Soft & Chewy Pandan Cookies

Flavored with pandan extract and filled with shredded coconut, these pandan cookies are a unique Asian spin on classic sugar cookies. They’re soft, chewy, and easy to make with a dough that comes together in just 10 minutes. Get all the tips and tricks below on how to make the perfect cookies every time!

I have been working on these pandan cookies for awhile, but never got them quite right until now. These cookies are absolutely amazing! They’re the prettiest green color with perfect amount of pandan and the softest, chewiest texture. I absolutely love them.

What is pandan?

Pandan is a plant found in Southeast Asia. In cooking, we usually only use the leaves to flavor food, but since pandan leaves are difficult to find I use pandan extract most of the time. It can be used in drinks like soy milk, in savory foods like coconut rice, and also in desserts like pandan ice cream and pandan macarons. Taste-wise, pandan tastes grassy, vanilla-like, and floral. Personally, I think it tastes really similar to coconut milk because a lot of Vietnamese food that utilizes pandan also utilizes coconut milk. Pandan and coconut milk are a classic combination.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• All purpose flour – Flour gives the cookies structure. Too much flour makes the cookies thicker and less flour makes them flatter. If you want a flatter cookie, use 1 1/2 cup of flour.
• Baking soda – Make the cookies airy and gives them a tender texture.
• Salt – Brings out the flavors of the other ingredients. It also balances out the sweetness from the sugar.
• Unsalted butter – Make these cookies chewy and rich. I used room temperature/softened unsalted butter for this recipe. In previous recipes like in my matcha cookies, I use browned butter, but I chose to use softened butter for this recipe, so the intense nutty flavor wouldn’t overpower the subtle flavor of pandan.
• Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness to these cookies. Note that 1/2 cup is used for the dough and 1/2 cup is used for coating the cookies.
• Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness to these cookies and helps them spread. Light brown sugar can be substituted with dark brown sugar, but that would make the cookies sweeter and more chewy.
• Egg – Helps bind the ingredients together and ads richness to the cookies.
• Vanilla extract – Add flavor to the cookies. I only added 1/2 tsp to this recipe, so it wouldn’t overpower the subtle pandan flavor.
• Pandan extract – The pandan extract is where all the pandan flavor comes from. It also provides the unique green color to the cookies.
• Shredded coconut – Pandan and coconut are a classic flavor combination. The shredded coconut adds some texture to an otherwise very soft and chewy cookie.

How to make pandan cookies

First, combine 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tsp of baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a bowl. Mix and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup of light brown sugar. Whisk using a stand mixer or hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and whisk until combined. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tsp of pandan extract and whisk until combined. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Finally, add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, and mix until just combined. Cover and let the dough cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prep 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. Pour the last 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into a bowl. Set aside. Using a medium cookie scoop (#16 cookie scoop), scoop the cookie dough into your hand. Roll into a ball and coat with the granulated sugar from the previous step. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are slightly brown. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Pandan Cookies Video

Tips on how to make the best pandan cookies

Do not over mix the dough

This is easily the biggest mistake people make when making cookies. After you add the dry ingredients and begin mixing, gluten starts to form, making your cookies tough. That’s why it’s important to mix your dough as little as possible after adding the dry ingredients.

Why it’s important to rest and cool the dough

There are a few reasons this step is important. First, after you add flour, it takes some time for the wet and dry ingredients to fully combine and the dough to fully hydrate. Your cookie holds together better the longer it sits. Secondly, cooling the dough helps control how fast your butter melts. The faster your butter melts, the flatter your cookies will be. And lastly, letting your dough rest makes the flavor better. Resting your dough is like marinating it. The flavors get to know each other and you get a really tasty cookie in the end.

Use a cookie cutter to make your cookies round

Even when you use a cookie scoop, sometimes your cookies don’t come out of the oven perfectly round, so I always use a round cookie cutter to even out the edges. Right after the cookies come out of the oven, take a cookie cutter that is larger than the cookies, place it around the cookie, and move it around the edges of the cookies in a circular motion until the cookie is round. This must be done once the cookie is out of the oven and the edges haven’t completely hardened yet.

How do you store these pandan cookies?

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days and up to 6 months in the freezer.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.

Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.

Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!