Best Ever Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookie Recipe

The Best Ever Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookies

This easy coconut oatmeal lace cookie recipe is a family favorite. These cookies are delicately crisp and satisfyingly chewy. The combination of flavors creates the perfect mix of savory oatmeal and sweet coconut. Their gorgeous lacy texture makes them just as special to look at as they are to eat.

 

These coconut oatmeal lace cookies have the reputation in my husband’s family as being the best ever coconut oatmeal lace cookies anyone has ever tasted or ever WILL taste! To go a step further, they have a reputation for being the BEST COOKIES EVER, at least according to my husband’s cousin Steve’s account. 

Since I am such a huge cookie fan, I couldn’t wait to get the recipe from my mother-in-law and try it out. I decided to make these as Christmas treats, and the family literally went crazy over them.

History of Canned Coconut

There were a few funny things that happened as I tried to decipher my mother-in-law’s 30-year-old recipe. Fortunately, most of it was typed out. Unfortunately, some of it was handwritten. I thought she wrote a 40 oz. can of Bakers shredded coconut, which, yes, I should have known was wrong. But who am I to question Grandma Pat? So, I went to the baking aisle looking for 40 oz. of Bakers Sothern Style Canned Coconut.

The first thing I learned was that Bakers canned coconut no longer existed. But what WAS canned coconut? And why had my mother-in-law insisted on it as part of this age-old cherished recipe?

A Revolutionary Product

What I learned about this revolutionary new style of canned coconut was that it apparently changed coconut baking recipes at the time, and clearly for good! It was some time during the 1920’s when Bakers (and possibly other brands, I’m not sure) started selling shredded coconut in tin cans. This made a big difference from the previously known versions of shredded coconut that were described as ‘ dry, gritty, & powdery.’ This new coconut was so much moister. It promised to be much more like the fresh tender version of the real deal.

It certainly made baking with coconut an entirely new experience.

Fast forward to the next century and Baker’s shredded coconut doesn’t come in cans anymore, but fortunately it comes in bags and it has somehow, miraculously, maintained the same tenderness and moistness that everyone has come to love so much.

The 40 oz can turned out to be a “4 oz can.” Luckily, my husband loves to sprinkle shredded coconut on his oatmeal every morning. Needless to say, we are well-stocked in shredded coconut for the foreseeable future.

Canned Coconut Recipes

Around the time that canned coconut first became available, lots of new delicious coconut recipes popped up. Many new recipes developed focusing around this new, moist, incredibly fresh-tasting coconut. This includes my mother-in-law’s historic recipe for yummy coconut oatmeal lace cookies.

Once I got the ingredients, making the coconut oatmeal lace cookies was super easy.

Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookie Recipe:  Ingredients

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 6 oz shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 cups old fashioned Oatmeal
• 1 cup Butter, melted
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookie Recipe: Directions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   2. Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly.
   3. Add beaten eggs and melted butter. Blend well.
   4. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Do NOT skip this step. Greased cookie sheets won’t work.
   5. Drop small, rounded scoops onto parchment paper.
   6. Only place 6 cookies per sheet leaving lots of room for cookies to spread.
   7. Bake at 350 for about 7-9 minutes. Baking times can vary. Cookies should be somewhat golden brown but watch closely so they don’t burn.
   8. Let stand to cool 5 min before removing with spatula.

 

Options to Get Creative with Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookies

• Option: Try dipping one coconut oatmeal lace cookie ½ in chocolate for a fun extra treat.
• Drizzle with melted chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate.
• Dress up coconut oatmeal lace cookie with sprinkles or colored white chocolate to match any occasion.
• Or my personal favorite, sandwich two cookies with a layer of chocolate in between.

 

I already confessed to you all that I’m a huge cookie fan. I love to try out new cookie recipes. If you do as well, you might like to test out Roan’s Chocolate Almond Biscotti Recipe. As far as biscotti goes, these are utterly amazing and worth a try.

We Hope You Enjoy!

Even though we provided some ideas for how to get creative with our coconut oatmeal lace cookies, they really are amazing just on their own with a nice glass of milk. You can take them anywhere, a party, a house-warming gift, etc. But they are lovely to enjoy one at a time as a treat at home.

Let us know how they turn out. We can’t wait to hear.