Jump to:
These Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies are sure to get you on the nice list. With a soft & spiced wintery cookie base, topped with chewy, naturally sweet shredded coconut bejeweled with crunchy sparkling sugar, they are truly a gift.
Everybody has their holiday traditions. Trimming the tree the day after Thanksgiving. Making fried potatoes latkes from scratch. Getting dressed in your Christmas best and heading out for a celebratory night of Nutcrackers and nog. Or just settling in for a pajama-clad holiday movie marathon.
I may not be known for my enthusiastic Christmas spirit but there is one tradition I hold near and dear to my heart. An epic week of baking holiday cookies!
It's a whole production, I prep all of my cookie doughs, chill, roll, cut and freeze. Then use every baking sheet from here to the North Pole to bake them all off while watching Scrooged
on repeat.
Then I recruit my husband and friends to help with the tedious task of decorating because I am utterly exhausted at that point. We drink spiked spiced cider
and watch Die Hard
and Christmas Vacation
while decorating my classic Christmas Movie Cookies. Sometimes we make Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies.
I pass the task of drawing the faces on the Gingerbread Coconut Llama Cookies over to Dayn while I add their fluffy coconut
coat. It's a blast and I cherish those creative and relaxing moments. But after a day of applying royal icing, my hands start to cramp up and I need something easy to make.
These cookies look fancy, but are very simple to make
The Snowflake Cookies are all glitzed up and look just as fancy as their royally iced brethren. However, they get all glammed in a fraction of the time it takes to pipe frosted corncobs. These aren't your run of the mill shortbread cookies or dime a dozen sugar cookies. The sugar cookie base is a laden with spicy cardamom
based off my super popular Big Pink Cookies recipe.
Key ingredients
- Cardamom scents the dough with a distinct warmth that pairs perfectly with the coconut topping.
- Vanilla extract flavors the cardamom cookies with that classic sugar cookie nostalgia.
- Almond extract adds pairs up with vanilla, adding an intriguing flavor that gives the sugar cookies even more dimension and personality. Cardamom makes an appearance in both the cookies and icing here for extra winter warmth.
- Orange zest is added to the basic sugar cookie dough, brightening up the spiced cardamom flavor.
- Orange juice is used in the simple icing, giving the topping a note of fresh citrus.
- Shredded coconut flocks these snowflake cookies with festive flair! Adding tons of flavor, texture and personality! I prefer to use unsweetened shredded coconut but you can flock with whatever you feel.
- Sparkling sugar gets blended in with the coconut topping, creating a sparkling sprinkle of glitz and glam.
The ideal dough for those holiday cookie cutters
Because this Cardamom Sugar Cookie dough is so pliable, it rolls smooth and easy. But, it's also a super stable cookie dough. Which makes it the perfect sugar cookie dough for shaping and cutting cookies. This dream dough cuts with crisp, sharp edges that hold up to the heat of the oven.
Freeze the dough solid
Think of the freeze stage as a cookie shape insurance policy. Baking these Cardamom Sugar Cookies from frozen helps the cookies maintain their sharp edges as they bake with minimal spread. Place the cookies close together on a lined baking sheet to freeze. Just 20-30 minutes in the freezer is enough the firm the cookies up before baking! Freeze them while you clean you your mess and prep the icing.
Cut sugar cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months
Once the cut sugar cookies are frozen, transfer them to a freezer proof bag or container. When sealed tightly, they an be stored in the freezer up to 3 months! Then when you are ready, bake them straight from frozen. It may require a couple extra minutes of bake time, so be sure you are keep an eye on the cookies as they bake.
How to decorate cookies with coconut & sparkling sugar
In keeping with the easy theme, these sugar cookies use a simple decorating technique. A quick icing is made by whisking together powdered sugar, juice of an orange and a dash of cardamom. The snowflake cookies are dipped in the icing. Then they take a plunge into a mix of shredded coconut and sparkling sugar. That's it! So easy.
