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!
If you've never had snowball cookies before, you're in for a treat. They have a tender, buttery, melt in your mouth texture (just like a shortbread cookie) and incredible lemon flavor. Shredded coconut adds a chewy texture and flavor that coconut fans will love!
You only need eight simple ingredients to make these adorable snowball cookies. A small cookie scoop makes it easy to portion your dough out, but cookies can be rolled out by hand, too.
Serve lemon coconut snowball cookies on your next holiday cookie tray - they're perfect for any winter holiday. Or, make them any time of year for a sweet treat.
Ingredients and substitutions
Since baking is an exact science, I do not have many substitutions to offer. Each ingredient has a purpose and I do not suggest omitting any ingredients.
- Butter - Unsalted butter and the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if needed.
- All-purpose flour - I haven't tested this recipe with other types of flours, so I can't say whether your cookies would turn out or not when making substitutions. To avoid wasting ingredients, I highly suggest searching for a recipe that has been developed with the type of flour you'd like to use.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cookies without making them "salty".
- Confectioner's sugar - Confectioner's sugar incorporates into the dough better than granulated sugar, giving a more consistent result. However, ¾ cup of confectioner's sugar can be substituted with ½ cup of granulated sugar if necessary. However, you will need confectioner's sugar for dusting your baked cookies in the final step.
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cookies.
- 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 lemon extract (see recipe card notes).
- 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.
Tips and tricks
Check out my full post, 10 tips for baking cookies, for my best tips on baking a perfect batch of cookies. Here are my favorites:
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.
Properly measure your flour - The most common issue I see in baking is the improper measuring of flour. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and measuring using the gram measurements in the recipe card. If you don't have a scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir your flour, then spoon gently into a measuring cup and level off the top with a knife.
What happens if you add extra flour - By scooping flour with a measuring cup, this compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra flour to the dough. Extra flour can cause the dough to turn out dry and crumbly, and cookies to turn out dry with a bland/flour flavor, instead of allowing other ingredients (lemon, vanilla, butter, and sugar) to shine.
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
If you've never had a shortbread cookie before, they have a different texture than your average chocolate chip cookie. Shortbread cookies do not contain any leavening agents, like baking soda or baking powder, so they don't puff up in the oven while they bake. They also don't contain eggs to hold the cookie together, so shortbread turns out very delicate and fragile, especially fresh from the oven.
Why make a cookie without all of these "standard" baking ingredients? Because shortbread cookies are incredibly tender, buttery, and sweet. They make the perfect pairing with a cup of coffee or tea.
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, I highly recommend measuring 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.
Your cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
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.
Yes, your cookies can be frozen before or after baking and will keep for up to 3 months in a tightly sealed, freezer-safe container.
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 degrees Fahrenheit. 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.
- Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container at room temperature. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- Cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag.
- 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!