These coconut biscuits with cocoa are an easy recipe that tastes absolutely delicious. The original recipe comes from the Czech Republic, where they are called "Koka sušenky."
I often get asked if Czechs bake cookies and if I could provide a typical Czech recipe. Here in the Czech Republic, we tend to bake sheet cakes, like this kefir cake or apple coffee cake.
However, today I would like to show you a recipe for coconut biscuits, which are very popular in the Czech Republic. We call them "koka" and perhaps every Czech knows how these sweet biscuits look and taste.
Just for the record: the Czech word "sušenka" means biscuit or cookie.
MY TIP: Try these kolacky cookies, too (they are awesome!)
➜ Pronunciation
To give you an idea of how the Czech words "koka sušenky" is pronounced, I have recorded a short audio clip for you.
➜ Ingredients
To make coconut biscuits recipe, you will need:
- All-purpose flour; in UK plain flour. Use wheat flour, not coconut one.
- Desiccated coconut (dried finely shredded); not fresh coconut
- Unsalted butter; softened at room temperature
- Egg yolk (without egg white)
- Granulated sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
- Vanilla paste; or vanilla essence
✅ You'll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with the granulated sugar and egg yolk. Use an electric mixer (photo 1).
STEP 2: Add the dry ingredients: flour mixed with baking soda, cocoa powder, then vanilla paste, and coconut (photo 2).
First, mix all the ingredients in a bowl using a spatula. Then dump everything out onto work surface and make a soft dough by hand.
STEP 3: Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
STEP 4: Scoop out equal-sized pieces of dough (about a small tablespoon of dough) and roll them into a one-inch ball between your palms. Flatten small balls slightly and place them on a baking sheet.
Continue like this until you have used up all the dough. Leave some space between the dough balls when you place them on the baking sheet. Flatten each biscuit further with a fork. This will also create a simple pattern on the biscuits' surface.
STEP 5: Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C). Place the baking sheet with biscuits in the center of the oven on a wire rack. Let bake for 10 minutes.
➜ Serving
Once the coconut biscuits have cooled a little, remove them from the tray. Arrange the biscuits in a bowl and set them on the table. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.
➜ Storage
On the first day the coconut biscuits are tender, the next days they start to soften.
If you have any leftovers, put them in an airtight container and store them in a cool, dry place. Biscuits stored in this way will keep for 3-4 weeks.
➜ Useful tips
- The butter must necessarily be softened at room temperature. If you forget to take it out of the fridge in time, put it in a small saucepan and carefully leave it to soften on the stove, turned on low.
- Koka biscuits, when flattened with a fork, will have an irregular shape around the perimeter. So it's okay, perfectionism is out of place.
- The best part of this coconut biscuit recipe is that you only need the basic ingredients. No special cookie cutter, just a common fork to create the desired pattern on the biscuits.
More Czech sweets:
- Easter biscuits - egg-shaped, filled with jam
- Kolaches - an authentic recipe!
- Koblihy - Czech donuts
- Piskoty - crispy biscuits
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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📖 Recipe
Coconut Biscuits (Czech Koka sušenky)
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup shredded coconut unsweetened
- ¾ stick unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons dark cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla essence
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream ¾ stick unsalted butter, softened, with ⅓ cup granulated sugar and 1 egg yolk. Use an electric mixer with paddle or whisk attachement.
- Add the dry ingredients: ¾ cup all-purpose flour mixed with ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ tablespoons dark cocoa powder, then ½ teaspoon vanilla paste, and ⅔ cup shredded coconut.
- First, mix all the ingredients in a bowl using a spatula. Then dump the mixture onto your work surface and knead it by hand until it forms a soft dough.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop out equal-sized pieces of dough, about a small tablespoon each, and roll them into one-inch balls between your palms. Slightly flatten the balls and place them on a baking sheet.
- Continue this process until all the dough is used up, leaving some space between the dough balls on the baking sheet. Flatten each biscuit further with a fork, creating a simple stripped pattern on the surface.
- Preheat the oven to
340 °F. Place the baking sheet of the biscuits in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes about 30 coconut biscuits.
- STORAGE: On the first day, the coconut biscuits are tender, but they start to soften in the following days. If you have any leftovers, place them in an airtight container and store them in a cool, dry place. Biscuits stored this way will keep for 3-4 weeks.
Anne says
I love all your recipes, I really appreciate when you add the audio file for the proper pronunciation. I have made a coup!e of your recipes and will definitely make these coconut biscuits for my son's girlfriend who is originally from Czech. Recipes like these make her nostalgic. A few weeks ago she cooked goulash and bread dumplings, which was very delicious. Thank you for sharing your Recipes.
Petra Kupská says
Ahoj Anne, thank you very much for your lovely comment! I am so glad that you and your family like the dishes made according to these Czech recipes. These coconut biscuits in particular are very tasty for those with a sweet tooth, plus they are simple to prepare. If you bake them, be sure to give me feedback on how they turned out! Best wishes from Bohemia, Petra
Jana Gassman says
Vynikajici! Akorat jsem dopekla. Syn ma rad Esicka, kdyz jedeme babicce do Cech. Tyhle susenky mi to moc pripomina.Diky moc za dobry a jednoduchy recept!!!
Petra Kupská says
Ooo díky moc! 🙂 Mám radost, u nás tedy mají domácí koka úspěch. Úplně jsi mi připomněla esíčka, to je pravda, oboje tyhle sušenky, koka i esíčka, jsou jedny z českých TOP! 🙂
Olga says
They are very good! I only had on hand sweetened, coarsely shredded coconut so I used less sugar.
I have few Czech cookbooks and they are many sites on internet, but I always go to your's first! Consistently excellent recipes, easy to remember name, very well organized. Great job.
Thank you!
Petra Kupská says
Thank you, Olga, very much for your lovely feedback (it's making me blush :). I'm glad the cookies turned out well with the sweetened coconut and that you handled the situation so perfectly! You can actually buy only one kind of shredded coconut (dried, finely shredded, unsweetened) in the Czech Republic unless you go to a specialty store.
Petra says
Made these today with my kids. super easy and turned out so good! loved them as a kid but these home made ones are so much better! we are in NewZealand.
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says
Ahoj Pera, thank you for your comment. I am so happy the recipe was a success!
Greetings from the Czech Republic.
Brian says
Thank you, Petra. Your biscuits are lovely and a big hit with my partner who is quite unused to me making biscuits. I was looking for a recipe to use some dessicated coconut and cacao powder and was lucky to find your website. Twice in the last fortnight, I have successfully followed your very clear recipe (with great translating by your son). Encouraged by this, I am now looking for other recipes to try.
Petra Kupská says
Thank you, Brian, for such a nice comment! I'm glad you liked the cookies. They are one of the most popular here in the Czech Republic 🙂
Alice says
Hello from Australia! Thank you for this recipe Petra; the biscuits are delicious! I’ve made them twice; once for the Christmas cookie plate last year and again last week when I wanted to bake something but didn’t have much time. I love how easy they are to make. I’ll have to make a double batch next time as they disappear quickly.
Carol says
I have been looking for this recipe for 50 years. My great aunt made these in her bakery outside of Chicago. They were sold as long rectangular bars. . Half the cookie was plain vanilla, the other half was chocolate. They were topped with a thin white icing. I’m also looking for a cooks recipe that was filled with raisins and had a fairly firm texture but we’re not crunchy. The dough was slightly yellow in color. Do you know if anything like this?
Petra Kupská says
I am so glad you found the recipe, especially on my blog! It is wonderful to be able to help with your search. Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind right now for the recipe with raisins, but if anything clicks later, I will be sure to let you know.