Cookies are one of my favorite desserts to make! I love a good Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie, but I’m always trying new combinations for more unique chocolate chip cookie recipes. I first made these Piña Colada Cookies during the summer around the same time I made these Pistachio & Salted Caramel Cookies. I wanted something with a summery flavor, and I had some white chocolate chips and coconut that I needed to use.
Looking for more cookie recipes? Check out my Cookie Collection.
Looking for more piña colada dessert recipes? Check out these Pina Colada Cupcakes (recipe by Binky's Culinary Carnival) or this Pina Colada Poke Cake (recipe by Savory Experiments).
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Rum flavoring/extract
- Dried pineapple or candied pineapple
- Sweetened shredded coconut (also called coconut flakes on some packaging)
- White chocolate chips
Recommended Equipment
- Stand mixer: This recipe certainly doesn't require a stand mixer, but it makes it a lot easier! If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together.
- Rimmed baking sheet(s): You only need one if you bake these in batches. I usually bake them all at one time, but I rotate which pans are on which oven shelves halfway through to promote even baking. This Cuisinart baking sheet is one of my favorites. I also have this Nordic Ware 3-pack of various sizes. I prefer to use the largest size for cookies.
- Parchment paper: For most baking sheets it's probably not necessary, but I use it to make clean-up easier. I use the If You Care parchment paper most often. I compost for my garden, so I like that it's compostable.
- Cookie scoop: Also not required, but I like cookie scoops because they make cookies a uniform size and shape. I use the medium size from this set.
- Cooling rack: These are great for even cooling that gets airflow under the cookies. It isn't absolutely necessary, though. You can cool the cookies on a plate or platter.
Pina Colada White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Notes
This recipe is a great use of a stand mixer if you have one. It starts by beating the sugar and butter together until it’s fluffy. You can also use a hand mixer, but stand mixers just have more power them to make mixing easier once it’s time to add the flour.
Pineapple
This recipe uses dried pineapple, which wasn’t my preference when I first created this recipe, or candied pineapple like you’d get to make a fruitcake (or Fruitcake Cookies). I’ve had a hard time finding candied fruit lately, so I wanted to see how they’d turn out with dried pineapple that’s easier to find. The candied pineapple will impart a stronger pineapple flavor in the cookie and the cookies, especially when still dough, will be stickier.
Use the sweetened variety. If the package doesn't say unsweetened, it's likely sweetened.
Coconut Flakes
This recipe uses the regular (white) non-toasted coconut. You could probably substitute the toasted kind, but I can't say how that affects the recipe because I haven't done it.
This recipe uses sweetened coconut flakes. It gives the cookies a very sweet flavor like pina colada drinks have. I haven’t attempted to use unsweetened, so I’m not sure if that’s an appropriate substitute. If anyone makes this recipe with unsweetened coconut flakes, please drop me a comment and let me know how it worked out. I’m guessing the sweetness of the white chocolate chips and pineapple will be enough to keep the cookies sweet even when using unsweetened coconut, but I can’t say for sure.
Rum Flavoring/Rum Extract
These pina colada cookies use rum flavoring because it imparts a more intense rum flavor in the cookies than actual rum. You can substitute rum, but the flavor won't be as strong. Dark rum would be a better substitute than light rum. Generally 1 teaspoon of rum extract is 1 to 2 tablespoons of rum. If you do use 4 tablespoons of rum as a swap for the 2 teaspoons of rum flavoring, the dough might be a little wet and could require a bit more flour. If your dough seems wetter than normal cookie dough, add a a little more flour (recommend adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough seems right).
Pina Colada White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Parchment paper optional
- Cookie scoop optional
- Wire cooling rack optional
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon rum flavoring
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ package white chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried pineapple chopped (can also use candied pineapple)
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cream together butter and brown sugar on medium speed until mixture gets light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.½ cup butter, ¾ cup brown sugar
- Reduce mixer speed to low. Add egg and mix until fully incorporated, about 1 minute. (Tip: Crack egg into a glass or separate small bowl in case you get shell fragments. Much easier to get them out from there than the cookie dough!)1 egg
- Mix in rum flavoring.2 teaspoon rum flavoring
- Mix in baking soda.¾ teaspoon baking soda
- Add flour a quarter cup at a time and mix until all flour is incorporated.1¼ cups all purpose flour
- Mix in coconut, pineapple, and white chocolate chips.½ package white chocolate chips, ½ cup dried pineapple, ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- Using a spoon or cookie scoop, form dough into balls and place onto cookie sheets.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes until cookies are golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool in the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
