Written by Katie of Mexican Wildflower.
December holds many fond memories for me. I spent every Christmas growing up savoring my Grandma Stanley’s home cooked goodness while watching snow fall through her picture window. I may be a California girl living in Mexico, but I’m a Missouri girl at heart. My love for the Midwest runs deep in my veins. The people, the landscape, and the food are all a part of who I am.
Homemade, hearty, and simple foods that have been passed down for generations. Dishes like turkey n’ dumplings, biscuits with gravy, fresh bread, and hot yeast rolls are the foods of my childhood. There is a beauty in traditional recipes that connect the past with the present.
My Grandma was known for her delicious treats that she made each Christmas. I always knew to expect red-hot sugar cookies, chocolate peanut butter balls, chocolate covered pretzels, and my dad’s favorite, coconut oatmeal cookies when I walked into her house.
It’s been years since I’ve spent time in my Grandma’s kitchen but it still doesn’t feel like the holidays without at least one of those goodies. This year I am making her coconut oatmeal cookies.
These little delights are a blend of who I am – my Missouri Grandma’s cookies with my health consensus mom in mind, made in my tiny Mexico kitchen with my own nourishing twist.
For these cookies, I choose to use sucanat, sprouted flour and soaked oats. These ingredients make it easier for your body to process since they are whole, real foods. However, you can substitute brown sugar, unbleached white flour, and raw oats.
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies are a hearty cookie with a slight crunch from the shredded coconut flakes and soaked oats. Feel free to experiment a bit by adding dried cranberries, chocolate chips or walnuts if you want. I like to keep them plain and simple just like my Grandma did.
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies are a hearty cookie with a slight crunch from the shredded coconut flakes and soaked oats. Feel free to experiment a bit by adding dried cranberries, chocolate chips or walnuts if you want.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sucanat, rapadura or coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups sprouted whole wheat flour
- 1 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
- 1 cup soaked and ready oats
Method:
- In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together until creamed. (You can use a hand mixer but I do this by hand.) Add the baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract and salt. Stir or beat until combined
- Add the eggs and beat/stir until just combined; you don’t want to over mix the eggs.
- Add the flour and beat/stir in. Add the coconut flakes and oats. By this point it is best to use a spoon and not a mixer because the dough will be stiff. Stir until combined. (Now is the time to stir in your add-ins if you decide to do so.)
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Drop dough by using a rounded teaspoon or your hands, two inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
What cookies or foods hold special holiday memories for you? Are you going to be making them this year?
Hi, Katie! Great post, delicious sounding cookies! We are dairy free and I’m wondering your thoughts on subbing coconut oil for the butter. I’ve had a lot of success with many other cookie recipes, but I know that when recipes are heavily dependent upon butter (ie shortbread), the substitution doesn’t work out so well. Any thoughts or have you tried it?
Thanks Courtney! 🙂 Subbing coconut oil for the butter doesn’t work very well with this recipe. The one time I tried it the cookies turned out very brittle and spread out all over the baking sheet. You could try using palm oil shortening. My grandma would make these with half shortening/ half butter so that might work for you.
Looks yummy Katie! Thanks for the link love 🙂
Any time! I couldn’t have made the cookies without them! 🙂
Looks delicious – I love oatmeal cookies. I had completely forgotten red hot sugar cookies – I LOVE redhots… processed sugar and all.
Thamks Jackie! What can I say, redhots are special things…..
I love this post. It brings back so many special memories. I printed off the recipe and will try it later. (after we get back from MO. Hope we have a white Christmas!) 🙂
Thanks Mama! Hopefully Dad will like them! 😉