Coconut Oat Cookies are sweet little egg-free cookies that are filled with good for you oatmeal and tasty coconut. You can make the dough ahead of time, and store it in the freezer too, so that you can bake cookies on the spur of the moment! Making this a quick and easy recipe.
I also have an {giveaway is closed} exciting giveaway for you! I’m hoping this giveaway will give a few smiles to a couple of well-deserved moms out there.
These Coconut oatmeal cookies are crispy on the edges and have a nice chewy center. The flavor of these cookies is exceptional, and because this recipe uses all brown sugar (no white sugar), the cookies have a rich flavor profile.
I love coconut, so I have a ton of recipes using the fruit. Here are some of my favorites: Coconut Macaroons, Coconut Thumbprint Cookies, Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp, Toasted Coconut Icebox Cake, and Coconut Sorbet.
We appreciate your support
This post may contain affiliate links. Life Currents participates in different affiliate programs. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information see here.
Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.
Cupboard ingredients
This easy to make cookie recipe uses ingredients that I almost always have in the pantry, so it’s easy to whip up a batch on a moment’s notice.
I originally made these cookies in 2010. I posted them here on the blog, but I also published them in my cookbook, Cupboard Cooking. They definitely needed a facelift, and some better user experience, so I’ve updated everything, photos, recipe, information, the whole shebang!
This oatmeal coconut cookie has been in my recipe box for many years, and I think it’s a delicious cookie that’s always reliable. It’s not too sweet, not too fancy, it’s just a great cookie with wonderful flavor that people of all ages will love. It’s a recipe you’ll want in your cookie recipe box as well!
How to make these cookies
The dough is really easy to make, as there isn’t much mixing involved, and the melted butter makes them come together in a snap.
Mix up the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
A note on the coconut: I usually use sweetened shredded coconut in these. Unsweetened will work as well, but the final cookie won’t be as sweet. So, I do recommend sweetened, but feel free to use either if you only have one in the house.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. I’d like to note that I do all the mixing of these cookies by hand – just with a sturdy fork. Then scoop into balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.
To flatten or not to flatten
I’ve had some people say that these cookies didn’t flatten out when they baked them. I’ve made these many times and never had to flatten them by hand. This time when I made them, I did a little testing where I flattened some, and didn’t flatten others. The ones that I left as balls and baked up, had a nice crispy edge, a flat body, and a lacy looking exterior. Where the ones I flattened before hand looked more like regular oatmeal cookies without that lacy exterior.
I’ve made these in a convection oven, in a regular oven, and in a toaster oven, and they always flatten. I always mix them by hand.
They all flatten for me after I take them out of the oven, leave them to rest on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, and then remove them from the baking sheet and place them directly on the cooling rack to cool completely. It’s like they deflate after being taken out of the oven.
If you’re still worried about them flattening, feel free to flatten them with the palm of your hand, or with the back of a spoon. They won’t get those pretty lacy edges, but they are still super tasty!
You can check out the tried its’ on Pinterest.
Can these oatmeal cookies be made ahead?
Absolutely these cookies can be prepared in advance! These are a great make ahead cookie!
You can make the dough and keep it in the fridge for a couple days until you’re ready to bake it.
You can also make the dough, portion out the dough balls, and freeze them for longer storage. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag for storage in the freezer. I like to take a few out of the freezer at a time and bake up small batches so I have fresh hot cookies anytime I want some.
You can also bake up the cookies and keep them in the freezer. Just take them out the day before you want to eat them and let them defrost on the counter or in the fridge. To freeze the cookies, place the cookies on a cooling rack, and allow them to cool completely, them place the cooking rack with the cookies in the freezer. Then you can wrap them individually when frozen. That helps the cookies not stick together when frozen.
How do I store these cookies?
I just keep them in an airtight container on the counter for a few days until they’re all gone. You can also put them in the fridge or freezer for longer storage. Be sure to keep them in an airtight container. I do find that they lose some of the crispness and get a little more chewy the longer they sit. But that change doesn’t bother me, in fact, they are still quite good!
Toaster oven
Note: this section contains affiliate links
I’m a big fan of the toaster oven or counter top oven to bake up some of these healthy cookies in a small batch. It doesn’t take much energy and it doesn’t heat up the house.
These come out great from the toaster oven; just keep an eye on them, as they can burn easily.
Can I make these vegan?
I’ve been thinking about making these with plant-based ingredients, making them vegan, and I need to do some testing.
You can easily substitute the honey with maple syrup, molasses, or date syrup.
