Grandma Krause’s Coconut Cookies

Total Time

Prep: 40 min. + freezing Bake: 10 min./batch

Makes

about 3-1/2 dozen

Updated: Nov. 10, 2023
When my two daughters were young, their great-grandma made them coconut cookies with oats. Thankfully, she shared the recipe. —Debra Dorn, Dunnellon, Florida

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, beat shortening and sugars until blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture. Stir in oats and coconut.
  2. Divide dough into 4 portions. On a lightly floured surface, shape each into a 6-in.-long log. Wrap in waxed paper; freeze 2 hours or until firm.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap and cut dough crosswise into 1/2-in. slices, reshaping as needed. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Coconut Cookies Tips

Can you use toasted shredded coconut to make coconut cookies?

Adding toasted coconut gives these delicious cookies even more flavor! Consider swapping out all of the coconut in the recipe with toasted coconut, or do half toasted, half untoasted. You can also use unsweetened coconut, but the flavor is much more subtle when it's not sweetened. Sweetened coconut also tends to be soft and moist from the added sugar, while unsweetened has a drier texture. Find out the difference between flaked coconut versus shredded.

What else can you add to coconut cookies?

Try mixing some finely chopped, toasted nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pecans into these cookies. Chopped white chocolate also works well here, as do mini semisweet chocolate chips. Whatever you mix in, be sure it's smaller in size so that you can slice the cookie rounds easily prior to baking. (Chunkier additions make this a bit tricky.)

How should you store coconut cookies?

You can freeze the unbaked rolls of cookie dough, well wrapped, for up to a month. Slice and bake whenever you're ready for a sweet treat. Once they're baked, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in your freezer for up to 6 months.

—Mark Neufang, Taste of Home Culinary Assistant

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 124 calories, 6g fat (2g saturated fat), 9mg cholesterol, 66mg sodium, 17g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.