White Chocolate-Coconut Brownies
There are times when the cosmic forces of the blogging world all come together and I have an “a ha” moment about what exact recipe I should try next. One of those glorious moments occurred last week. A reader left a comment on my Facebook page asking if I had a recipe for a white chocolate brownie. I told her that sadly I did not, but that I would definitely put it on my list. It sounds pretty delicious, no? Then, the next day, I stole a bite of my Valentine’s Day present. The present is the biggest basket of Lindt chocolates (my favorite!) – truffles galore, gourmet mini dessert chocolates, and a variety of specialty chocolate bars. It might take me until next Valentine’s Day to eat my through it, but boy will I enjoy it! Anyway, one of the bars in the basket is white chocolate coconut. I took a bite and immediately swooned. For someone whose favorite chocolate is not white, and who isn’t the biggest fan of coconut, this was astounding. The combination just worked. It also made me want to be transported to a beach, toes in sand, and a creamy coconut drink with a little umbrella in my hand. But for the time being (i.e. before teletransportation is a reality), I knew exactly which direction I wanted to take the white chocolate brownie experiment.
Things weren’t entirely smooth sailing from the start. The first recipe that I put together and tested did not come out like I had hoped. The “brownie” tasted much more like a cookie bar and the white chocolate was not pronounced at all. Obviously, more testing was needed.
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After sifting through tons of different recipes, looking at ingredient ratios and making notes for myself, I decided to do something that should have been fairly obvious from the beginning. Take my favorite brownie recipe and adapt it for white chocolate! And that’s exactly what I did. I used the Baked Brownie recipe, omitted the cocoa powder and espresso powder, used white chocolate and added coconut. The result was exactly what I was looking for – that same brownie texture, with a crackly top, a pronounced white chocolate flavor, and the sweet inflection of coconut.
Mai tai, anyone?
One year ago: Oven-Fried Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce
Two years ago: Ham and Split Pea Soup
Three years ago: Chicken and Dumplings
White Chocolate-Coconut Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups (170 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 11 ounces (311.85 g) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, (8 ounces)
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) packed light brown sugar
- 5 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (80 g) shredded coconut
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
- 2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together.
- 3. Put the white chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
- 4. Add 3 eggs to the white chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
- 5. Sprinkle the flour mixture and the coconut over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour and coconut mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
- 6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.
- 7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I just made these- followed the recipe carefully – and the batter seemed really runny and hadn’t set after 30 minutes. Is that normal?
Hi Jennifer, After 30 minutes they should be just about done… perhaps your oven is running on the cool side?
I would like to make these but I only have sweetened coconut. What type of coconut does this recipe use?
Hi Moira, You can definitely use sweetened shredded coconut!
My husband (and I) really love these. Thank you so much for your wonderful blog!
I’m going to bake a batch of these tomorrow, and add macadamia nuts!
How can I make this without the coconut?
Hi Sara, You can omit the coconut, but you may want to throw something else in to balance the flavors (dark chocolate chips, maybe).
Can this be substituted with semi-sweet chocolate instead of white chocolate? Thanks!
Hi Tiffany, If you’d prefer not to use white chocolate then I would recommend going with the Baked Brownie recipe, which is the recipe this one is modified from: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/10/08/the-baked-brownie/
You’re a genius!!! Can’t wait to try this, thanks for the recipe:) I love how this combination sounds
I saw this recipe this morning & rushed to get the ingredients so thst i could make them right away. Ive never made brownies from scratch so i didnt think they were gonna turn out. The butter started seperating from the chocolate & i almost freaked out but i continued with the recipe anyway. I realized after they were in the oven that i forgot the vanilla, this was not a problem. The brownies came out wonderful. I would have enjoyed more coconut flavor but still delicious!!! I was very proud & really enjoyed sharing these with friends.
I was so excited to make these for my dad’s birthday. They sounded right up his alley! But I’m sad to say I was very disappointed…I followed the recipe perfectly AND kept them in for 10 extra minutes. They came out of the oven looking perfect on top, but they were SO greasy and mushy on the inside..and also lacking flavor. I wish they would’ve turned out because the picture looks fabulous! But instead, they ended up going straight into the trash can…
I had a similar experience, the brownies don’t seem to set after cooking/ cooling down. I have liquid seeping out and they feel greasy. Maybe the recipe has too much butter…
I saw this recipe and didn’t really pay any attention to the ingredients, I should have, what a scary dessert. This recipe is easily close to 6000 calories. That is unacceptable. I started prepping my station and gasped a little when I realized just how much 2 sticks of butter and 11 oz of white chocolate was. As I melted the concotion I started to get nervous, thinking I’ll never be able to get past the fact that these are so bad for you. Then things only seemed to get worse as I dumped the sugar and a whopping 5 eggs into this death mixture.
I baked it according to the instructions, although it did need more time in my oven, more like 35 minutes not 30. I cut it and ate one bite…it was good, but anything is going to taste good when you add two sticks of butter.
I looked at this pan full of attery clogging, suggary, greasy mess and my fears came true. I couldn’t eat this, it was by no means worth the calories. It tasted like what it was, sugar and butter. I couldn’t even bring myself to feed this to my co-workers or family, it made me feel like I would be poisining them…into the garbage. Sorry, this isn’t dessert this is recklessness.
there nothing wrong with this dessert at all an it uses 8oz of butter, can always use healthier ingredients like i did i.e – instead of butter i used soy oil ( any healthy oil ) and instead of sugar i used honey or agave syrup ( alternative sweetners ) the cakes turned out fab and were a hit with everyone plus your cutting the whole cake into squares of your choice so nothing majory bad about it
It’s only recklessly unhealthy if you eat the whole pan by yourself…and that’s not the recipe’s problem, it’s the eater’s problem…
Sheesh, aren’t desserts supposed to be fattening? It’s a treat, it’s not like you’re going to eat this everyday.