As for the butter, I find that coconut oil works well for a butter sub for most recipes. Now, in these cookies butter is the main ingredient, so I’m not sure it will work as expected. Like I said, I need to test that. Vegan butter may also work, but I haven’t tried it yet. If you try these, let me know how it goes.
Can these be gluten free?
Yes, a simple substitution of gluten free baking mix for the all-purpose flour, and these can be gluten free.
To be on the safe side, use oats that are certified gluten-free. Oatmeal is gluten-free but is often processed in factories that process grains containing gluten.
Do you know them by another name?
I have heard some people refer to these as Anzac biscuits.
Personally, being from the states, I’m not familiar with these biscuits, and we tend to call them cookies whereas people from the other side of the pond call them biscuits.
I did a bit of research and found that the Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and desiccated coconut.
So, yes these are very similar. When I looked online at pictures, it seems to me that the Anzac biscuit is thicker and possibly dryer, but that could just be the way they look in pictures.
Let’s keep in touch
If you like seeing my recipes subscribe via email in the upper right.
Or, connect with me on your favorite social media channel for recipes, photos, & much more:
Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter!
And find my shop on Amazon for recommendations on cool tools
If you try this recipe,
please come back & leave a comment below letting us know how it goes.
Share a picture & tag @lifecurrents on Instagram.
Or you can upload a “tried it” photo (I would love to see)
via the pin.
Coconut Oat Cookies Recipe
Coconut Oat Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup butter melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 or 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- Combine flour, coconut, sugar, and oats in a large bowl and mix well. In a smaller bowl, mix the melted butter, water, baking soda, and honey. Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Use a large spoon or dough scoop to scoop the dough and form into a ball about the size of a walnut. Place dough on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, placing each dough ball about 2-3 inches apart so that they have room to spread. Cookies may be frozen at this point and baked as needed. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag for storage in the freezer.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes in a 350° F oven until golden brown. Carefully remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before removing them from the tray. They will set up and flatten some more during this resting time. Using a flat metal spatula, remove the cookies from the parchment paper, and place directly on the cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
David Wayland
I’ve tasted these and they were excellent; much like everything else that comes from Debi’s kitchen.
RUVINI
Can we put decimated coconut?
Debi
Ruvini, yes, desiccated coconut should work just fine. For others reading the comments, desiccated coconut is fresh coconut that has been shredded or flaked and dried. It is typically unsweetened, but the term is sometimes also used to refer to the less dry sweetened flake coconut as well.
Anna
I was congratulating myself (and yourselve) how delicious these are. And then I found out I forgot to put in the oats. However, it still tasted very well and I hope to make the proper version eventually. 😀
5gemz
Hi has anyone had a go at replacing the all purpose flour with oat flour?
Debi
Ahamiora, I haven’t tried that. Oat flour absorbs liquid more readily than AP flour, and Oat flour won’t give the gluten structure that AP flour will, so you can’t substitute oat flour completely for AP without making some sort of adjustment. The recipe probably won’t hold together. Maybe add a little less oat flour than the recipe calls for and add an egg to hold it together, or maybe some arrowroot starch for binding. Let me know if you try it, I’d love to know if it works.
Tara L
I’ll have my son for Mother’s Day usually we do a picnic (If it’s nice out) if it’s not I am not sure what we will do, honestly. But I made these cookies for the day. They are delicious and so easy to make!
Diane McMahon
Love these cookies thanks for the recipe
Karen
Just made thse cookies and they were a hit with my whole family. I like that they are healthy cookies too.
jmlforever
Made these today, very simple recipe. I added just a bit of vanilla. I think next time I’ll put less brown sugar. Theses cookies do spread out also. But very good cookie recipe, I will make these again.
Tom
Made these today . Double batch using a medium.cookie scoop yields 4 dozen cookies. Very delicious
Amy
I just made these and they are delicious!! Thank you. Crunchy and soft. Great flavors!!
Anita
I tried it .. easy and delicious. recipe is a keeper. thankyou
Sanacan
Success! Nice and crisp and very tasty.
Kathy
Can the cookies be frozen once they’ve cooled off???
Debi
Kathy, yes, these cookies can be frozen after they have cooled.
Connie
i made these this morning…they are delicious…but I am not sure how you only got 12 cookies with a doughball the size of a walnut…I used a 2 TBSP cookie scoop, resulting in balls that were bigger than a golf ball and I got 18 cookies…though mine did flatten without any aid from me, the were not as flat as yours and the edges were not lacy, like I expected, especially when I read your comment that ones flattened by the baker looked more like a regular oatmeal cookie than these ones that were supposed to have lacey edges …mine were sort of between those 2 results…not as flat and not really lacey edges either