like to do when I have some free time on my hands. I wish you were my neighbor so my kids could just pop over after school and pick up their after dinner dessert from your abundance of sweets! Lately, I have been making chocolate milkshakes and ice-cream sundaes for the kids, as its a great substitute for a baked good for dessert and takes no time to whip up. These cookies look great and I’m super happy that you made something you love with coconut oil! You go girl! xoxo, Jackie
And I don’t know if it would work in a cake or not; or how it would behave exactly. Because when it cools, you want a cookie to sort of harden up. But with cake…mmm, not so much. Because of it’s varying states at various room temps, I do not know how it would behave in a cake or if it would be good, or not, or what. LMK if you try it in a cake!
I will try this recipe for sure.
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING!! okay, sorry for yelling ;) I have been developing some coconut oil baking recipes for an off blog project, and before I accepted I tested a couple of my own recipes, thinking the same thing (this will NEVER work!).
I use coconut oil for Every Other Thing… why not cookies!? :D
So glad I am finally on the train that sounds like you boarded recently as well. And yes, sometimes we are pleasantly surprised with a recipe success that we never saw coming. (way better than the fails we never saw coming…lol) Cant wait to hear more about the project!
Do you have a general conversion rate you used for butter – coconut oil? I have a lot of cookie recipes I love and I’d like to try it out in a few!
I simply replaced one for one.
Half cup butter (one stick) with half cup of coconut oil! Not sure if that will always hold true but for these cookies it did. LMK what you try!
So apparently the rumors are true and coconut oil is the secret to perfectly-textured cookies! I really need to bake with it more. These look awesome!
Thanks, Joanne!
Ok good tip on the consistency of it. I melted it when I baked with it last – but the recipe didn’t call for creaming it…so maybe ok?
I have been meaning to use my coconut oil in some baked goods. ( I usually just slather it on my freshly shaved legs ) Glad they will turn out scrumptious!
I love coconut oil and (and all coconut related products)! I am SO glad to see cookies made with it–I have thought about it before but always wondered if they’d be too runny….chilling the dough solves that! I have used it in brownies and had good results–otherwise, it gets drizzled on my veggies and I also use it in place of nut butter in my homemade protein bars. Macs would be the perfect nut in these….and I might be tempted to toss in a bit of toasted coconut too!
they look amazing!
This is awesome! I made chocolate white chocolate macadamia nut cookies using just coconut oil two days ago for some guests. They loved them and didn’t know there was no butter!
Discovering something new in baking can be so excited so good on ya for trying it :)
I agree with the unrefined coconut oil. I just did a review for Tropical Traditionals Gold Label–wow. I’ve had a bunch of the others, including those you listed, and this Gold Label is amazing. I’ve baked with coconut oil, and had terrific results. These cookies look spectacular, too! Love the change-up of using white chocolate chips. :)
I really love baking (and cooking) with coconut oil, it gives baked goods such a great texture and flavour and richness.
These cookies look amazing! So thick, so chewy, exactly hat I love in cookies. And I love even more that they are made with coconut oil. Hubby and I came to love it! And I totally think these would be great with macadamia nuts, but then again, I am a lover of nuts and crunch in my baked goods ;)
What a great idea! I bet these are wonderful!