Macadamia Coconut Paw Print Cookies

These adorably sweet Macadamia Coconut Paw Print Cookies are an easy treat made with cake mix!

Perfect for a baking night with the kids or an animal-themed party, these Macadamia Coconut Paw Print Cookies are adorable and SO easy to make! They are built on a cake mix base combined with macadamia nuts, and then topped with coconut frosting. The kids will love helping to decorate the paw print cookies using shredded coconut and chocolate pieces. Not only are these cookies a cute party treat, but they are chewy and packed with a coconutty flavor.

To make these Macadamia Coconut Paw Print Cookies, you will need these ingredients:

(Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are found below)

white cake mix - I always use a white cake mix from Betty Crocker. However, you can actually use any boxed cake mix flavor you like. Keep in mind that if you use a bigger mix, you will have to adjust the amount of butter used.
eggs - do NOT follow the recipe on the back of the cake mix box. This recipe will make a thicker dough instead of a runny cake batter.
butter - I use unsalted, but you can use salted if you'd like. You can also substitute the butter with an equal amount of your vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil.
macadamia nuts - these will need to be chopped into small pieces. You can substitute these with any kind of nut, or omit them entirely.
baking powder - this can be omitted, but you will have slightly thinner cookies.
homemade vanilla coconut frosting- this frosting recipe uses basic ingredients and is easy to make. Instead, you can substitute with a can of vanilla frosting with coconut extract added to it.
shredded coconut - the shredded coconut pairs well with the coconut extract in the frosting and the macadamia nuts, and also gives the paw cookies a "furry" texture. You can substitute the coconut for anything, or omit it altogether.
chocolate melting wafers - these will be used as the center of the paw. You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate.
chocolate chips - these will be used as the toes of the paw. You can use semisweet, milk, or dark chocolate.

Use a hand mixer or stand mixer and a mixing bowl to combine the ingredients to make the cookie dough. Once mixed, the dough should be quite soft and light in color. If it seems too sticky, you can add a little bit of flour to the mixture.

Lastly, roughly chop the macadamia nuts and mix them into the dough. To keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking, I would recommend chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Use a small cookie scoop to gather the dough. Roll the dough pieces into balls and arrange them a few inches apart on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. If you opt to leave the baking powder out, make sure to give the cookies plenty of space to spread out.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, when the edges are a lightly goldened. For a chewy cookie, do NOT overbake! Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, and then move the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

While the cookies are baking and cooling, prepare the vanilla coconut frosting.

Make sure that the cookies have completely cooled, and then frost each cookie with about one tablespoon of frosting. This will give the cookies the perfect amount of frosting so that they're not too sweet.

Immediately after adding frosting, cover the cookies with shredded coconut. Gently press the coconut into the frosting to keep it in place.

To transform these cookies into a paw print, you'll need a chocolate melting wafer and chocolate chips. Place the chocolate wafer in the center of the cookie and gently press it into the frosting. If it's not sticking well over the coconut, add a bit of frosting to the back of the wafer and then press it into place.

Next, arrange three chocolate chips above the wafer to complete the paw print. These should stick into the frosting easier, but you can add a bit of frosting to these as well to help them stick.

These cookies are so much fun to make and eat, especially for parties and themed movie nights! The cookies are packed with coconut flavor, and the macadamia nuts add a delightful crunch to contrast with the chewy cookie.