3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 Tbl water
7 oz sweetened coconut flakes
Raspberry jam and Apricot jam, roughly a few tablespoons each
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk to combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand-held electric mixer.) Beat on medium-high speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and beat again to combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula.
With the mixer on lowest speed, add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix on low until the dough just starts to come together. Be careful to not over-mix. Transfer the dough onto a floured work space. Gather into a flat disk, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into about 32 equal pieces, roughly 1 ¼ inch wide. Using your hands (slightly dampening them with water helps), roll the pieces of dough into balls. Lightly press each ball to flatten it slightly, to about a 1-inch thickness.
Make an egg wash by beating together the egg and water in a small bowl. Place the coconut flakes in another small bowl. Dip each flattened ball of dough into the egg wash, then roll it in the coconut flakes. Place the balls onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Using your finger, press a light indentation into the top of each dough ball. Place a heaping ¼ teaspoon of jam (half of the cookies with raspberry and the other half with apricot) into each indentation.
Bake, 2 sheets at a time, until the coconut is golden brown and the cookies are set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Be sure to rotate the pans (switch their positions and turn each 180 degrees) half-way through cooking time. Cool for a couple minutes on the pan, before lifting the cookies with a rubber spatula to cool on cooling racks or on a clean counter. Cool to room temperature before storing at room temperature in an air-tight container.