Renee made these for a July 4th celebration at a mutual friend’s home. They were out of this world wonderful. Checking out the archive recipes…I am in love! So glad she shared this site.
Looks delicious…Is the coconut sweetened?
Hi Renee, Yes, sweetened coconut.
Oh. My. GOD! These were a-mazing! When I was melting the chocolate with the butter, I probably overheated, and the chocolate became very gooey and the butter melted and separated. I thought – that’s it, I ruined it. But as I added the eggs and the flour+coconut, the batter looked totally fine. I baked for 35 mins in the middle of the oven in a 9×13 pan. I think I mixed a little more than you would recommend, because they turned out to be a little more cakey-looking than the ones you have in the pictures, but for me, they were absolutely perfect! So tasty, so moist. Absolutely delicious. BF and family LOVED them, and they were gone within 3 days. I am filing this recipe under “definite keeper.” Thank you so much! Overall they looked exactly like the picture.
To those who said you needed more baking time and they still turned out mushy – you probably used a smaller baking pan, or your need an oven thermometer. With the amount of butter in there, I was anticipating greasiness – but got none of it. These were the perfect consistency. I would discourage the use of 1 cup sweetened coconut, I used half sweetened and half unsweetened. They were definitely sweet, but not too sweet.
i made these yesterday they smelled wonderful and they looked like the photo but they required alot more baking time like 45 min more and when they were done they were very greasy and mushy not a favorite recipe from brown eyed baker. the had the flavor of sweetened condensed milk
I just put these in the oven and im wary..the batter didnt have much flavor and i could NOT get the white choc and butter mixture to be smooth at all. The whole mixture seemed very greasy. The BAKED brownie is my go to recipe also so I was familiar with the idea and it theory it seemed like it would work…guess we’ll have to see how it turns out!
well mine didnt turn out like the picture,and looked more like a square cake but still tasted great , family loved it, i added lemon essence to mine insted of the vanilla and topped it with lemon frosting
im a huga fan of white choc already an love the coconut white choc combo so when i found your blog i thought the recipe looked delicious an must give it a try. im baking these as we speak but mine at the mo seem to look like actually brownie cakes an not like your picture ? will post again with the outcome an taste
I only have one box of baking chocolate, which is a total of 6 oz. I don’t want to go back to the store, but I do have a bag of butterscotch chips….how do you think this would come out if I added in butterscotch chips to feel in the remaining 5 oz of white chocolate I don’t have?
Hi Shannon, I think that could work as long as you know there will be a sweeter, butterscotch overtone to the brownies.
Ooh, white chocolate and coconut. Looks delicious!
Don’t you love the internet! I got an idea for coconut brownies to make ahead for a ski weekend – googled it and blam – someone else has recently had the same idea.
I made these on Friday. Yummy, but the cooking time is way off. I’m always leery of overcooking brownies so I stuck to the 30 minutes stated. I had to cut off a 2″ perimeter to eat and throw the remaining gooey mess away. What a waste. A 9X13 pan does not take the same amount of time as an 8×8! The parts we did eat were good – although super sweet and not particularly coconutty. My BEST chocolate brownie recipe is the Baby Brownies in The New Basics (Silver Palate) – so fudgy and dense. The proportions are exactly the same except, in place of the brown sugar, it calls for chocolate syrup. So, I’m thinking I’ll try thick coconut milk in place of the brown sugar here. Mmmm. FYI – I made a 9×13 pan of the Baby Brownies (doubled), cooked them for 36 minutes and they were perfect. Thanks for the inspiration.
I have to agree with Karen here, be wary of the cooking time, I found it to be too short as well. I had mine in for a full 35 minutes, and they probably could have used even a bit longer. The parts near the edge that did get baked well though, were utterly delicious! And the goop near the middle wasn’t half-bad either, just had to be eaten with a lot of napkins. :-)
They look DELICIOUS!!! mmm…makes we want to be able to reach out and sneak on right off the screen!
I just took my 2nd batch out of the oven. The first batch was a HUGE hit! So tasty!!
just made these – i am not a big white chocolate fan, but these are crazy good! thanks for sharing this recipe.
Oh yes and I just saw the comment about sweetened or unsweetened coconut, I used unsweetened (because it’s what I had on hand) and they still tasted marvelous. :)
Ever since you posted this I have been wanting to try it, well I did tonight and oh wow, they are certainly amazing, thank you sooooo much for sharing!!!
Thanks, I’ve tried to make white chocolate brownies, and they were cookie like too. These look “fudgy”: just what I’m looking for.
I made these today and they were unbelievable. I did add a few extra pieces of the white chocolate and hoped I didn’t ruin them , but they were oh so good.I knew they would call my name every time I walked by them, so i just sent them out the door to some ladies at a senior citizens home.They will be very happy I’m sure.
Oooooh, I’m loving the thought of white chocolate brownies! Why hadn’t I ever thought of that before? Seems so obvious now! These look amazing!
The first thing I thought of when I saw these were the Lindt White Chocolate Coconut bars… best thing ever – and I’m usually not a huge white chocolate fan. I’m definitely going to have to try this!
Did you use unsweetened coconut or sweetened?
I cannot wait to get your answer so I can try these.
Hi Amanda, I used sweetened coconut flakes.