Chewy coconut oatmeal cookies are the ultimate five-ingredient cookie, irresistible to any coconut lover, grab a mixing bowl and get started.
Did I mention that oatmeal coconut cookies are gluten and dairy free? This is an oatmeal cookie recipe without flour or dairy.
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
These cookies are so chewy, so irresistible, I actually burned my mouth eating a second cookie while they were still piping hot from the oven.
If you have a coconut lover in your life, you need these coconut lover’s cookies. This is the chewiest, most coconut filled cookie I have ever tasted.
With just a handful of ingredients, a bowl, and a spoon, you can stir these coconut oatmeal cookies together in about three minutes. They are beyond easy to make!
The only ingredients that you’ll need are:
- coconut oil
- light brown sugar
- egg
- old fashioned oats
- sweetened coconut flakes
If you truly love coconut, if you would happily eat shredded coconut by the spoonful, if you think there is no such thing as too much coconut, you’ll probably love these as much as I do.
True confession: I wound up eating these cookies for my lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following morning.
While I enjoy most desserts, my sweet tooth is usually pretty easily satisfied with just a couple of cookies. The oatmeal coconut cookies were so good that I found them completely irresistible.
Coconut Oil Oatmeal Cookies
I’ve made lots of coconut treats that use sweetened coconut flakes in the dough. Toffee Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies combine some of my favorite things into one delicious cookie and I’ll never turn down Coconut Scone Cookies for breakfast.
For these cookies, I got even more coconut flavor into the cookies by using melted coconut oil in the dough.
Coconut oil acts very similarly to butter when baked resulting in a flaky, moist cookie. It also makes this recipe completely dairy free.
I love baking for people and knowing that I can share these favorite cookies with both my dairy free friends and wheat free friends is delightful! That said, most people would never guess these cookies don’t have any butter in them.
Gluten Free Coconut Cookies
Did I mention that Oatmeal Coconut Cookies are also gluten free? This is an oatmeal cookie recipe without flour.
Rolled oats are combined with the coconut, coconut oil, brown sugar, and eggs to make the dough.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a loose cookie “dough,” as you can see in the video. You’ll need to press the cookies together with your hands after scooping them onto the cookie sheet.
Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
A chewy oatmeal cookie is always welcome on my snack plate. From classic Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies to Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies and Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, I love them all.
Oatmeal cookies have inspired plenty of other meals, snacks and treats that my family enjoys too.
If you haven’t tried my Chewy Raisin Baked Oatmeal Cups for breakfast, add it to your list, along with Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream.
If you love the combination of coconut flakes and oatmeal in these Coconut Lover’s Oatmeal Cookies, you’ll also enjoy these Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites that I shared a while back. They’re delightfully bite sized treats packet with coconut flavor.
Give our Pineapple and Coconut Baked Oatmeal recipe a try to add a tropical twist to your next breakfast! I’ve also been eyeing the recipe for Coconut Baked French Toast with Oatmeal Crumble I found over on Foodie Crush. Doesn’t that sound incredible?
Oatmeal Cookies with Coconut
I cannot wait for my fellow coconut fans to give this recipe a go. You’ll be amazed by how few ingredients it takes to create a cookie that satisfies all your coconut cravings.
Be sure to let these cookies cool at least 5 or 10 minutes before taking a bite! The incredible smell of these treats as I pulled them from the oven got the best of me and I wound up burning my mouth because I just couldn’t wait. Learn from my impatience!
Everything about these oatmeal coconut cookies is delicious. Slightly crisp on the outside with plenty of coconut flavor and brown sugar sweetness, these are oatmeal cookies I’ll be making again and again for years to come.
Kitchen Tip: I use these bowls, this scoop, this spatula, and this baking sheet to make this recipe.
If you’re as big a fan of the oatmeal + coconut combination as we are, you’ll want to check out the recipes too!
Juicy bites of pineapple, mixed with chewy oats and sweet coconut to give this Pineapple Baked Oatmeal a fun tropical twist.
Coconut Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies have the crisp edges and soft centers that everyone craves. They are loaded with coconut and cranberries and they have been a hit with everyone who tries them.
Chewy bites of oatmeal cookie dough are filled with coconut, tart dried apple bits, and cranberries to create the Coconut Oatmeal Edible Cookie Dough that’s a total win with my family.
For more coconut deliciousness, you’ll want to try my grandmother’s Coconut Bars are a childhood favorite that I still dearly love today. And this Coconut Pound Cake is so good that I often serve and eat it without any glaze at all.
The Coconut Meyer Lemon Meringue Cake by Comfortably Domestic puts a coconut spin on the classic lemon meringue dessert. This Coconut Rice Pudding by The Noshery is a must-try for all of you rice pudding fans out there. And these Coconut Cream Cheesecake Bars by Love from the Oven are yet another option to try.
oh! Last but not least, Coconut Scone Cookies? You need to try them too!
Can you tell that I really, really, unabashedly LOVE coconut?
