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Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free option)

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A childhood favorite, this soft and chewy oatmeal cookie is made into a gluten-free cookie and loaded with coconut, cranberries and a touch of cinnamon for a Fall-flavored or Holiday oatmeal cookie. These Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies are sweet, chewy, thick.. basically everything you are looking for in a classic oatmeal cookie!

Cookies on a tray

What’s your favorite cookie to make during the Holidays?

I know a lot of people who make different types of Oatmeal Cookies. But my family growing up? There was no oatmeal cookies for us!

My Dad is a chocolate chip cookie-aholic. My Mom isn’t even into sweets that much (I swear, we are related! Somehow…). So all the cookies that she made were for him and us kids. Which means Chocolate Chip Cookies 24/7.

I love Chocolate Chip Cookies. So, don’t get me wrong here.

Oatmeal Cookies though? That’s another classic that is RIGHT up there with Chocolate Chip… 

Now, I love Oatmeal Cookies. I love how chewy and totally loaded they are. Best of all, I love making different flavor combinations with them.

I’ve got tons of different Oatmeal Cookie recipes, like:

You really can’t go wrong with a good Oatmeal Cookie.

This time, I’m sharing the recipe for these Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. They’re thick, chewy, and loaded with shredded coconut, dried cranberries, and a little cinnamon. They’re sort of like Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, taken to the next level (and since I’m not a fan of raisins, I’d say they’re 1000 times better than Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!).

They’re quick and easy to make and oh so cozy. Whip these up for a simple Fall treat or another Christmas Cookie to add to your Cookie trays.

Cookie dough in a bowl and on a plate

Let’s chat about making these cookies and a few options you’ve got.

First, to make these Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies gluten-free be sure to use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend and certified gluten-free rolled oats. If you don’t need them to be gluten-free, you can use regular flour and rolled oats instead.

To make these cookies dairy-free, you can use a dairy-free butter alternative stick (like Earth Balance) or coconut oil.

These cookies are quick and easy to make, just like any other cookie recipe really.

There is one little trick with these though. After adding the oats, dried cranberries and shredded coconut the batter will get really thick. (Use those muscles!) Continue to firmly stir the dough together till everything is evenly distributed among the batter. The batter will be really thick, totally loaded, and it may seem like the cookies will not turn out right.

Not to worry though, these cookies turn out great every time. They should spread just right and leave you with thick, loaded, chewy, oatmeal cookies at the end.

Want to make them a little extra fancy?

Try adding white chocolate. It goes wonderfully with cranberries and coconut. 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips would really seal the deal.

You can also dip one half of each cookie in melted white chocolate, or you can drizzle melted white chocolate across the tops. If you want the cookies to be a little festive, add some sprinkles on top of the white chocolate before it dries.

Stack of four cookies

Everyone likes cookies. You can’t go wrong with cookies. These easy Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies are thick, chewy, sweet (but not too sweet). Easily made gluten-free and dairy-free too, so everyone can have one.

After you’ve made them, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and/or rating below, and/or find me on Instagram and tag me in your cookie picture. I love to see what ya’ll make!

Looking for other Holiday dessert ideas before you go? Check out my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars and Thumbprint Cookies.

4.72 from 7 votes
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Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free option)
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
12 mins
Total Time
27 mins
 
Servings: 18 medium cookies
Calories: 138 kcal
Author: Chelsea Green
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular flour)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
Instructions

  1. To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and spray two pans with non-stick spray (or line with parchment paper).

  2. In a large mixing bowl, add your butter, brown sugar and white sugar and beat together with a mixer till creamy. Add your vanilla and egg and beat together again briefly.

  3. To the same bowl, add your flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and stir together till you have a smooth cookie dough. Add your oats, cranberries and coconut, and stir together till everything is well distributed throughout.

  4. Scoop into cookie balls and spread them evenly apart on your pans (with no more than 12 cookies per pan).

  5. Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes, or till the tops have set and the edges have turned golden.

  6. Let them cool for a few minutes and then devour!

Recipe Notes

Stored in an airtight container these cookies taste best within 4 days.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrea N. says

    Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly using coconut oil. I decided to add the zest of an orange and some chopped pecans. Made these extra special!

