Get GAME DAY ready with these Chocolate Coconut Football Cookies,
no matter how the game is going, these are a must.
You may be hearing grunts and growns or WHOO HOO’s from in front of the TV,
these will help celebrate or they can help soothe the bad play, bad call or error.
These will be the hit of the tailgate too!
These cookies can be made ahead of time. You can bake, wrap and freeze them and decorate them after you defrost them. So go ahead and make a double batch, there is sure to be another game on in a few days!!!
I roll out my cookies between two pieces of waxed paper, and I have a straight rolling pin, it glides over two 1/4″ wooden dowels (these are square, round dowels work as well) so the dough is smooth and even which results in even cookies.
I have a football cookie cutter, but it has notches on the top for the laces and I wanted the laces to be on the front of the cookies, not the top.
I took an inexpensive 3″ round cookie cutter and gently bent it to a football shape. (Thin round cookie cutter like this are about a dollar)
Chopping the coconut with powdered sugar prevents the coconut from sticking to the knife and it also dries it out a bit, so it won’t add too much moisture to the cookie dough.
To decorate the cookies with coconut, I chopped the coconut super fine, it made it easier for it to stick to the icing and gives them a great effect.
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon coconut baking emulsion or extract
- ¼ cup melted and cooled chocolate (I use 60% cacao from Ghiradelli)
- 2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup packed coconut (plus ¼ cup for decorating)
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (for chopping coconut)
- *Coconut: chop coconut with powdered sugar so it dries out a little bit and the powdered sugar will prevent the coconut from sticking to the knife, chop into small pieces as it will be easier to cut out cookies without long strands of coconut.
- In large mixer bowl, beat butter with sugar
- Add in egg, extracts, chocolate and cocoa and mix on medium until combined.
- Add in flour, baking powder and salt along with coconut and continue to mix on medium until the dough pulls away from the sides and it's all blended.
- Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
- Let cookies cool completely before icing.
- Apply icing with a #2 tip for the laces and #3 for the coconut covered area, do the coconut covered part first.
- While the icing is wet, dip the cookie into a shallow dish with the chopped coconut, dust off any excess, pipe on the laces.
- Allow the cookies to dry completely before stacking.
1½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoon water
¼ teaspoon coconut emulsion
2 drops white Americolor Coloring
Mix all ingredients until smooth. Add more water or powdered sugar to adjust the consistency. I use a 10 second rule when icing and in the bowl I drag a spatula across the icing and when it takes 10 seconds to fill in completely, that timing will work well for piping so that the icing doesn't spread all over the cookies
Other fun GAME DAY eats:
Let the GAMES begin!
If you like this or any other recipe at 
[email protected]+Dinners,+Dishes,+and+Desserts says
I love themed treats, and these are so cute! The coconut is such a fun way to decorate them!
Christiane says
Well darn it. I could have saved some money if I had read this before I bought football shaped cutters instead of after! Your cookies are so cute and would be a big hit in our house.
Kim+Beaulieu says
You are a genius. One day I’m going to visit you so you can teach me all your icing tricks.
[email protected]+A+Zesty+Bite says
These cookies are just too cute. They are perfect treat for any football party.
[email protected]+The+Complete+Savorist says
Sorry, but these have to be the cutest football cookies I have every seen!!!
Amanda Paa says
great tutorial! and just in time for thursday night football
[email protected]+the+wimpy+vegetarian says
I married into a huge football family. One was a head coach in the NFL for many years, other coach at big colleges, and everyone has played at one point or another. I, on the other hand, am having now to learn the rules of the game…. Pinning to make these for them!!! They’ll love them!!!
Ginny McMeans says
I love these cookies and I have that shape at home and did not know what to do with it. 🙂
Sylvie | Gourmande in the Kitchen says
Smart idea to re-shape a regular round cookie cutter for these!
The+Food+Hunter says
Very cute
Meggan|+Culinary+Hill says
Love these cookies! Somehow I’m certain mine would not look as nice, my football laces would be a mess everywhere. But, they’d still taste delicious! Pinned! I’m sure Pinterest will be wild for these. 🙂