A soft cookie with toasted nuts and sweetened coconut. Walnut Coconut Cookies are easy-to-make and very yummy.
This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
Not too long ago, I shared a recipe from my grandmother Riley, for a chocolaty Wacky Cake. Now I'm sharing a recipe from my other grandma whose name I share, Nancy Frechette!
Years ago when I was making a family cookbook for my sister, Gram Frechette gave me this recipe for Walnut Coconut Cookies.
Our grandmother has always been a prolific baker, especially of pies. Every Thanksgiving she hosted an enormous dinner for the family, one that grew in size every year as new husbands, wives, and grandchildren joined the gang.
In addition to the huge dinner, Gram would make around 20 fruit pies: raspberry, apple, blueberry, cherry, and lots, lots more.
And all of this she did by herself (believe me, we tried to help but she insisted on doing it all!) Gram made this feast in the same, small but cozy kitchen for decades.
All this, plus daily shopping and meals for her family, watching her grandchildren (she instilled a lifelong love in me for Bob Barker's The Price Is Right!), and a full-time, second-shift job as a registered nurse.
Gram doesn't get to bake these days like she used to, and I'm sure she misses it. But she continues to impress all of us with her strength, perseverance, sense of humor, caring nature, and most of all, her love for her family.
Why you'll love this coconut cookies recipe
I run hot and cold on walnuts, and on nuts in baked goods in general. However, I found that when chopped and toasted, walnuts are really tasty in these soft, coconutty cookies.
The Old Fashioned Walnut Coconut Cookies recipe is easy to pull together and bake, making it a super choice for cookie exchanges, work parties, or just to make a treat for yourself and the fam.
The flavors of toasted walnuts, coconut, and a touch of rum extract are so delicious together. Set coconut and walnut cookies out with a pot of coffee or hot tea—YUM.
If you love coconut try these treats, too: Easy Almond Joy Macaroons.
🔪 How to make Walnut Coconut Cookies
Ingredients for Walnut Coconut Cookies
- Chopped Walnuts: They get toasted before going in the batter
- Unsalted Butter: It should be softened
- Granulated Sugar: To sweeten the cookies
- Eggs: Large size will do
- Vanilla Extract: Use good vanilla, like Nielsen-Massey, in all your bakes
- Rum Extract: This flavor is so good with the coconut
- Flour: All-Purpose flour—King Arthur is my preferred brand
- Salt: For flavor
- Baking Powder/Baking Soda: To help the cookies rise
- Shredded Sweetened Coconut: This brings flavor, sweetness, and texture
- Sour Cream: This ingredient adds moisture and activates the leaveners
Step 1: Toast the walnuts
Put the walnuts in a pan over medium heat for a few minutes, until the walnuts are nicely toasted.
Step 2: Make the cookie batter
Cream the butter and sugar together, and add in the eggs and flavorings. Whisk together the dry ingredients with the cooled walnuts and flaked coconut. Then stir this dry mixture together with the wet mixture and the sour cream.
Step 3: Bake!
Scoop the batter onto a lined cookie sheet, and bake them for about 15 minutes. Let them cool, then enjoy!
FAQs
If you don't care for walnuts, try chopped almonds, pecans, or hazelnuts in these cookies instead.
Tip:
- Don't skip the step of toasting the walnuts! It only takes a few minutes and adds so much more flavor to the finished cookies.
Find the recipe for Walnut Coconut Cookies below, and a few other sweets you should try, too!
💬 What do you think of these soft, little cookies? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Walnut Coconut Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup chopped walnuts
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon rum extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
Toast the walnuts
- Pour the chopped walnuts into a nonstick skillet. Toast the nuts over medium heat, stirring them often, for several minutes until the walnuts are fragrant and toasted. Remove the nuts from the heat and let them cool.
Make the batter
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, for 5 minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Blend in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and the rum extracts.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Stir the walnuts and the coconut into the flour mixture.
- Add the dry mixture to the butter-sugar mixture in two or three additions, alternating with the sour cream. Do not overmix: pulse the mixer as you add in the ingredients, and finish the mixing with a wooden spoon.
Get ready to bake
- Scoop the batter in 2-teaspoon sized scoops and place them on the prepared baking sheet, about two inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes, until they're puffed and lightly browned around the edges. Move the cookies to a cooling rack.
- Store the cookies in a sealed container for up to one week. Makes about 36 cookies.
April
I was wondering if I could use unsweetened coconut and how would it taste? I have some in my pantry that I would like to finish up. Any thoughts?
Nancy Mock
Hi April, This is a great question! Using unsweetened coconut in these cookies will of course result in a less-sweet cookie. However, my concern is that the cookies may be a tad bit drier, too—because the sugar in sweetened coconut holds a lot of moisture. I did find one article that explains how to turn unsweetened coconut into sweetened coconut: Heat a quarter-cup of water on the stove top, then add in 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in one cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. Let the coconut sit for about 10 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. (This recipe calls for two cups of coconut, so you would have to double the amounts here.) The coconut should then be ready to use in the recipe.
Full disclosure: I have not tried this technique myself, but it seems like a promising solution. Please let me know how things go!
April
Thanks Nancy. I will look into your suggestion.
Janet Goodman
I was wondering if this batter can be made ahead and placed in the refrigerator to use over a 2 week period?
Nancy Mock
Hi Janet! You can definitely make this cookie dough in advance and keep it in the fridge - however, 4 days is the maximum number to refrigerate it. For longer storage, it would be best to freeze the dough. Happy baking!
Kat
Had to leave a comment to let you know that I have made these cookies three times in the past week, they are that good. I used gluten-free flour and erythritol because that's how I am, and the recipe adapted wonderfully. So good that I crave them and am literally making another batch right now. Just wanted to thank you.
Nancy Mock
Kat, thank you for this - you really made my day! I'm thrilled that you love this recipe, and that you were able to adapt it with alternative ingredients. This is my grandmother's recipe, and she will be so happy when I share this with her. 🙂 Thanks, and have a wonderful day!
Heidi
This sounds like a tasty recipe, Nancy! Love the photos you shared in this post, and the snowflakes falling, too! I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!
Nancy Mock
I love these photos too, especially of the 1950s kitchen. I will always be astounded at how much food my grandmother created in that kitchen, which is about the size of an RV kitchenette! Thanks Heidi, and Merry Christmas to you and your family!