Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies have a delicate, crumbly texture that immediately melts in your mouth upon taking a bite. This unique cookie gets a coconut-forward makeover that makes them irresistible.
I rediscovered Mexican Wedding Cookies recently and have a newfound appreciation for this underrated cookie. Mexican Wedding Cookies are buttery, nutty cookies that have a unique tender-crisp crumbly texture that melts in your mouth. These cookies are shortbread-adjacent in flavor and texture but strike a beautiful balance of sweetness and nuttiness. Plus they are rolled in confectioner’s sugar, which makes them fun to eat.
Mexican Wedding Cookies don’t take a particular flavor profile other than the nutty one provided from the star ingredient - pecans or walnuts. But this variation inserts strong coconut vibes. Why? Because coconut is amazing and a natural fit here, resulting in a buttery, coco-nutty cookie.
Mexican Wedding Cookies typically appear around the winter holidays, but I think the addition of coconut makes them spring and summer friendly.
Jump to:
- What are other names for Mexican Wedding Cookies?
- How do you Make Mexican Wedding Cookies?
- Ingredients: Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Instructions: How to Make Mexican Wedding Cookies with Coconut
- Substitutions
- Variations
- Equipment
- Storage
- Top tip
- Other Cookies You May Enjoy
- Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies
What are other names for Mexican Wedding Cookies?
A cookie by any other name would definitely taste just as delicious. Mexican Wedding Cookies are also commonly called Russian Tea Cakes or Snowballs. But you may have also heard them called Pecan Balls, Snowdrops, Italian Butterballs, or Swedish Tea Cakes. There are more names for this delightful cookie I’m sure, just like there are many different iterations out there. Like my Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe, which is a delicious coconut-forward riff off a typical recipe.
How do you Make Mexican Wedding Cookies?
Despite their delicate good looks, Mexican Wedding Cookies are shockingly easy to make. There aren’t a ton of ingredients and no difficult techniques to master. The hardest part is waiting for the dough to chill before baking them.
Ingredients: Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies
To make these Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies you will need:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Coarsely chopped raw walnuts or pecans
- Unsweetened flaked coconut
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Coconut extract
Powdery Cookie Coating
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Unsweetened flaked coconut
Makes 16 cookies, using a cookie scoop 1 ½ inch in diameter. Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions: How to Make Mexican Wedding Cookies with Coconut
Combine flour and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Make the powdered sugar coating. Add ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar and ¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut to the food processor. Process until the coconut flakes are finely ground and powdery. Set aside.
In a food processor, combine confectioners’ sugar, chopped walnuts or pecans, and flaked coconut.
Process until the walnuts or pecans are finely ground, 15-20 seconds.
In a separate bowl, add the butter and beat until creamy with a mixer, approximately 1 minute on a medium-low speed.
Add in the coconut extract and the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
Add the ground walnut mixture and beat until well blended, approximately 1 minute on a medium-low speed.
The resulting dough should be crumbly in appearance, like pebbles.
Pour the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form into a ball, making sure it’s covered on all sides. Chill until firm, around 2-3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Use a cookie scoop to portion into even sizes. Arrange the cookies 1-11/2 inches apart.
Roll each cookie in the confectioners’ sugar and coconut mixture while still slightly warm.
When the dough has chilled and firmed up, remove it from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature until it softens up a bit, around 45 minutes.
Bake until the edges of the cookies barely begin to brown, 12 to 14 minutes (13 minutes is the sweet spot in my Ninja Foodi oven). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for around 5-7 minutes.
Repeat until all the cookies are coated.
Hint: Prepare the dough in the morning, then run errands or binge watch your current favorite show while it chills.
Check out the Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookie Web Story below.
Substitutions
There aren’t a lot of substitutions I’d recommend making here. But here are a few tweaks you can make and still create an amazing cookie.
- Walnuts or pecans - you can use either or both in this recipe.
- Coconut flakes - you can use sweetened coconut flakes if you’d like, but the resulting cookie will be sweeter. I’d recommend using salted butter if using sweetened coconut flakes to help the resulting flavor balance.
- Coconut extract - you can use good ‘ol vanilla extract here in a pinch, but using coconut really enhances the resulting flavor profile.
Variations
You put the lime in the coconut....
You can easily make these Coconut Lime Mexican Wedding Cookies by adding some lime zest. Simply add 2 teaspoons of finely grated lime zest to the dough to get an acidic zing!
Equipment
Food processor
Cookie scoop
Storage
Store leftover cookies in a lidded container. Best eaten within 5 days. You can also freeze them, but they are best eaten within 3 months.
Top tip
You must let the dough chill before baking. If you don’t they will spread out as they cook.
Use a cookie scoop to achieve uniformity. This cookie is traditionally a ball-shaped cookie. I prefer a slightly larger, slightly less rounded cookie (as pictured).
Other Cookies You May Enjoy
- Coconut Rice Krispie Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies
- Ghirardelli Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies
Coconut Mexican Wedding Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Powdered Cookie Coating
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup flour and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Make the powdered sugar coating. Add ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar and ¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut to the food processor. Process until the coconut flakes are finely ground and powdery. Set aside.
- In a food processor, combine ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, ⅓ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, and ¼ cup flaked coconut. Process until the walnuts or pecans are finely ground, 15-20 seconds.
- In a separate bowl, add the butter and beat until creamy with a mixer, approximately 1 minute on a medium-low speed. Add the ground walnut mixture and beat until well blended, approximately 1 minute on a medium-low speed.
- Add in 1 teaspoon coconut extract and the flour mixture, beating just until combined. The resulting dough should be crumbly in appearance, like pebbles.
- Pour the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form into a ball, making sure it’s covered on all sides. Chill until firm, around 2-3 hours.
- When the dough has chilled and firmed up, remove it from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature until it softens up a bit, around 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough into even sizes. Optional: roll each piece between your palms to form a ball. I leave mine with a flat bottom.
- Very lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange the balls 1-1 ½ inches apart on baking sheets - they don't need a lot of room because they don’t spread out as they bake.
- Bake until the edges of the cookies barely begin to brown, 12 to 14 minutes (13 minutes is the sweet spot in my Ninja Foodi oven).
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for around 5-7 minutes.
- Roll each cookie in the confectioners’ sugar and coconut mixture while still slightly warm. Repeat until all the cookies are coated.
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