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup melted or very soft coconut oil
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1½ cups sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Stir together the coconut oil, sugar, and egg until smooth. Add the oats and stir until well combined. Stir in the coconut.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon portions onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Press the cookies together with your hands, as needed.
- Bake for 12 minutes and then let cool at least 5, preferably 10 minutes, before removing to a wire rack or plate. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 5/26/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 12/22/22}
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
Ha! I love that you burned your mouth. Well, I mean, I don't love that you hurt yourself, but I do that ALL the time. So now I feel better.
But, these cookies? GIMME! I love oatmeal cookies and I am DYING over all that coconut! Pinned!
The Little Ferraro Kitchen says
Love love coconut cookies!!
Duval Crawler says
Chocolate chips and chopped pecans?
Mary says
That could be good too! Let me know how you like it, if you try that!
JoAnn Krehbiel says
These are amazing! I've been waiting all weekend for you to post the recipe and couldn't wait to get them in the oven. They are so good I can't stop eating them! They taste buttery and decadent – I can't believe they are 5 simple ingredients – so good! These will definitely enter regular rotation in our home!
Mary says
I'm thrilled that you like them so much! I couldn't stop eating them either. These cookies are dangerous.
Hanna says
I had all the ingredients and whipped them up. So good!
Added bonus: my celiac kid could eat them. AND my girlfriend was over with her dairy free kid and she could eat them too! So delicious
Anonymous says
I don't have coconut oil and really want to make these asap can I substitute for something else?
Mary says
I'm guessing that melted butter will work just fine, but I haven't tried that yet myself. Let me know how it works if you try it!
Andrew McKelvey says
Did you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes??
Mary says
Regular sweetened coconut flakes. Happy Baking!
Anonymous says
That probably made all the difference! I made these with regular flaked coconut and they were not sweet enough.
Anonymous says
oven temperatre in centigrade ro faranheit
Krystal Rosario says
Definitely fahrenheit!
Cecilia Hasbun says
Nutrition facts or calories per cookie?
Mary says
That isn't information that I track, Cecilia. There are a number of recipe calculators online that will be able to figure that information for you.
reyfam1994 says
Just made these and very disappointed to find they won't combine together. Even baked half the mixture to see if they would after cooking them but no joy. Frustrating as not cheap ingredients.
Mary says
I'm sorry to hear that they aren't working for you. I've made them numerous times and they've worked well. You do need to press the dough together a bit, but they should hold together. Without being in your kitchen with you, it's hard to guess what might have gone wrong. Sorry they didn't turn out well for you.
Elizabeth Gilje says
These are amazing!!
I thought they seemed crumbly also, and went into the recipe expecting that, given the ingredients. I did discover that if I packed them pretty tight (gently) and then let them cool the full 10 minutes, they definitely started holding together better. And then I ate like, 5 of them.
Also, in order to make them "healthier" (see above mentioned self control), I used 1/4 organic sugar w/1 tbls molasses instead of the brown sugar. I also added flax meal. They still taste incredible.
Unknown says
I think you might be running into perhaps local humidity making a difference? I'd say if you're making them and they are not holding together for you, add a bit more moisture and try again! Sometimes we have to think on our feet in the kitchen js.
Gail says
I made these also and they didn’t hold together either. Happy to say that it made delicious topping for my Greek yogurt w/strawberries and blueberries and also to my oatmeal with blueberries. 🙂
Anonymous says
They are so tasty. Thank you so much for the recipe! I baked them for 15 minutes with 165 degrees C.
Anonymous says
I baked the whole batter in a 9×11 pan and had delicious bars/ baked oatmeal!
Anonymous says
I doubled the recipe, added vanilla and chocolate chips, pressed the dough balls firmly together and am struggling not to scarf them all down! Home run!
Anonymous says
I swapped the coconut flakes out for semisweet chocolate morsels, and I think it greatly enhances the coconut flavor.
Sharon says
I plan on making 2 different batches of these! one with coconut oil and one using butter! coconut oil can act as a diet aid and I sure don't need to lose weight! I think adding some crushed pineapple and chopped pecans would really be good too!
Mary says
The pineapple sounds great, Sharon! I make these with butter all the time too. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Anonymous says
Hi, I was wondering, if I double the ingredients, how much of pecans do I add? And maybe, coat the biscuits when they're cooled down in baking chocolate?
Mary says
I wouldn't add more than a cup of chopped pecans. (More than that might affect their ability to hold together.) I've dipped the bottoms in melted chocolate as well and it worked well.
Anonymous says
Oats are not naturally gluten free. You need to specify gluten free oats.
Anonymous says
These are baking right now! I can't wait to try them. I used gluten free oats and will drizzle with chocolate when they are cooled! I do have a question though. They didn't exactly stick together when I scooped them onto the mat is that normal?
Mary says
Yes, it's a crumbly dough. I just press them together a bit with my hands. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Helen Brindell says
My daughter has to do gluten free and my research shows that oats are naturally gluten free. However, they are usually processed in a factory that processes other gluten containing products. Therefore, if one needs a truly gluten free oat, they must look for a product that states " processed in a dedicated gluten free environment". Hope this helps.