Last week, my husband suddenly craved oatmeal coconut cookies. He picked up a pack at the store, but I put it back. If he didn't like them, I'd be the one finishing them. Plus, I prefer to avoid store-bought baked goods for health reasons and never want to miss a chance to bake.
As soon as we got home, I pulled out my 1001 Cookie Recipes book from Readers Digest and started hunting for a oatmeal coconut cookie recipe. That book had many cookie recipes featuring coconut as the main ingredient, and I settled on one that was simple to bake, used less butter than the others, and included oats.
In my early baking days, I would have specifically searched for oatmeal cookie recipes without eggs. But now, with a solid understanding of egg substitutions, I simply look for appealing recipes and decide on the best egg substitute based on the ingredients.
For this recipe, the original was already eggless, so I didn't need to think about an egg substitute. I made a minor change by using honey instead of light corn syrup. I figured corn syrup might not be a common pantry ingredient, whereas honey is more likely to be on hand.
If you want to bake these as vegan cookies, you can use corn syrup, maple syrup, or agave nectar and vegan butter substitute or oil.
These oatmeal coconut cookies was a super-duper hit with my husband and kids. It was a crispy cookie but did soften a bit after a day or two.
What others have to say about this recipe?
Thanks for sharing this recipe. This is the second time i am going to make these. I substituted whole wheat with APF, used unsweetened coconut flakes, and also used ½ cup of molasses instead of sugar. sweetness was just perfect for me and kids.
Thanks again!
Just made these! I halved the recipe and they came out delicious but they definitely did not spread at all. It doesn’t matter though because they are so good. I’m glad the recipe said to smoosh them with a fork or else I wouldn’t have thought to do that. They are pretty perfect. The coconut adds just the right flavor and I was looking for a recipe that used it cause I had some lying around. Thanks so much for this cookie recipe! Will definitely be making them again!
I have a separate page for eggless oatmeal cookies if you are looking for more ideas to bake cookies using oats.
Recipe
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Shredded Coconut (I used sweetened)
- 1 cup Quick Cooking Oats (I used large flake)
- ½ cup Butter
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Butter two cookie sheets.
- In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the coconut and oats.
- Melt the butter with the sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove it from the stove and let it cool for 2 minutes.
- Pour the melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula.
- Roll into balls the size of walnuts and place 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and flatten it slightly with a fork.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. If using 2 cookie sheets, shift racks halfway through the baking to ensure even browning. Mine turned golden brown after 13 minutes itself. I think it's because of the dark coated cookie sheet.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheets until they firm slightly. Then using a spatula carefully lift the cookies and transfer it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
My Notes
- I used one extra large cookie sheet I recently purchased from Walmart. It was a dark coated non stick pan. Usually cookies baked on such dark coated sheets turn brown very quickly, so I lined it with parchment paper.
- The recipe did not mention whether to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut. I had the sweetened one, so I used it. I think if I had used the unsweetened variety the sweetness of the cookies would have been perfect for us.
- Light corn syrup was mentioned in the recipe. I had that in hand, but I anticipated that some of you might ask what can be substituted for it. So I used honey. I think either omitting this or reducing the quantity of sugar to ½ cup will also work if you want less sweeter cookies.
- These coconut cookies spread a lot, so be sure to leave enough space while placing the dough on the baking sheets.
Taste & Texture
- These oatmeal coconut cookies are delightfully sweet, with a perfect balance of crisp edges and a chewy center when freshly baked. After 2-3 days, they soften around the edges but remain just as tasty. They have a rich, buttery aroma when enjoyed fresh. While we loved the flavor, I plan to tweak the recipe next time to reduce the sweetness.
Rajeshwari says
Hi Madhuram
These cookies came out delicious.. instead of shredded coconut i used dessicated coconut powder..honey gave the cookies very nice flavour..now your coconut macaroons are next in my baking list 🙂
Thanks Rajeshwari.
Catherine says
I tried this recipe with some of the modifications you suggested to reduce the sweetness for those of us using sweetened coconut. The first time, I cut out the 2 tablespoons of honey and the resulting cookie dough was not moist enough, difficult to roll into balls and when I baked them, they didn't spread at all! My sweet husband ate them anyway, but I insisted on redoing it (at 11pm). So the second time, I kept the honey but cut back on sugar to half a cup and the result was much much better (looked almost like your photo!) I think the honey is necessary to get the right batter consistency so for anyone else who is trying to cut down on sweetness, leave the honey in and just make changes in the amount of sugar used.
Thank you very much Catherine for trying the recipe the second time too and for recording your feedback here about the honey. It will be helpful to so many of us who want to try the recipe.
