Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Toasted Coconut Cookies are from another lost and found cookie recipe. Years ago this was my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe and quite popular with friends and family. People requested the cookies often, but after a while I got tired of making them and moved on.
Luckily I found my way back to the recipe and make these more often now. They're fairly dramatic in that they have a whole lot of coconut packed in, are large, and slightly irregular shaped -- some batches more than others. And I really like making variations. The latest batch was milk chocolate chips with Brazil nuts.
The Best Type Chocolate
These cookies are thick, dense, and sturdy enough to hold big chunks of good quality chocolate. In the past I've used Lindt Bars, Valrhona, Callebaut -- you name it. They're great high end dark chocolate or any kind. However, the oats and nuts add so much flavor, you can let the chocolate play a more subtle role and use regular chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips are great too.
Scooping the Dough
Also note that these have a ton of coconut and oats! Really pack the dough into the cup (or scoop) so that it will hold together. I started making these cookies long before I even owned a cookie scoop, but a cookie scoop is very useful because you can tightly pack the dough in it and use the trigger to push it out. This is my current favorite set of scoops.
Recipe
Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Toasted Coconut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweetened flaked or unsweetened coconut (I use slightly more than a cup)
- 1 cup pecan halves or other nuts
- 8 oz unsalted butter, cool room temperature** (228 grams)
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (200 grams)
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar (75 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (126 grams)
- 2 ¼ cups old-fashioned oats
- 2 cups dark or bittersweet chocolate chips or 12 oz coarsely chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toast the pecans and coconut. For the coconut, spread it on a rimmed cookie sheet or in a large baking pan and set it on lower rack of oven. Arrange the pecans on a second sheet and place on middle rack. Bake both pans together for 8-10 minute, checking and stirring the coconut every 3 minutes or so. The pecans should be ready in 8 minutes and the coconut will be ready when it starts to turn golden around the edges.
- If baking cookies right away, raise heat to 375 degrees F. If using convection, bake at 350 degrees F.
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add both sugars and beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Reduce speed of mixer, add eggs and beat until just until they are blended in. Scrape bowl again and add flour. Mix at low speed (or by hand) until blended. Stir in oats, toasted coconut, chocolate, and nuts
- Using about a ¼ cup measure or a large scoop, scoop up dough to form mounds. Chill the shaped balls/mounds until ready to bake. When ready to bake, arrange mounds 3 inches apart on parchment lined sheet, press down to about ½ inch and bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, turning once. These cookies go from pale to overcooked fairly quickly, so remove from oven when edges are browned and centers are still slightly pale. Mine are usually done in 14 minutes.
- For smaller cookies, use a medium size cookie scoop and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes, but I think these are best when made as larger cookies.
Anna says
Sheila, yes. I've made these as smaller cookies and they are okay. The bigger ones are better for some reason, but if you make them small just use 1 1/2 inch balls and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Amanda says
Wow those look fabulous! I'm a big fan of adding coconut to cookies, it add such nice chew!
Sheila in MD says
Do you think this will work as smaller cookies? I know for some jumbo cookie recipes...making them smaller results in a different texture. Thanks!
melissa says
These look amazing!!! I love coconut and oats and chocolate -- thanks for posting!
Heather - Ghost Baker says
These look FANTASTIC. can't wait to make them. chocolate + coconut + oats = my favorite things 🙂
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
Those big chucks of chocolate make these cookies look very tempting! Thanks for the recipe!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
bookmarked! these sound amazing!
Lilly says
Yum! I have to try this recipe. This cookie reminds me of my favorite jumbo oatmeal cookie from America's Test Kitchen, Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal cookies with pecans and dried cherries. I normally swap out the mix-ins to suit my mood. If I add about 3/4 cup sweetened coconut, I reduce the amount of brown sugar called for in the original recipe by a 1/4 cup and add only 1 cup.
Cookie Sleuth says
Yum! I've done coconut oatmeal, but I've never added chocolate.
Sue says
These look and sound like a cookie I would LOVE!! Mmmmmm!
Andrea says
Wow.. seriously, I really ghace to make these ones!
vanillasugar says
you know i love jumbo cookies. and coconut!!
Debbi says
It's funny, I am just about to make chocolate chip cookies from another blog and I feel like I am cheating on you or something. I feel like I need to check your blog for the best! These cookies look awesome! If I had coconut I would probably make these instead but instead, the milk chocolate chip cookies will be made instead. (if it's any consolation, you probably have a recipe that is similar.) 🙂
Jennifer says
Wow, those look good! I love oatmeal cookies, but being a raisin-hater, I prefer them with chocolate!
Heather says
ohhhhh. . . . MMMMMMMMM. Trying not to eat much sugar lately - but I might have to make these - they look awesome
Chris Mower says
Oh my gosh! I seriously want some of these right now. I just finished off a couple of Oreos while I watched my brother eat big fat homemade cc oatmeal cookies... so jealous.
Lisa Ernst says
Wonderful looking cookies. Some of my favorite chocolate chip recipes include oats and coconut along with lots and lots of chips. This looks like a "must try recipe" to me. Also, I like the idea of toasting the coconut in advance -- I haven't done that before when baking cookies. Will try next time, if I remember. 🙂