Tiny Coconut Cookies with Hibiscus Glaze
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Who needs a tropical vacation when you can nosh on these tiny coconut cookies with hibiscus glaze? They’re sweet, tart and taste like summertime. (Although, we wouldn’t complain about a tropical vacation either.)
You might be surprised to find out that the glaze in question contains no food dye—the hot pink hue comes naturally from the hibiscus concentrate that flavors it. Hibiscus has a tart, cranberry-like flavor and is popular in African and Latin American beverages. You can buy the petals online, or just brew some really strong hibiscus tea.
Ingredients
Cookies
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
Glaze
½ cup water
2 tablespoons dried hibiscus or loose-leaf hibiscus tea
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions
1. Make the cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar, salt and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolk and mix to combine. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined—don’t overmix. Stir in the coconut by hand.
2. Divide the dough into two balls, and transfer each to a piece of parchment paper. Top with another piece of parchment, then use a rolling pin to flatten each ball into a sheet about ¼-inch thick. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until firm, about 3 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Working with one chilled sheet of dough at a time, use a 2-inch fluted round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, spacing them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. You can re-roll, chill and cut out the dough scraps one more time, if desired.
5. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, until lightly golden on the bottom, 9 to 11 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets while you make the glaze.
6. Make the glaze: In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. In a small heat-safe bowl, pour the boiling water over the hibiscus petals and steep until the water is cool. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
7. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl, then slowly whisk in the hibiscus concentrate a tablespoon at a time until the glaze is the right consistency—it should run off the whisk in a thick but flowing ribbon (like the texture of sweetened condensed milk). If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar as needed.
8. To glaze the cookies, dip one half of each round into the glaze and transfer to a cooling rack to set, at least 30 minutes.
106 calories
6g fat
14g carbs
1g protein
8g sugars