Soft & spiced sugar cookies with a chewy, sparkling topping. What's not to love?
These Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies have sugar, spice and everything nice. They have a soft and tender bite but keep their shape when baked. Easily decorated with a chewy, sparkly coconut topping. They are a winter wonder of a sugar cookie. Plus, they are as easy to make as they are beautiful to look at.
Santa knows if you've been bad or good so be sure to bribe him with a batch of these Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies this Christmas Eve.
This post was made is in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. Follow Bob’s Red Mill on Instagram and Facebook or check out bobsredmill.com to shop their impressive lineup of whole grains and much more.
Thank you for supporting me and the brands that I love! <3
More holiday cookie recipes from Baking the Goods
Recipe
Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies
- Yield: 40 cookies
Description
Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies are sure to get you on the nice list with a soft & spiced wintery cookie base, topped with chewy, naturally sweet shredded coconut bejeweled with crunchy sparkling sugar.
Ingredients
CARDAMOM SNOWFLAKE COOKIES
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 medium orange (- zested & juiced (reserve the juice for glaze))
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) (- at room temperature)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (- at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
COCONUT ICING
- 2 cups powdered sugar (- sifted)
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 3 tablespoons reserved orange juice
- 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups shredded coconut (- unsweetened)
- ½ cup sparkling sugar
Instructions
CARDAMOM SNOWFLAKE COOKIES
- Whisk together the flour, orange zest, baking powder, salt, and cardamom in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed for about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture should be light and fluffy and the sugar should be fully incorporated into the butter.
- Crack the eggs into a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low, slowly add to the sugar mixture one egg at a time, allow each egg to blend in completely before adding the next. Cream in the vanilla and almond extract (*hint, the mixture may seem to curdle when you add the almond extract. Don't worry, it will recede once the dry ingredients are mixed in). Scrape the sides of the bowl down.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat on medium until a smooth consistency is achieved. The dough will be soft and sticky at this point.
- Gather the dough into a disk and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour up to overnight, the dough needs to firm up so it's easier to to roll out.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out to ¼“ thickness on floured counter top. Cut the rolled dough into snowflakes in varied sized - place cookies on a lined baking sheet and chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Place cookies on lined baking sheets at least 1" apart. Bake smaller cookies together and larger cookies together on separate baking sheets as larger cookies may take longer to bake.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes (depending on size) until the edges start to brown slightly. Remove from oven and cool on cooling racks.
COCONUT ICING
- While the cookies cool, prepare the icing by sifting the powdered sugar and cardamom together. Then whisk 3 tablespoons of the reserved orange juice and vanilla extract until it's smooth and creamy and the glaze runs off of the whisk in a smooth ribbon. If the glaze is too thick, add a little bit of water ½ teaspoon at a time. If it's too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar.
- Mix the coconut and sparkling sugar together in a shallow dish.
- Dip the cooled cookies in the glaze, then dip in the coconut mix and allow to set on a cooling rack. So easy!
Notes
Save time by mixing the dough ahead of time and freezing the them until you're ready to bake.
Once the cut sugar cookies are frozen, transfer them to a freezer proof bag or container. When sealed tightly, they an be stored in the freezer up to 3 months. When you are ready, bake them straight from frozen. It may require a couple extra minutes of bake time, so be sure you are keep an eye on the cookies as they bake.
Jenny says
This recipe is incredible!! Hands down the best sugar cookies I've ever made. The cardamom adds a unique depth and flavor. I received rave reviews from everyone on these cookies. They are a bit involved but you can save time by making the dough a day ahead, cutting them into shapes and freezing the cut out cookies until you're ready to bake.
Becky Sue says
Hi Jenny! I am so happy to hear you enjoy the Cardamom Coconut Snowflake Cookies recipe! It's a favorite around here too! Smart move by making the dough ahead of time. 😉 Thanks for sharing and happy baking!