These are the best coconut sugar cookies with sprinkles you’ll ever have! Our cut out cookie recipe requires no chill time and are decorated for Christmas. You can dive into them in 40 minutes, just like our ginger molasses cookies.
This is the best time of the year: the joyful season! It is not complete without beautiful and tasty cookies, agree?
I made our coconut sugar cookies with sprinkles a family affair! My elves (husband and kids) enjoyed helping this Mrs. Claus to decorate them...and of course, devour them, too, with and without a glass of milk.
They were so delish that not a single one was left for Santa.
But that is not all! They make an affordable holiday gift that is sure to please family and friends.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Our sugar cookie dough calls for minimum ingredients which allow substitutions according to your needs and wants.
- Unsalted butter: You may use salted if you prefer, but because these sugar cookies are mildly sweet, I made mine with unsalted butter. The quality of the butter is super-important! If you can, use European butter that contains a low amount of water and more fat and dairy. It tastes much better than the ordinary American butter. To make our sugar cookie recipe dairy-free, use dairy-free butter.
- Granulated sugar: If on a keto diet, use granulated monk fruit (to replace 1 cup of sugar, use 1 ¾ cups of the sweetener).
- Coconut extract: You may use pure vanilla extract for the classic sugar cookies, lemon, peppermint, or any other flavoring of your choice. Vary the flavor according to the season!
- Eggs: Make sure to have them at room temperature.
- Baking Powder
- All-Purpose Flour: Make sure to sift it before adding it to the dough for the perfect sugar cookies from scratch. It will result a more refined texture. If you are on a gluten-free or keto diet, replace all-purpose flour with the same amount of fine and blanched almond flour. I have never tested this recipe with coconut flour. You would need only ¼ to ⅓ of coconut flour for every cup of all-purpose flour called for in the recipe for making coconut flour sugar cookies. But be aware that the dough may require more butter because this type of flour is very absorbent and can make the dough dry.
- Milk: Full-fat is the best for this recipe, although you may replace it with coconut milk for a more concentrated coconut flavor and also low carb and dairy-free cookies.
- Powdered sugar: essential for making the icing and buttercream on account of its fine, easily dissolvable crystals. If you are on a keto diet, use monk fruit powdered sugar substitute.
- Food coloring: I used this to color the buttercream, but if you prefer, go ahead and color the icing as well. Play around with colors!
How to Make Coconut Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
- To Make the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and reserve.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs, coconut extract, and baking powder, mixing until combined and smooth, Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour in 2 additions and mix at low speed until the dough comes together. SEE PIC. 1 Divide the dough into 2 sections. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅓ inch thick. SEE PIC. 2 Then using a 2 ½-inch cookie cutter, cut out the dough and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1½ inches apart. SEE PIC. 3
- If you are baking in batches, keep the unused dough covered in the fridge until ready to use. It will prevent the cookie dough from getting too warm.
- Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes or until the bottom edges are lightly golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the icing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and coconut extract until smooth. SEE PIC. 4 Dip the top of each cookie onto the icing and let excess drip off. Make sure tops are coated with the icing and smooth. Let the icing dry before piping the buttercream. SEE PIC. 5
- Make the buttercream for piping: In a medium bowl, whisk soft butter, sugar, milk, and coconut extract until thick and smooth. Stir in food coloring one drop at a time, adjusting color to the desired shade. SEE PIC. 6 Place into a piping bag with a #5 round tip and pipe onto each cookie a Christmas tree pattern, as shown in the video. Distribute a small number of sprinkles on top of the buttercream. Let it dry! SEE PIC. 7 and 8
- Note: If you prefer to make sugar cookies with sprinkles without buttercream, make sure to place sprinkles on top of the icing before it sets – to hold the sprinkles and avoid a mess on surfaces and flooring.
Cookie Tips and Tricks
To make this cookie recipe successful, follow these tips and tricks below:
- Preheat your oven: The best way is to heat the oven at least for 20 minutes prior to baking. It will stabilize the temperature.
- Start with room temperature butter: Although butter feels cold to the touch, it will easily dent if pressing your finger on top. It makes the creaming process (mixing butter and sugar until smooth) much easier.
- Use a good quality butter: European butters usually have a better taste because they contain more fat and dairy and less water than most American butter.
- Measure flour properly: Make sure to level off the flour in the measuring cup to ensure you don’t add too much flour to the dough.
- Baking powder must not be too old: You can test by adding a pinch to a cup of water. If it is old, it will fizzle right away. It will make cookies rise when baking.
- Use a cookie cutter: This will assure uniform-size cookies. You may vary the shape according to the season.
