Toasted Coconut Crunch Cookies transport you to the tropics with each coconutty bite! Roasting the shredded coconut, quickly and easily on the stove top, amplifies the flavor and adds toasty notes. Oats help create a light, crisp crunch!
Why you'll love this recipe
Toasted Coconut Cookies are a perfect summertime cookie. They are irresistibly delicious, store well, and are great for shipping in hot weather.
Mailing baked goods in the summer requires picking recipes that won’t melt or go bad in the heat. There are many recipes on The Monday Box that were created specifically for best results with warm weather shipping.
The recipes for baked goods that are made with ingredients least likely to spoil are labeled “Desert Safe” recipes. Read the Guide to Hot Weather Shipping to find out about desert safe ingredients and heat safe recipes.
In addition to being wonderful cookies to send overseas, these cookies are a versatile treat to enjoy at home and make great after-school snacks. Their irresistibility, as far as I can tell, is due to the combination of flavors and texture. I boosted the flavor profile three ways.
First, I doubled the vanilla extract. Vanilla adds a luscious creamy undertone to baked goods and often serves to intensify other flavors. In this recipe, the vanilla brings out the coconut flavor.
Toasting the coconut intensified the flavor even more. A few minutes of gentle browning in a frying pan turns the shredded coconut into crunchy bits of toasty deliciousness.
The final flavor enhancer is invisible but important. I wanted the caramel flavor that comes from using brown sugar in a recipe, without actually using brown sugar (which I try to avoid in desert safe recipes).
Finely chopped Ghirardelli caramel chips melt into the cookie dough while cooking and provide the added flavor I was looking for.
The crispy crunch comes from using vegetable shortening, and not butter. Vegetable shortening allows the cookie to spread while baking.
The white sugar caramelizes in the thin cookie which is a further enhancement to both the flavor and the crunch. Throw in oats and the texture is complete.
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
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- Toast coconut shreds in a large skillet on the stove over medium-low heat. Stir continually for 5-10 minutes until most of the coconut is golden brown.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar. Then mix in the remaining ingredients.
- Use a medium (2 tablespoon) scoop to portion dough balls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet at least 2″ apart.
- Bake cookies in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until deep golden brown.
Storage
Store the coconut cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Tips
- Do not use butter in this recipe. The texture of these crispy cookies is dependent on the use of vegetable shortening.
- Use either sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes. Using sweetened coconut will result in an only slightly sweeter cookie. Also, when toasting, sweetened coconut will brown faster than unsweetened due to the sugar coating.
- Because this recipe uses only white granulated sugar as a sweetener, the slight caramel flavor that is usually achieved using brown sugar, is created by adding caramel chips. These are not bits of caramel. Ghirardelli makes caramel chips that are like white chocolate chips with a caramel flavor. If caramel chips aren’t available, use white chocolate chips.
- The chips should be chopped finely before adding to the dough. Chopped bits distribute throughout the dough and melt while baking to flavor the cookie.
- It is important to portion the dough evenly to ensure even baking. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop is the easiest way.
- The baked cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days. The dough can also be scooped into portions, frozen, then a cookie dough ball can be baked straight from the freezer when needed.
More coconut recipes
Coconut Milk Cake is a quick and easy recipe with coconut milk for tenderness and flavor.
Toffee Coconut Blondies are soft, chewy bars filled with coconut and crunchy toffee bits. Coconut milk makes these blondies a special sweet treat.
Chocolate Coconut Bliss Cookies are like candy Mounds bars in cookie form. Chocolate and coconut are a great combination in these delicious cookies.
Coconut Milk Cookies are a great way to use up left over coconut milk. Baking with coconut milk gives these treats a tender texture and mild coconut flavor.
This Coconut Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake recipe uses coconut milk for a delicious quick bread that is soft and tender.
Coconut Macaroons dipped in melted chocolate are the best chewy coconut cookie for coconut lovers!
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Toasted Coconut Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable shortening Crisco
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oatmeal
- 1 cup shredded coconut sweetened or unsweetened
- 1 cup caramel or white chocolate chips chopped
Instructions
- TO TOAST THE COCONUT: Place the shredded coconut in a large skillet on the stove over medium-low heat. Stir continually for 5-10 minutes until most of the coconut is golden brown. Sweetened coconut browns more quickly than unsweetened. Set aside to cool.
- Preheatoven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar.
- Mix in the eggs vanilla baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flour and oatmeal, mixing until combined.
- Fold in the roasted coconut and chopped chips.
- Using a medium (2 tablespoon) scoop, portion balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet at least 2" apart. The cookies flatten and spread while baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until deep golden brown. There will appear to still be wet patches even when fully baked.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool and firm up on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Do not use butter in this recipe. The crunchy nature of this cookie is dependent on the use of vegetable shortening.
- The coconut in this recipe can be sweetened or unsweetened. Using sweetened coconut will result in an only slightly sweeter cookie. Also, when roasting, sweetened coconut will brown faster than unsweetened coconut due to the sugar coating.
- Because this recipe uses only white granulated sugar as a sweetener, the slight caramel flavor that is usually achieved using brown sugar, is created in Roasted Coconut Crunch Cookies by adding caramel chips. These are not bits of caramel. Ghirardelli makes caramel chips that are like white chocolate chips with a caramel flavor. If caramel chips aren’t available, use white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips.
- The chips should be chopped finely before adding to the dough. Chopped bits distribute throughout the dough and melt while baking to flavor the cookie.
- It is important to portion the dough evenly to ensure even baking. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop is the easiest way.
- The cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days. The dough can be scooped into portions, frozen, then baked straight from the freezer when needed.
Nutrition
First Published: July 14, 2018. Last Updated: June 27, 2023. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.
Carlee
They do look absolutely irresistible! What a great combo of flavors and textures!
saltandserenity
Wendy, these cookies sound incredible. I am so intrigued about those caramel chips. Chopping them finely so they melt into the Cookies is so clever.
The combo of oats and coconut is not something I have ever tried So excited to bake these.
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert
Saw these on Instagram and had to come check it out. I love coconut with oatmeal cookies - a favorite for sure! Hope you're having a great summer.