I’m in the midst of a major lime kick, in case you hadn’t already noticed. For most of the winter, which sadly extended into late April this year, I was all about lemons but now that we’ve apparently skipped spring entirely and jumped ahead to muggy summer weather, limes have claimed the spot as top citrus fruit in this house. They’re great on their own, but I especially love the combination of lime and coconut. It just feels summery and brings back memories of being on vacation somewhere warm and tropical. Boy does that sound good right now.
These cookies aren’t the first baked good I’ve made that included the coconut-lime combo, but they are definitely my favorite. I’d flagged them a few months ago on the Cook’s Illustrated website, and got the push I needed to finally make them when Tessa shared her review a few weeks ago. The next day I found myself in the checkout line at my local warehouse club with a giant bag of limes and I haven’t stopped baking with them since.
If you scan the ingredient list for these cookies you’ll probably notice it includes a few ingredients that don’t typically appear in most sugar cookies, primarily cream cheese and vegetable oil. There’s also butter, but it’s melted and thus no mixer is needed to cream the butter and sugar – these cookies can be made with just two bowls. The unique combination of ingredients and the mixing method leads to, hands down, the most perfectly chewy cookies I’ve ever had. I wish I could bottle the formula and make a million different cookie variations. These cookies had good lime flavor and while I detected coconut, I think it added texture more than anything. It’s probably worth mentioning that this dough is really soft – unlike any I remember working with before. Try to work quickly and gently to shape the cookies or they may end up a bit flatter than intended.
If coconut and lime aren’t your thing but you do enjoy chewy sugar cookies, you can still make this recipe! Simple omit the coconut, lime zest and lime juice from the recipe, substituting 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract where the lime juice is added below.
Chewy Coconut-Lime Sugar Cookies
from Cook’s Illustrated (also seen on The Cookin’ Chemist)
2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
2 oz cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, chopped fine
1 teaspoon lime zest
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup vegetable (or canola) oil
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon lime juice
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, coconut, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar, the lime zest, and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet). Put the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a pie plate and set aside. Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine – the mixture won’t be completely smooth yet, that’s fine. Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk and lime juice. Mix until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet, until a soft dough comes together.
Portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop, using about 2 tablespoons for each cookie. Working quickly (if you handle the dough too much you’re more likely to wind up with flat cookies), roll the dough into a ball with your hands then roll in the sugar set aside in the pie plate previously. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough, placing 12 cookies on each baking sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the remaining sugar in the pie plate, using about 2 teaspoons per sheet of cookies.
Bake the cookies, 1 tray at a time, for about 11-13 minutes, or until the edges are set and beginning to brown. The tops will be puffy and slightly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
Makes 24 cookies
You really put the lime in the coconut 😉 Wow ok I’m done being corny. But seriously, I think your lime-kick is paying off!
I am a huge lover of anything lime! Definitely have to give these a try! They sound fantastic!
Coconut and lime are a match made in heaven, especially when in a chewy cookie!! I have a few limes that I need to use up soon, maybe these cookies are in my future. Gosh I hope so! 🙂
My friend just gave me a cup of key limes. This sounds like a great recipe for them.
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked forever, too! Now you are inspiring me to make them. I love lime and coconut, and happen to have both on hand. I think we all know what’s happening tonight . . .
OMG….coconut and lime! So making these! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Ah these sound perfect for summer! And I am so interested in this recipe for perfect chewiness… I am a freak for chewy cookies!
I love this combo. Bookmarking right now!!! Thanks 😉
Wow! These sound just light and delicate and delicious! Almost like a sugar cookie but tastes like summer!
Put the lime in the coke you nut and drink it all up! Haha, that’s the song that poped into my head when I was reading this post. 🙂 Although I’m not a big fan of coconut, this sounds like a darn good cookie, and I do like chewy sugar cookies!
tangy flavor on coconut is driving ne crazy!!!!!!!
great look!!!!!!!
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I’m loving your lime kick… I always get in a lime mood this time of year. Can’t wait to try these cookies!
I love lime and coconut but I’ve mostly had them in tropical drinks. Now I can add your cookies to the list.
In the past, I haven’t cooked a lot with limes, but your recipe is making me think twice! It looks incredible. I have used cream cheese in cookie recipes before. They are the best! They really give a great flavor! Thanks for a great post!
Mmm these cookies sound like my favorite smell. I love coconut and lime together!
First time come across this combo for cookies. Very interesting. I love coconut and so want to make these cookies.
Coconut, lime, and cream cheese… sounds divine!
Mmmm. I wish these were sitting on my counter. I do happen to have all of the ingredients to make them…
I love the idea of coming these two flavors into a cookie. These look soooo good!
Thanks for letting us know that we can omit the coconut—-“ick” as I would have said as a kid!!! But the lime—that’s yummy, so I would love to try these!!!
Also, I am trying to find an oatmeal cookie recipe where the cookies are hard & crisp—not soft & chewy. Any suggestions?
@LeAnne – I can relate, I was a coconut hater in a previous life 🙂
I’m a chewy cookie person so I don’t think I’ve made any crisp oatmeal cookies, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a recipe and will pass it along if I find one.
I love these cookies!
I am all about lime and coconut, so these sound great. I bet the cream cheese adds a nice flavor to them too!
These sound really delicious!
These look fantastic! I have been on a big lemon and lime kick lately too! I saw that you did a similar cookie last year and was curious which one you liked better, or what the differences were. I really want to try these very soon. Thanks for sharing!
@Carrie – I definitely preferred the texture of this recipe to the one I made last year. The other cookies were almost too chewy if that makes sense. These were softer. I can’t remember the flavor of the other recipe well enough to compare them, but if you are only going to make one, I’d recommend this recipe.
Sounds like a great flavor combination. We would love to see you over at http://www.dishfolio.com keep up the good work.
I’m all about the chewy cookie, so these – with and without coconut – are on the list for the next time I need a cookie fix! Beautiful, Tracey.
HAVE to make these…they look so pretty, too. Lime cookies sound so good right now…all this party food these past weeks, these seem light and refreshing.
beautiful summery cookies! Definitely trying them 🙂
I’m new to your site (found you through foodgawker!) and made these tonight. I just had to try them. They’re amazing!! I was expecting a bit more lime flavour, so I’m thinking if I remake them, I might include a bit more zest…but they are fabulous as is! We’ve already eaten 4 of them between the 3 of us, and they’re still cooling on the rack, haha!
These cookies were amazing! I had to bag them up and give them out to everyone I know! That also helped me from eating them all! HOwever my boyfriend was very upset when he looked and they were all gone!
I had plans to make the other coconut lime cookies on your blog until I saw these. I just posted them on my blog if you want to come check them out. They were delicious.
~Monica
Mentally I was not myself today. I totally forgot the egg AND somehow ended up putting a whole stick of unsalted butter in there (8 tablespoons instead of 6) and I only had unsweetened coconut that I tried to rehydrate :/ The cookies were still delicious! It was a baking miracle! Thanks for the recipe! I’ll need to remake it when I find my head again!
oh my gosh! A couple of my favorite flavors combined into my favorite type of cookie! Seriously cannot wait to make these!!