Delightfully crunchy, with lots of sweet toasted coconut flavor, homemade coconut oatmeal cookies are a real treat. Just watch them disappear!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This recipe makes classic crispy oatmeal cookies.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to make the dough, 12 minutes to bake each batch
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, sturdy spoon, measuring utensils, baking sheet, oven
Servings: 5 ½ dozen (depending on size of cookies)
Just a warning, your cookie jar is going to see a lot of action when it’s filled with coconut oatmeal cookies. Don’t worry though, this cookie recipe makes a big batch so you won’t run out of cookies too soon!
This old-fashioned oatmeal cookie recipe comes from my grandma who made them frequently, as does my mom. Somehow I ended up in the chewy cookie camp so my favorites are whole wheat chewy oatmeal raisin cookies or chewy chocolate chip cookies. If you like softer iced cookies, try old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookies.
Which side do you fall on, chewy or crispy? It seems like cookie eaters are ardent fans of one or the other. No matter which camp you’re in, chewy or crispy, I think you’ll love coconut oatmeal cookies. They rock!
And you could say they’re good for you! They have lots of oatmeal in them and oatmeal is never a bad thing to add to your diet. Love oatmeal for breakfast? Why not have a chocolate walnut breakfast cookie? My whole wheat chocolate chip cookies contain a cup of oats, too. And don’t forget about homemade granola which is just as good as a cookie.
By the way, if you’re a fan of coconut goodies, you’ll want to try coconut macaroons and coconut custard pie.
About these Oatmeal Cookies
Coconut oatmeal cookies are not difficult to make. You won’t need any special equipment, just a big bowl, a sturdy spoon, a cookie sheet, and an oven. The dough doesn’t need to be chilled so you can make and bake them in about an hour.
Stick around for a short how-to right here. I’ll give you some extra tips and suggestions.
What You’ll Need
- Butter and Shortening: The butter provides good buttery flavor and the shortening helps with the consistency of the cookies, adding more height and tenderness. You’ll find that shortening is essential to many cookie recipes, often used on a one-to-one ratio with butter (half shortening/half butter). Use unsalted butter and make sure it’s at room temp (softened).
- Oats: These cookies have lots of oats, three cups! Either old-fashioned oats or quick oats are fine. Don’t be tempted to use steel-cut oats or instant oatmeal; they just won’t work in this recipe.
- Coconut: I personally like unsweetened shredded coconut but feel free to use what you have. Keep reading for substitutions if you’re not a coconut fan.
- All-Purpose Flour: Regular ol’ flour is fine. If you’re feeling extra healthy, substitute whole wheat flour for half the flour. Always spoon flour into your measuring cup so it doesn’t compact.
- Brown Sugar and White Sugar: Be sure to pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup.
- Eggs: You’ll need two large eggs for this recipe.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Pretty normal in cookies, along with Salt, Baking Powder and Baking Soda.
How To Make Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Find a nice big bowl, get your oven preheating, and let’s start stirring! Hopefully your butter is softened. If it isn’t, use your microwave to soften it. Believe me, I’ve done this many times!
Softening Cold Butter
Place the cold stick of butter in the microwave. Press Cook Time and set it for 2 minutes. Press Cook Power and set it for 10% (1). Check and see if the butter is soft by squeezing it lightly. If it’s not, keep microwaving in 30-second increments at 10%.Begin by creaming together the butter, shortening, both types of sugar, and the salt. Stir until the mixture is well blended. You may use a hand mixer if you like but I usually just stir it by hand.
Next add the eggs, one at a time, and mix them in. Stir in the vanilla.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda on top of the creamed mixture. Lightly stir the dry ingredients with your finger, then blend them into the creamed mixture, just until everything is moistened.
Finish up by stirring in the oatmeal and coconut. The dough gets pretty stiff so you’ll have to put a little elbow grease into it.
Preheat the oven, scoop out the dough and place it on the cookie sheets. No need to shape it into a perfect ball, it will flatten out as it bakes. Make sure you leave a few inches between the cookies so they don’t run into each other.
Mmmm, the toasting coconut and oatmeal smell so good in the oven! Put a pot of coffee or tea on, you’re going to want to sample a cookie (or two) right away!
Make It Your Own
- Add cinnamon. Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
- Whole wheat. Replace some or all of the flour with whole wheat flour.
- Omit the coconut. If you aren’t a fan of coconut, substitute an additional half cup of oats or try one of the variations listed next.
- Optional add-ins: In place of the coconut, stir in raisins and grated orange zest or try white chocolate chips with dried apricots. Other options are chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips.
If you prefer to make the dough and bake the cookies later, there are a few options:
- Make the dough ahead. You can simply wrap the dough well and refrigerate for up to two days. Bake as directed. The dough can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Allow frozen dough to thaw overnight in the fridge before forming into cookies to bake.
- Freeze cookie dough balls. Another option is to freeze the dough in cookie sized balls on a tray, then place the frozen cookie dough balls in a freezer bag to bake later. Frozen cookie dough lasts up to two months if stored properly. Bake frozen cookie dough balls as directed, adding one or two minutes to the baking time if necessary. This method allows you to bake just a few cookies at a time when you’re in the mood for a fresh baked cookie.
After cooling the cookies completely, store in a sealed container for up to a week. Baked cookies freeze well, for up to three months.
I don’t know if you could ever call any cookie “leftover” but here’s a great dessert idea. Crumble a cookie or two over a bowl of your favorite ice cream. If you like, top your sundae with bourbon caramel sauce or hot fudge sauce. The crunchy crumbles are so good with ice cream!
More Cookie Recipes
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies – perfectly crispy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick oats)
- 1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened if possible
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In large bowl, combine sugar, butter, shortening, and salt until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, stirring until well-blended.
- Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Add coconut and oatmeal, stirring vigorously until combined.
- Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Cookies will spread so allow 2 to 3 inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on cookie sheet, remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Makes 5 ½ dozen, depending on size of cookies.
- If you like, add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
- Replace half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
- If you aren’t a fan of coconut, substitute an additional half cup of oats. Or try one of the variations listed next.
- Like raisin oatmeal cookies? In place of the coconut, stir in raisins and grated orange zest. Or try white chocolate chips with dried apricots. Other options are chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
They taste good but aren’t very presentable. They spread very flat. I even reduced the baking time from 12 minutes down to 10 minutes and they were still on the verge of being overdone. It seems like they need even more flour to give them more structure.
They’re definitely a lacy, thin cookie, which may not be what you’re looking for.
These are utterly delicious, both if you follow the directions and if you do what I did the first time and accidentally leave out the flour. ::facepalm:: Without the flour they spread a little more and taste almost like a toffee candy. With the flour they are wonderful, with perfectly balanced tastes of butter, coconut, brown sugar and oats. The only negative is they are addictive!
Hahah good to know they turned out both ways!