Coconut Butter Cookies

These delicate, crispy and buttery cookies are very easy to make and will fill your kitchen with wonderful toasted coconut aroma.
Perfect with hot or cold beverages, they are great on their own, but also wonderful as sandwich cookies.
If you love coconut, these cookies are for you.

A few notes:
* Make sure to use unsweetened desiccated coconut, otherwise the cookies will be too sweet.
* The dough is quite soft, but don’t be tempted to add more flour, as it will result dense and heavy cookies. Instead, make sure to keep the dough chilled before and while shaping it.
* To freeze the dough for up to 2 months, place the wrapped dough logs in freezer bags, and squeeze out the air.
* When the cookies come out of the oven they are still a bit soft, but they will crisp once cooled to room temperature.

Makes: about 50 cookies
Prep time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 15 minutes; Freezing time: 4 hours
Baking time: from chilled: 12 minutes; from frozen: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 stick (115 grams) butter, melted and cooled
1 L egg
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
Dash salt
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs dark rum
½ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
For rolling the dough:
½ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
For sandwiching cookies (optional):
Chopped dark chocolate, Good quality jam, whipped cream cheese with powdered sugar, or any other you prefer

1. Place the melted cooled butter in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Add the sugar and whisk together. Add the flour and salt, mix and add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and rum and mix again. Add the coconut and mix with a spatula to a soft dough. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
 
2. To bake immediately: preheat the oven to 330F (165C). Line baking sheets with baking paper. Work with a small portion of the dough and keep the rest in the freezer until needed. Roll heaped teaspoons of the dough into small balls and roll them in desiccated coconut. Place on the baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to expand, and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Carefully (the cookies are still soft at this point) transfer to a rack to cool completely.

3. To bake from frozen: roll the chilled dough in desiccated coconut and shape into logs about 1.2 (3cm) thick. Wrap the logs in wax paper and place on a tray. Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 330F (165C). Line baking sheets with baking paper. Place the dough logs on a cutting board and cut, with a sharp heavy knife, into thin slices, about 0.2”(0.5 cm). Place on the baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to expand. Bake, from frozen, for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Carefully (the cookies are still soft at this point) transfer to a rack to cool completely.
 
4. To sandwich the cookies: for the chocolate filling: place chopped dark chocolate on one cookie while it is still warm. Top with another cookie and press gently. Let cool completely before serving.
Other fillings: spread on the cooled cookies and sandwich before serving.