Lemon coconut snowball cookies are tender, buttery shortbread cookies filled with chewy coconut and lemon zest. They're perfect for your next holiday cookie tray, or any time of year!
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Tender, melt in your mouth cookies with fresh lemon flavor and bits of chewy coconut throughout. They're tossed in confectioner's sugar to resemble snowballs (perfect for winter!).
Chilling time: Dough requires 30 minutes chilling before baking.
Yield: 40 cookies
Similar to: Frosted Lemon Cookies
Jump to:
Ingredients and substitutions
- Confectioner's sugar - Confectioner's sugar incorporates into the dough better than granulated sugar, providing a more consistent result. However, ¾ cup of confectioner's sugar can be substituted with ½ cup of granulated sugar in the dough if desired.
- Lemon zest and juice - You'll need a combination of lemon zest and juice to add lemon flavor to your cookies. If you do not have a lemon on hand, both ingredients can be substituted with 1 ¾ teaspoons lemon extract.
- Shredded unsweetened coconut - Adds chewy texture and coconut flavor to your cookies. The coconut can be omitted entirely to make a smaller batch of lemon snowball cookies if desired.
How to make lemon coconut snowball cookies
- Cream together butter and sugar then add lemon and vanilla. Add flour, salt, and coconut and mix until just combined.
- Scoop chilled dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet with a cookie scoop.
- Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to lightly brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to fully cool. Gently roll in confectioner's sugar to coat.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - Room temperature ingredients mix together evenly to create a perfectly mixed dough (without streaks of unmixed ingredients).
Bring butter to room temperature quickly - Slice sticks of butter into small, ½ inch slivers. Small pieces warm up faster than a whole stick.
Cookie scoop - Use a cookie scoop (I used a small OXO cookie scoop for this recipe) for perfectly sized, round cookies. This dough can also be rolled into balls by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Shortbread cookie dough will look slightly crumbly after mixing, but should hold together when pinched between two fingers. If your dough is so crumbly and dry that it doesn't hold together, it sounds like too much flour was added. To prevent adding too much flour, measure your flour using a kitchen scale and the weight measurements provided in the recipe card.
Yes! If you don't have a fresh lemon on hand but do have lemon extract, substitute 1 tablespoon of lemon zest + 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with 1 and ¾ teaspoons of lemon extract.
To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. While the bread gets stale, the cookies stay soft and fresh. Replace the bread slice as needed.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Lemon Coconut Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
Lemon Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (84 g) confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (85 g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- ½ cup (56 g) confectioner's sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- Add flour and salt to butter mixture and mix on low (or by hand with a spoon) until just combined. Last, stir in shredded coconut.
- Cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Form dough into 1 inch balls (or use a small cookie scoop) and place 1 inch apart onto prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until edges begin to lightly brown. Allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Once cookies have cooled (or are barely warm), gently roll in confectioner's sugar to coat.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Lemon: Zest and juice can be substituted with 1 and ¾ teaspoons of lemon extract.
- Storage: Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container at room temperature, or up to 3 months in the freezer. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
Can I use sweetened shredded coconut? I’m in a remote part of Mexico and can’t find any.
Hi Kim, sweetened coconut should work fine.
Thanks so much for the tip. I made the cookies today and they turned out amazing!
This recipe looks great! Should I use a hand mixer for the creaming of butter and sugar and a spatula for mixing? Also I don't have a cookie scoop so could I just use a tablespoon?
Yes, a hand mixer or stand mixer is best for creaming together butter and sugar. The dry ingredients can be mixed in on low speed using a mixer or by hand. A small cookie scoop (what I used for this recipe) is the equivalent of 2 teaspoons, so a tablespoon could work, making slightly larger cookies.
I’ve never used confectioners sugar when mixing up my batter. The cookies are good but too sweet. I wonder what would happen if I used regular sugar instead?
I haven't tested this recipe with granulated sugar, so I can't say for sure how sweet they'd turn out. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!