Chocolate Chip Cornflake Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Wordy name, tasty cookie made with toasted coconut, cornflakes, and oats.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lightly crushed cornflakes
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Set aside
- In a dry skillet, heat the cornflakes, coconut, and oats, stirring frequently, until they start to lightly brown and the coconut is very fragrant. Remove to a bowl and allow to cool completely (about 15 minutes).
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Whisk the flour and baking powder into the cornflake mixture. With the mixer on, stream in the dry ingredients until a thick batter forms. Fold in the chips.
- Drop on the prepared pans in 1 1/2 tablespoon blobs at least 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until just set and slightly browned around the edges.
- Carefully remove to a wire rack and cool completely.
Notes
The recipe can be easily and successfully doubled.
Do not use sweetened, flaked coconut! Unsweetened grated coconut is often labeled as "desiccated coconut" in health food stores or "international" markets.
I just lightly crushed some cornflakes in my hand as I added them to the measuring cup. You don't want true crumbs. Picture what the flakes would look like if you dropped the bag.
Somehow I am in possession of three boxes of cornflakes. I don’t think I’ve eaten a bowl of cereal in 15 years. I must have bought a box for a recipe, didn’t make it, stuck the box on the fridge, forgot I bought it, and bought more. Twice. At least generic cornflakes are only like $1.25 at Aldi for a huge box and they don’t expire for months.
I made these pretzel-cornflake bars a few weeks ago then asked for suggestions on Twitter on how to use up the rest of the cornflakes got a lot of helpful responses and Hilary (behind the lovely but no longer updated Nosh with Me) told me about Sprinkles Cupcakes’ cornflake oatmeal cookies and how amazing they were. I think there actually is a DC Sprinkles location but I’ve never been there and can’t imagine I’ll be there any time soon but from what I saw on their website, it looked pretty straight forward.
I never would have thought of pairing cornflakes with oatmeal. Milk Bar has a cornflake cookie I had made a home version of years ago but it didn’t have oatmeal in it. Time for experimenting!
I liked the cornflake and oatmeal idea but if I am honest, every time I made a cookie that doesn’t have chocolate in it, I’m disappointed. I like sugar cookies and I loved these butterscotch mace cookies I made recently and these lemon-ricotta cookies are some of my all-time favorites but I still missed chocolate. Like I would make them, enjoy them and then want a candy bar. I’ve accepted this about myself.
Clearly, I needed to add chocolate to the oatmeal-cornflake cookie. While I was at it, I added coconut not only for more flavor but to give them a bit of a chewy texture. I am so glad I did! This cookie is a real mix of textures and flavors, all of them delightful.
The real trick is to toast your oats, coconut, and cornflakes first. It takes that “raw” flavor right out of the oats and brings out the oils in the coconut. Plus it makes the house smell divine. It’s a little extra work but completely worth it for a more complex tasting cookie. The cookie has a salty-sweet thing going thanks to the cornflakes and if you’d want to enhance that, I’d add a sprinkle of flaked sea salt on top. I didn’t and it’s great without it but if you are a real salty-sweet lover, try it and report back.
Cookies really are the perfect pandemic dessert. They are made with easy to find pantry ingredients (and basics like butter and eggs), very quick to make and store well in an air tight container for a few days. I think we can all do with a treat right about now.