Rajeshwari says
These cookies look yummy..am going to try them soon...I baked your wonderful apple and raisins muffins and they turned out very delicious...thanks for ur recipes...
Rajeshwari, you're most welcome.
Happy Cook says
That just looks so beautiful and yummy
Yamini says
Hi Madhuram,
gotto give it to you - you always upload amazing recipes with nice photos! i find this to be an excellent post - the process is very simple, and the caloric value of the cookies is balanced by the addition of oats. my dad likes oats, so im going to make this for him 😀
Thanks Yamini.
Sanghi says
Delicious cookies..! Will follow ur recipes..!:)
Thanks Sanghi.
Kalpana says
Hey Madhuram,
WOW...baked the cookies - Awesome.I gave it an immediate try,i thought the cookies would last over the weekend...well what do i say the jar is empty 🙂
-Kalpana
Thank you very much for trying it Kalpana.
Lalitha says
Hi madhuram .. im new to ur blog .. and i must say tht ur a great inspiration to my cooking cos my family ppl dont eat eggs but i do. I was greatly thrilled to see a site posting eggless recipes. by the way i live in chennai. i wanted to know if i can bake these cookies in the pressure cooker as i dont own an oven and buying one will take time. also i've seen ur other recipes which require Ener-G egg replacer .. i wanted to know if i could find them here in chennai (Nuts & Spices or Nilgiris or Sathosh Supermarket in anna nagar)
!! sorry but i have another Q - did u use desiccated coconuts for the cookies?
another thing .. i baked banana & nuts muffins tht u had posted.. i couldnt call it muffins cos i baked it in a medium sized aluminium vessel but it turned out great and i baked this in a pressure cooker. thanks a million for tht recipe
Thanks Lalitha. I have not baked in pressure cooker at all, so I'm not sure if it's possible to bake these cookies in it. I think you can get a microwave oven with baking options. Regarding EnerG, you have to look for it in the stores because it's long time since I have done grocery shopping in Chennai. We get sweetened shredded coconut here but you can use desiccated coconut too.
Supriya Nair says
Hi Madhuram, Mouthwatering cookies you have here. Please accept Over-the-top blog award from my blog. Congrats.
Thanks Supriya. I surely will.
Cynthia says
Your baking exploits are an inspiration and outrageously good!
Thank you very much Cynthia.
Vaishali says
Madhuram, that bit about your husband not eating the cookies and you having to finish them made me laugh because that's exactly the kind of argument I have with Desi all the time 🙂
The cookies look seriously good-- do you use sweetened coconut flakes?
Vaishali, how do you think I have put on so much weight? Yes I used sweetened flakes.
Shri says
Looks delicious Madhuram!The coconut flakes on top add to the beauty:)
Sadhana says
Looks absolutely delicious. Madhu, received the extracts today. Thanks for the same.
You're welcome Sadhana. Hope you like these extracts as much as I do.
Cilantro says
Thank You Madhuram,
I am glad you like the chutney. Hope the measurements were correct.
I love cookies with coconut. Adding oats should be a healthy one too.
jayasri says
coconut and cookies must be very delicious, as i love coconut i will make this..again i did some baking for your event hope i will post it, all the time i make something and never send it right on time!!
Sweatha says
Looks great Madhu.I have added coconut in cakes and found it delicious,never tried in cookies.Looks perfect.They taste better a few days after baking,no wonder your H found it delicious then.Enjoy
It's the other way round for me. I have not tried it in cakes.
Sharmilee says
Oats and coconut in cookies nice combo, sharp and neat click!!
Thanks Sharmilee. The pictures were taken by my husband.
Keerthana says
wow, the cookies look perfect. Nice presentation and pics! i love cocnut cookies, addition of oats is new to me. Wish I could lay my hands on them 🙂
Welcome to my blog Keerthana.
vidhya says
cookies look really chewy and love the coconut decoration.
Thanks Vidhya.
Sonu says
What a coincidence!!! I am munching Coconut cookies bought frm store just now..and here I m looking at your nice cookies. 😀
That's indeed a coincidence.
Divya Vikram says
I just lurvvvv coconut cookies. Nice way to incorporate oats along with the yummy coconut cookies!
I know that Divya. When I posted the coconut macaroon recipe you had mentioned it.
Madhu / Ruchii says
It must have smelled heavenly..Love coconut in cookies. Pics looks yum.
Sure it did Madhu.
Priya says
Wow cookies looks gorgeous, love the addition of coconut..
abc says
Hi Madhuram
These are gorgeous cookies. Can you tell me the dimensions of the cookie sheet that you brought from WalMart?
Thank you
It's a Wilton pan. I measured it with my inch tape and it comes to approx. 16x18.