Food and Recipes Recipes Peanut Butter-Coconut Cookies Be the first to rate & review! Gluten-free and easy to bake, these Peanut Butter-Coconut Cookies come together so fast that you can have a batch on the counter in less than half an hour. By Micah A Leal Micah A Leal Micah Leal is a chef and recipe developer with more than 5 years of professional experience in restaurants and bakeries such as Husk Restaurant and Harken Cafe & Bakery in Charleston, South Carolina. Micah Leal is an enthusiastic chef with a special interest in the food science and culinary histories that shape the recipes people make today. His reputation for making recipes accessible and thoughtfully teaching difficult kitchen techniques is informed by his experience as a pastry chef as well as his background as a high school teacher. He has also developed nearly 200 recipes for southernliving.com and Southern Living Magazine. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on July 7, 2020 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Active Time: 10 mins Total Time: 20 mins Yield: 1 dozen cookies These cookies are not chewy in the same way a traditional peanut butter cookie is chewy. The chewiness of this cookie comes from the texture of brown sugar baked into peanut butter. Because the base of this cookie is made from those two ingredients (and contains no flour), it is free of gluten and easy to make. Shredded unsweetened coconut is also added to the mixture to give additional texture and flavor to each cookie. Once baked, these confections are soft and crumbly with a crisp exterior. Raw sugar is sprinkled on top of each cookie to give it added crunch and sweetness, and vanilla extract is mixed in to offer a taste of the traditional peanut butter cookie you grew up on. The last ingredient is the secret of the recipe—coconut extract. A little of this stuff goes a long way, so only a few drops are necessary to emphasize the flavor of the shredded coconut in the cookie. The salty savoriness of peanut butter is complimented by the tropical nuttiness of the coconut, making these sweet cookies delightfully balanced and irresistible. The dough bakes quickly so you can have a batch of these cookies on the counter in less than half an hour. Micah A. Leal Ingredients 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract Raw sugar for sprinkling Directions Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl, mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, coconut, and egg until well combined. Add extracts and stir to incorporate. Scoop dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon balls and transfer them to the baking sheet, pressing down on them with the tines of a fork, creating a crosshatch pattern on the surface of the cookie and flattening the cookie slightly. Sprinkle each cookie with raw sugar. Bake until the edges just begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving. Rate it Print