Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies
Buttery, melt in your mouth, and crisp. These Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies are a bite sized cookie recipe that allows you to have a sweet little something without overindulging.
If you love coconut as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorite coconut recipes like Eggless Coconut Chocolate Chip Biscotti, Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Butter Eggs, Coconut Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies, or Honey Almond Coconut Granola.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies
- Ready In: 31 minutes
- Makes: 40 cookies
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, cane sugar, coconut, vanilla bean
- Flavor Profile: buttery, coconut, with rich vanilla
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: Buttery, bite-size coconut cookies speckled with real vanilla bean
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Bite Sized: I love this bite sized cookie recipe because they are little snack cookies that you can just pop in your mouth, just like Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies Without Eggs and Chocolate Sea Salt Mini Cookies.
- Lightly Sweet: Because these don't have chocolate, they are a light and sweet cookie.
- Coconut: These cookies are bursting with coconut flavor! This simple bite sized cookie recipe combines coconut with ground vanilla bean for a lightly sweet coconut flavor that I'm obsessed with.
- Organic Cookies: I love making organic cookies because I feel so much better when I'm indulging in organic ingredients! And, these coconut cookies are the perfect sweet treat.
Light and sweet, these Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies are the perfect bite size cookie recipe for snacking or when you want just a little something sweet! The sweet coconut pairs wonderfully with the fresh ground vanilla bean.
I love enjoying these coconut cookies with a glass of milk, Coconut Hot Chocolate, Bone Broth Chocolate Milkshake, Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter, or Iced Blueberry Latte for an afternoon treat!
Ingredients
- Coconut Oil: I use organic coconut oil in these coconut cookies. This provides more coconut flavor, and also helps these cookies stay crispy.
- Powdered Sugar: I also use a mix of organic powdered sugar for light and sweet coconut cookies.
- Butter: I use organic salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe.
- Vanilla Bean: I use organic ground vanilla bean in these coconut cookies. This brings so much depth of flavor to these organic cookies. And buying a ground vanilla bean is so much easier than scraping out vanilla bean pod. If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you can use vanilla extract too but it doesn't have the same flavor.
- Coconut: You'll need organic unsweetened fine shredded coconut for these mini cookies. You want to use the fine shred coconut because this bite sized cookie recipe makes such tiny cookies!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you can use vanilla extract in its place. It won't have the same flavor but it will still be delicious.
- If you don't have a .3-ounce (1 tablespoon) cookie scoop you can use a tablespoon to measure. The tablespoon is actually wider than the cookie scoop, so the cookies will come out a little wider/flatter. This is why I prefer using the cookie scoop for the iconic shape.
- The cookies will bake the shape the cookie dough goes into the oven. So, this is why flattening is ideal. If you forget to flatten them, they will bake in a ball!
- Store in a cool, dry place.
- You can freeze these in an airtight container (or zip bag) for up to 3 months. Just thaw and enjoy!
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend plus 43 grams (scant ½ cup) coconut flour.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned.
How to Make Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the coconut oil, cane sugar, and powdered sugar.
- Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of coconut oil. Add the butter, and mix just until the butter has broken up; you will still see chunks of butter.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sea salt, and vanilla bean. Add the flour mixture and the coconut to the butter mixture.
- Mix on low until combined into a dough.
- Using a .3-ounce cookie scoop (about the size of 1 tablespoon), scoop dough onto each prepared baking sheet. Space the balls about 1 inch apart on each prepared baking sheet.
- Flatten each ball slightly.
- Bake for 16 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies FAQ's
While big wide flake coconut can make cookies more chewy, these use a fine shredded coconut (or small flaked coconut) and are a shortbread cookie so they are buttery and crispy.
You should use unsweetened fine shredded coconut as noted in the recipe. You do not need sweetened coconut here as we're already adding sugar to these cookies, it's just not necessary. If you use it, your cookies can be way too sweet.
Yes, just add ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt to the recipe.
Yes! Add 142 grams (¾ cup) semi sweet or dark chocolate chips for coconut chocolate chip mini cookies.
You can, but the flavor will be different. The ground vanilla bean brings so much more depth of flavor than just vanilla extract. Vanilla bean paste would be more similar.
If you don't have a .3-ounce (1 tablespoon) cookie scoop you can use a tablespoon to measure. The tablespoon is actually wider than the cookie scoop, so the cookies will come out a little wider/flatter. This is why I prefer using the cookie scoop for the iconic shape.
It just depends on the cookie recipe. These are shortbread cookies, so they actually bake a bit longer than some soft and chewy cookies.
These cookies are bite sized, I use a .3-ounce cookie scoop, which is about 1 tablespoon.
Too much flour or coconut, most likely from incorrect measuring. Be sure to use a digital food scale for the best results.
These cookies don't spread. Which is why I specifically say to flatten the dough balls slightly before baking to get the right shape. If you skip this step, you'll end up with a baked ball.
These are buttery, crisp and melt in your mouth!
These will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days. If you want to store them longer, you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Yes, you can freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just thaw and they are ready to enjoy!
Ways to Enjoy Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies
- Add on top of ice cream like Salted Caramel No Churn Ice Cream or Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Without Eggs.
- Enjoy with a cozy drink like Caramel Hot Cocoa or Bone Broth Hot Cocoa.
- Add into a DIY Christmas Cookie Box, these make a great filler cookie as they are so small!
More Mini Dessert Recipes
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Coconut Vanilla Bean Mini Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
- 1 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 85 grams coconut oil
- 57 grams cane sugar
- 57 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 248 grams all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- 57 grams unsweetened fine shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the coconut oil, cane sugar, and powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of coconut oil. Add the butter, and mix just until the butter has broken up; you will still see chunks of butter.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sea salt, and vanilla bean. Add the flour mixture and the coconut to the butter mixture, and mix on low until combined into a dough.
- Using a .3-ounce cookie scoop (about the size of 1 tablespoon), scoop dough onto each prepared baking sheet. Space the balls about 1 inch apart. Flatten each ball slightly.
- Bake for 16 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you can use vanilla extract in its place. It won't have the same flavor but it will still be delicious.
- If you don't have a .3-ounce (1 tablespoon) cookie scoop you can use a tablespoon to measure. The tablespoon is actually wider than the cookie scoop, so the cookies will come out a little wider/flatter. This is why I prefer using the cookie scoop for the iconic shape.
- The cookies will bake the shape the cookie dough goes into the oven. So, this is why flattening is ideal. If you forget to flatten them, they will bake in a ball!
- Store in a cool, dry place.
- You can freeze these in an airtight container (or zip bag) for up to 3 months. Just thaw and enjoy!
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend plus 43 grams (scant ½ cup) coconut flour.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned.
Nutrition
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Perfectly bite sized cookies!