I have seen various recipes for checkerboard cookies and find them truly delicious. Obviously, they all contain chocolate, as the checkerboard is black and white, although often the colors used in reality are different and depend on the material used for its manufacture. For example, wooden checkerboards use light-colored wood for white and dark-colored wood for black. I’ve read that some checkerboards also use white and red, and that’s how I created mine. Thus, the checkerboard coconut shortcrust cookies were born.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 20 cookies (3×3) + 20 cookies (2×2)
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 7 tbsps Butter (cold from the fridge)
- 8 tbsps Sugar
- 1 cup Grated desiccated coconut
- 2 Medium eggs
- 1 tsp Red gel food coloring
- to taste Sugar
Preparation
Place the flour in a mound on a work surface, make a well in the center, add the eggs, sugar, cold butter from the fridge, and grated coconut, and start kneading without overworking the ingredients until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. If necessary, add a bit more flour.
Let the ball of dough rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before using it.
The resulting ball will weigh about 700g.
Divide it into two parts of about 350g each.
Keep one in its original color and color the other with a teaspoon of red gel food coloring. If it gets a bit sticky, add a little flour.
You will then have two balls which should be placed in the fridge for about half an hour.
Take the shortcrust balls out of the fridge, place them on a floured surface, and roll each one out with a rolling pin. You should get two rectangles measuring approximately 8×6 inches, and 0.5 inches thick.
Use a pastry brush to brush the surface of the bottom layer with a little water and sugar, place the other layer on top, trying to make them adhere perfectly.
Refrigerate for at least an hour.
After removing the layers from the fridge, trim the edges, removing about 0.2 inches from each side. Now the rectangles will measure 7.9×5.9 inches.
Now cut strips about 0.4 inches wide. I used a ruler to make them more precise. You will get 15 strips.
Brush the strips with a little water and sugar, place 3 strips next to each other.
Now brush the surface again with water and sugar, place another 3 strips on top with alternating colors, moisten the surface again with water and sugar, and place another 3 strips on top with alternating colors.
Wrap the loaf in parchment paper, trying to tighten it well, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
With these quantities, you’ll get two loaves: one 3×3 and one 3×2.
Now take the loaf and cut slices about 0.4 inches thick. If necessary, use a ruler again.
Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Tips/Advice
The number of cookies may decrease if you are not very precise in cutting.
For the shortcrust pastry, use cold butter from the fridge, cut into small cubes.
Try making your checkerboard cookies with other types of pastry:
What is and how to make shortcrust pastry (natural shortcrust)
If you liked the Checkerboard Coconut Shortcrust Cookies, try the other shortcrust recipes:
Cinnamon shortcrust baskets with figs and Concord grapes
Cinnamon shortcrust clusters with Concord grapes
Fig tart filled with milk cream
Try the other cookie recipes too:
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