- Watch the cookies: The baking time may vary from oven to oven, as well as the thickness of the dough and size of the cookie. The most important thing is to remove them from the oven before they begin to brown at the bottom edges. They should be lightly golden at the bottom.
- Let cookies cool: They set as they cool. If you handle them while warm, this may deform the shape.
- Icing must be applied on cool cookies: Allow cookies to cool completely before icing them, avoiding a mess.
- Sprinkles must be used when icing is still soft: The sprinkles will stick onto the un-set icing, avoiding falling onto surfaces and flooring. But if you prefer, add the sprinkles to the dough before cutting and baking them. Colorful sprinkles make for fun cookies.
Key Steps for Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
- Creaming Butter and Sugar
The creaming process consists of mixing butter and sugar together until the mixture is homogeneous, pale, and smooth. It adds air into the batter/dough, making the cookies light and fluffy after baking. Make sure the batter is softened or at room temperature for easy creaming.
- Adding Flour
Adding dry ingredients like flour to the wet should be done with minimal mixing because it activates the proteins in the gluten. Too much mixing alters the texture, making cookies too chewy. I add mine in 2 additions so I will still be able to mix the dough, especially if done by hand. If you use a stand mixer, add the flour mixed with the baking powder in a single addition at low speed.
You may need to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure all the flour gets added.
Baking Cookie Dough From Frozen
Did you know that you don’t need to thaw these coconut sugar cookies in order to bake them? Al you need to do is:
- Follow the recipe up to the point of baking.
- Put the cut-out sugar cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching each other. If making drop sugar cookies, scoop out dough with a cookie scoop and press top to flatten.
- Freeze for at least 2 hours.
- Transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Bake 1 cookie or all of them from frozen at 350 degrees F, adding about 2-3 minutes to the baking time stated in the recipe or until the cookies are lightly golden along the bottom edges.
How to Store Coconut Sugar Cookies
If baked, store them at room temperature in an airtight container or plastic bag (most of the air removed) for up to 7 days.
If the dough is raw, place cut out cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze them for at least 2 hours. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
You may bake our sugar cookies with sprinkles from frozen and then apply the icing.
Other cookie recipes:
- Pão de mel
- Chocolate chip coconut cookies
- Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- Cinnamon cookies
- Chocolate and marshmallow Rudolph cookies
- Argentinian alfajores
PIN & ENJOY!
Coconut Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
Equipment
- mixer
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutter
- Pipping bag
- baking sheet
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 cup unsalted butter cubed and at room temperature (about 2 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature (the video shows 2 because I doubled the amount of cookies)
- ½ tablespoon coconut extract
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
For the icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
For the buttercream (piping):
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoon milk or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 6-8 drops green food coloring or more to achieve your desired shade of green
Instructions
- To Make the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and reserve.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs, coconut extract, and baking powder, mixing until combined and smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour in 2 additions and mix at low speed until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 2 sections. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅓ inch thick. Then using a 2 ½-inch cookie cutter, cut out the dough and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1½ inches apart.
- If you are baking in batches, keep the unused dough covered in the fridge until ready to use. It will prevent the cookie dough from getting too warm.
- Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes or until the bottom edges are lightly golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the icing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and coconut extract until smooth. Dip the top of each cookie onto the icing and let excess drip off. Make sure tops are coated with the icing and smooth. Let the icing dry before piping the buttercream.
- Make the buttercream for piping: In a medium bowl, whisk soft butter, sugar, milk, and coconut extract until thick and smooth. Stir in food coloring one drop at a time, adjusting color to the desired shade. Place into a piping bag with a #5 round tip and pipe onto each cookie a Christmas tree pattern, as shown in the video. Distribute a small number of sprinkles on top of the buttercream. Let it dry!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Follow the recipe up to the point of baking.
- Put the cut-out sugar cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching each other. If making drop sugar cookies, scoop out dough with a cookie scoop and press top to flatten.
- Freeze for at least 2 hours.
- Transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Bake 1 cookie or all of them from frozen at 350 degrees F, adding about 2-3 minutes to the baking time stated in the recipe or until the cookies are lightly golden along the bottom edges.
Nutrition
** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.
Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.
Christie says
These are so adorable and festive Denise!
Denise Browning says
Thank you Christie! My chicldren are crazy for these coconut sugar cookies. They have a mild coconut flavor and are so delicious. They seem to get even more delicious from the second day and on.
Raymund says
That looks so festive Denise! It would be a great giveaway to family and friends
John / Kitchen Riffs says
I never get tired of sugar cookies -- one of my favorites. Nice twist flavoring with coconut!
Josiah - DIY Thrill says
These sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas!!