These little cookies pack some serious flavor! The orange flavor pairs perfectly with the coconut and white chocolate and they smell just as good as they taste. Just fyi: you may not be able to stop eating them!
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When we were coming up with all the cookie recipes for our cookie series, we needed 1 more recipe to fill it up and we came up with these white chocolate orange coconut cookies.
These cookies were an immediate hit the first time we made them and we had a hard time keeping them from the cookie monsters long enough to photograph 🤪.
See the rest of our whole wheat cookie recipes in our cookie series below:
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Snickerdoodle cookies
- Soft molasses cookies
- Oatmeal raisin cookies
- Orange coconut cookies (this recipe)
- Cut out sugar cookies
- Double chocolate cookies
- Peanut butter cookies
What's Cool About This Recipe
- Bold flavor: The orange flavor really comes through in these cookies, in taste and smell.
- Whole grain: These coconut orange cookies are made with 100% whole soft white wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour).
- Out of the ordinary: If you’re looking for a cookie that’s a little different and not your average chocolate chip cookie, these are the cookies for you.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Whole wheat flour: We use whole wheat flour ground/milled from soft white wheat (whole wheat pastry flour). Hard white wheat flour will also work, you will just need a little less flour.
- Baking soda: Makes the cookies rise and spread.
- Salt: We use sea salt.
- Unsalted butter: You can use salted butter, just reduce the salt in the recipe a little.
- Brown sugar: We opt for light brown sugar in these cookies but dark will also work.
- Cane sugar: We always use raw granulated cane sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Egg: You’ll need 1 large chicken egg.
- Orange zest: The orange zest is important because it is where the cookies get their orange flavor. Choose an orange with a bright orange color that smells good when scratched. Avoid using oranges that are old as they usually have a bitter taste.
- Vanilla extract: We like using pure vanilla that has a good smell, if it smells good it tastes good.
- White chocolate chips: If you're making mini cookies (like the photos) you’ll want mini chips, if you’re making regular size cookies regular size chips will work. You can also use a white chocolate bar and chop it up into chunks.
- Shredded coconut: We use unsweetened shredded coconut. Make sure to get shredded and not flaked coconut.
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
- You can use chocolate chips in place of white chocolate chips.
Instruction Photos
Overview of instructions with photos. See recipe card for quantities and full instructions.
Step 1: Zest 1 large orange. Be careful to just get the orange part, the white part it bitter.
Step 2: Beat the butter and sugars together until combined.
Step 3: Add the egg, orange zest and vanilla extract, beat until lightened in color and fluffy.
Step 4: Add the flour, baking soda and salt, mix until combined.
Step 5: Stir in the white chocolate chips.
Step 6: Scoop the dough out using a 1 teaspoon scoop for mini cookies, or a 1½ tablespoon scoop for regular size cookies. Roll into balls and roll the top half in the coconut.
Step 7: Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Step 8: Bake at 325°F for 7-9 minutes for mini’s or 10-12 minutes for regular size.
Serving Suggestions
These cookies are great on their own as a dessert, but they are also delightful served with:
- Tea
- Coffee
- Milk
- Hot cocoa
- Vanilla ice cream
Storage
Store baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
How to Freeze Cookies
To freeze baked cookies: Place the cookies into a freezer safe bag or container, label and freeze for up to 3 months (if the cookies are soft, freeze them in a single layer on a tray before placing into the bag).
To freeze cookie dough: Arrange scoops of cookie dough close, but not touching on a parchment paper lined tray or plate. Freeze for 1-2 hours, or until the cookie dough balls are firm. Place the cookie dough into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To bake frozen cookie dough: Remove however many cookie dough balls you want to bake. Place onto a cookie sheet and bake according to recipe instructions (you may need to bake them 1-2 minutes longer to account for the frozen dough).
Tips From Our Kitchen
Our biggest tip for making cookies is to do a test bake: after you mix up the dough, bake 1 cookie to see if it spreads too much or too little. That way you can adjust the dough if needed before you bake the whole batch of cookies.
Cookies that spread too much and are thin need more flour.
Cookies that don’t spread and stay in a rounded shape have too much flour and need some liquid such as milk to thin it out.
We like to err on the side of less flour at first, because it is easier to add more flour than to add liquid to the dough.
When using fresh ground/milled flour, be sure to let it cool off before using in your cookie dough.
FAQ
The easiest way we know of to zest an orange is by using a micro plane grater.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Coconut Orange White Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie scoop regular
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup packed (105 g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (52 g) granulated cane sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 g) soft white wheat flour whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup (100 g) mini white chocolate chips or regular for regular size cookies
- ½ cup (46 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the center, or upper third position.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter ½ cup packed (105 g) brown sugar and ¼ cup (52 g) granulated cane sugar together until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1 large egg 1 tablespoon orange zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, beat until lightened in color and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 2 cups (240 g) soft white wheat flour ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon sea salt, mix until well combined.
- Stir in ½ cup (100 g) mini white chocolate chips.
- We recommend doing a trial bake before baking the whole batch of cookies, see the note section below.
- Using a 1 teaspoon cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough. Or weigh out 9-10 gram portions. Roll into balls and roll the top half in the coconut.½ cup (46 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are set and the tops are no longer shiny.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you!