These coconut oatmeal cookies are so crunchy and crispy. They are just 4 ingredients and easy to make. They also don't contain any flour, eggs, butter or refined sugar.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Add oats to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle melted coconut oil evenly across. Using a spatula, stir the mixture briskly for about 20-30 seconds, stopping a few times to scrape the sides of your bowl, until all of the oats look slightly moistened with coconut oil. The oats only need a little oil so they should not look fully wet.
Add in the coconut and stir until evenly combined.
Drizzle the maple syrup across. Mix with your spatula until the oats and coconut are evenly coated in syrup and the oats start to clump together, about 20 seconds of stirring.
Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, pack 1 tbsp of oat mixture into your cookie scoop. Release onto your prepared baking sheet. The mixture will be loose and not fully hold together. Use the back of a metal spoon to press and shape the mixture until it becomes a thin round disk (about 1/4 inch thick). See photo in post for reference. Repeat with remaining mixture, spacing each about 1 inch apart. If your mixture is too sticky, you can wet the spoon lightly with water.
Bake the cookies for about 9-10 minutes or until the edges are browned and surface is lightly browned. The more brown the surface gets, the crispier the cookie will be but cooking them too long will cause the edges to get too dark.
Remove cookies from oven but don't attempt to move them from the baking sheet until they are fully cooled and set. If you try to remove them while they are still warm, the cookies will fall apart. Once they are cooled, the cookies will be fully set and should peel off the parchment paper/silicone mat easily. Once cookies are ready, enjoy right away or store them in an airtight container. Do not leave them unsealed because they will absorb moisture from the air and get soft and sticky.
Notes
Make sure to use quick oats and not rolled oats. If you only have rolled oats, you need to pulse them in a food processor until they become the consistency of quick oats. If you try to make the recipe with rolled oats, it will take a lot longer for the oats to crisp up and your coconut will burn because the coconut cooks a lot faster.
Make sure to mix the coconut oil in with the oats and not the shredded coconut. The shredded coconut does not need additional oil to crisp up.
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This recipe works best with maple syrup. Honey does work but the cookies don't turn as crispy and have a more chewy texture (like coconut macaroons). If you are okay with that, then you can substitute with honey (heat the honey in the microwave for a few seconds so that it becomes runny and easier to mix in).
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.