    Reply

  3. Ruth says

    Well, if you like a cakey cookie then these are for you. They have great flavor. That said, at 57 years old and cooking since I was a teen, I can kind of spot a questionable recipe. This looked too heavy on flour and too light on oats. I wish I had listened to my gut and just adapted the Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal cookie recipe. My family prefers either chewy or crunchy cookies not cakey ones.

    Reply

  4. Gail says

    These are delicious!! I used coconut oil I think these are perfect with a cup of coffee for breakfast!! All the food groups represented !!🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

    Reply

  5. Sunny says

    if I use coconut oil instead of butter do i need to melt it first (as the coconut oil is stored in the fridge, it’s quite hard when in low temp), thanks

    Reply

  6. Mark H says

    How do they work as a smaller cookie? I want to make something along these lines for a sweet table selection. What I make has to be gluten, milk, and nut free. TY

    Reply

  7. Linda says

    These were delicious! I added some chopped candied ginger and it turned out well. Next time I will flatten the cookie dough balls a little with a fork so they spread out a little more while baking (I just dropped balls onto the sheet and they turned out a little thick and didn’t spread much), and will also add some chopped walnuts

    Reply

    • Chelsea Green says

      Hi Dawnette. I haven’t tried these cookies with oat flour, so I’m not sure how they would turn out. I would think it would work, however oat flour soaks up wet ingredients more than an all purpose flour, so you may need to add a little more sugar or butter/oil to the dough to make it work.

      Reply

  12. Donna Molder says

    I just made these and used Smart Balance plant butter in place of coconut oil. They are delicious!!

    Reply

  13. Autumn says

    So I did everything you said to in the instructions but I used coconut flour (gluten free) they did not turn out:( they stayed in the little ball form and didn’t even spread out in the oven after ten minutes. I am guessing it was the coconut flour ????

    Reply

    • Chelsea Green says

      Hi Autumn. Yes, coconut flour definitely won’t work! It soaks up liquids a LOT so you would’ve needed way less coconut flour for the cookies to work. I’d recommend google searching for a coconut flour cookie recipe 🙂 I have a few paleo cookies that are coconut flour and almond flour based but none with just coconut flour.

      Reply

    • Terri says

      Same here! I didn’t realize I couldn’t use coconut flour 🙁 I’ll try them again with regular gluten free flour.

      Reply

    • Chelsea Green says

      Hi Michelle, that’s a great question. I haven’t made these particular cookies into a bar, although I’ve done that with other cookie recipes and it does work usually. You could try baking them about 20-25 minutes at 350 instead, and see if that works. Best of luck, hope this helps!

      Reply

    • Chelsea Green says

      Hi Ginger. Fresh cranberries should be okay, but they may affect the texture of the cookies from the liquid in the cranberries. They may also not keep as long (I would store the cookies in the fridge then). I’ve only used dried cranberries, sorry I can’t be of more help!

      Reply

  18. Linda Tanzini0 says

    I’m with you on the cookies! Every christmas I make about 14 or so different kinds of gluten free cookies. Some kinds are double batched if they are voted favorites. Started tradition many years ago before baking glugen free. When my grown daughter learnned she was gluten intollerent I converted many of our favorites to gf. I just got addicted and kept adding to the list. We pass out many trays of cookies. It’s a tradition every one looks forward to even gluten eaters who say they’re even better than regular gluten filled.After finding your blog I now plan on experimenting with more oat flour. I mostly make my own mix of brn rice flour anf tapioca and potato starch and add xanthan gum to indivigual recipes but oat flour is healthy change. Can’t wait to try your recipes. Sorry for such a long tutorial but you got me on the cookie vote. God bless,Li da

    Reply

    • Chelsea Green says

      Thanks for sharing Linda! You reminded me of my own family – my Mom makes a TON of cookies during the Holidays and has also learned to adapt many of them to be gluten-free now too. I hope you find some recipes here to add to your collection! 🙂

      Reply

    • Lorna says

      Hi! I made this for New Year’s Eve and instead of 1 egg, I use flax eggs (means 1 1/2 tbsp flaxseed meal 4 tbsp water). They came out awesome. I added a touch of pumpkin pie spice (home made) too. Everybody was enjoying them including my husband, my 9 year’s old nephew and my almost 3 year’s old toddler. ????

      Thank you Chelsea for this recipe!!! ????

      Reply

  21. Michelle says

    looking forward to trying your recipe. A couple of questions, do you use unsweetened shredded coconut ? And unsalted butter? Thank you

    Reply

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