The Tropical Version of a PB&J Sandwich—Except, It's a Cookie

I’m crazy for coconut. I’ve created dozens of recipes that celebrate it, including a gorgeous makeover of classic coconut macaroons, crispy coconut wafers, crunchy coconut stick cookies, and even a lavish coconut version of the iconic French Marjolaine Cake.

Lately I’ve been riffing on Crunchy Coconut Cookies from my book, Flavor Flours, making all kinds of nutty variations, adding toasted sesame seeds, fooling with the texture, changing the method, swapping in kinds of flours, you name it. A good recipe is a terrific source of inspiration—and it deserves to be worked!

Last week I altered the recipe and method to increase the crunchiness of the cookies. Pressing the dough into thin rounds rather than slicing it from a log eliminated the need to refrigerate it and got me a bonus: golden brown deckled edges around each cookie. So pretty! And done, right?

But then, almost without thinking, I smeared a little peanut butter and some raspberry preserves between two of the cookies. The results were crazy good—and so simple.

That's the perfect amount of ooze Photo by James Ransom

There is just one little, potentially annoying step, and it’s optional: stiffen the peanut butter by spreading it over a couple of coffee filters to absorb excess oil. You do not have to do this—I swear—but it helps prevent filling from oozing from the sandwiches, and, even better, it gets you extra good peanut-y flavor that really pops in contrast with the tangy sweet preserves and coconut-y cookies. It’s entirely up to you.

Coconut PB&J Sandwich Cookies

By Alice Medrich

For the Filling

• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup raspberry (or other preserves)

For the Cookies

• 1/2 cup (50 grams) coconut flour
• 1 3/4 cups (150 grams) unsweetened dried shredded coconut
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (85g) very soft unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons water

View Full Recipe

This article was written by Alice Medrich from Food52 and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.