For some of us (like me!) shredded coconut is one of those ingredients you get for one recipe and then forget about forever. No more! Assess how much coconut you have and see how it might square with the recipes below, all organized by the volume of coconut they call for. Whether energy snacks, cookies, muffins or even diy coconut milk is the ticket, we’ll make quick work of those extra shreds and flakes–with thanks to the food bloggers who shared their images for this post!
At the top of each recipe you’ll see what type of coconut the recipe calls for, whether that’s shredded, desiccated, flaked, sweetened, unsweetened, etc. Depending on the recipe and your own willingness to go off script, you may be able to substitute them for each other.
¼ cup shredded coconut
Raw Chocolate Orange Energy Bars
The backbone of this recipe is a combination of dates and nuts, but coconut flakes play a supporting role. Veronika at the Healthful Ideas blog also includes ideas for extras you can work in if you have them: things like “hemp seeds, other nuts or seeds, coconut oil, cacao butter, chlorella, maca, lucuma, mesquite or any other superfood powders.” She writes, “These aren’t just delicious, they’re also nutritious…these are the perfect snack to pack to work, I mean, the title says it all — energy bars.”
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Coconut Milk Smoothie Recipe
Bananas, nut butter, coconut milk, coconut flakes and some vanilla extract (“to make it taste like dessert”), are all you need for this smoothie from LauraFuentes.com. “It’s perfect for after a workout or even as a meal replacement since it’s packed with nutrition and you can add more protein for recovery,” Laura writes. The recipe calls for unsweetened coconut flakes, but if you’re comfortable with the added sugar, we’re guessing sweetened flakes would be nice too.
½ cup+ sweetened coconut flakes
Coconut muffins
These muffins come together fast and are great for breakfast, according to the recipe developers at I Heart Eating. You’ll need buttermilk and ideally coconut extract, but I’m guessing you could sub vanilla extract if need be. The recipe is for coconut flakes, but if you try it with shredded coconut, let me know how it goes!
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus extra for topping
15-Minute Chocolate Avocado Energy Bars (GF, No Refined Sugar)
“The avocado is our surprise ingredient here, as basically nobody ever guesses an avocado ever touched this,” writes Amy at Chew Outloud. The recipe itself includes flexibility on the type of nuts, and we’re guessing you could play with other seeds and dried fruits as well, and use sweetened shredded coconut if that’s all you had and you were down with the extra sugar. Feel free to sneak in some other goodies too. Amy says: “These nutrient-dense bars are sweetened only with dates (unless you want to sprinkle in some chocolate chips, which nobody will complain about.)”
⅓ cup shredded coconut and ⅓ cup desiccated coconut
Coconut Bark
Sweet Caramel Sunday has a nice recipe for coconut bark, with precise volumes of chocolate, shredded coconut and desiccated coconut. But if you have stray volumes of chocolate and any kind of coconut, I say use the recipe as a loose guide and experiment away!
¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut
German Chocolate Cookies
Chopped semisweet or German chocolate and pecans are the only special ingredients you’ll need for these cookies, which otherwise rely on pantry staples. While the recipe calls for sweetened shredded coconut, Kate over at I Heart Eating notes that unsweetened is fine too; you’ll just, obviously, get a less sweet cookie. She writes, “Aside from tasting great, the cookies are also really easy to make! They can be made in one bowl, and there’s no mixer required to whip up these yummy cookies.”
1 cup or less sweetened or unsweetened coconut (any kind)
Clear-out-the-kitchen Oatmeal Cookies
These cookies from right here at EatOrToss will gobble up extra coconut and anything else (crumbs at the bottoms of cereal and snack bags, dried fruit, broken pretzels, etc.) you’re brave enough to throw in. The recipe is delicious and forgiving, so feel free to go crazy.
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Gluten-free No Bake Bird’s Nest Cookies
Built on a nest of oats and shredded coconut and requiring no baking, “these adorable treats taste great and are so much fun to make with your kids,” writes Adrienne over at Whole New Mom. “Better yet, it’s such a flexible recipe. With easy substitutions, they can work for almost any special diet.” She gives lots of options for the nests’ cute little “eggs,” ranging from candied almonds to jelly beans to blueberries.
1 cup (or much more) coconut flakes
Easiest Coconut Milk Recipe
You can turn any amount of extra coconut flakes into coconut milk with this recipe from Adrienne at Whole New Mom. Adrienne points out that it can be as simple as blending the coconut milk with water, or you can follow the special steps she describes to make it smoother.
1.5 cups (copycat Mounds bars) and 1 ⅔ cups (copycat Almond Joy bars)
Copycat Mounds and Almond Joy Bars
Love Mounds and/or Almond Joy bars and have coconut you need to use up? Whole New Mom has more recipes that will help you turn your extras into healthier copycats of the originals. These recipes calls for low-carb sweetener, but if you don’t have that, we’re guessing you could experiment with some sugar. Here’s the Mounds bar recipe. Here’s the Almond Joy recipe. And even if you don’t have the exact amount of coconut called for in the recipe, she told me, “No matter what amount of coconut you have, you can change the batch size for this recipe and make it work. You can even reduce the amount of coconut topping!”
1 cup shredded coconut AND 1 cup desiccated coconut
Coconut fudge
Shredded coconut and desiccated coconut play with chocolate, condensed milk and butter in this recipe from Sweet Caramel Sunday. She differentiates between shredded and desiccated coconut, but I say just work with what you have and it seems hard to go wrong.
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Zesty Lemon Coconut Energy Balls
Throw coconut flakes, cashews, dates, lemon juice and lemon zest into a food processor and you’ll be on your way to a nutrient dense snack, per this recipe from the Healthful Ideas blog. Feel free to experiment too. Other types of nuts or nut butters, as well as dried fruit would definitely be at home here. “I love making energy balls because there are endless flavor combinations and they’re so easy to make!” Veronika writes.
2 ¼ cups unsweetened coconut flakes
No-bake coconut truffles
These coconut truffles from Melanie Cooks call for just four ingredients and zero time in the oven. Though you will want to chill them in the fridge so they can firm up. Poke around on Melanie’s site and you’ll find another version of this recipe with dates and cocoa. She also has a recipe for super simple coconut macaroons that are made with only two ingredients: sweetened condensed milk and coconut.
3 ½ cups sweetened, shredded coconut
Birds Nest Cookies for dessert lovers
This is the second Birds Nest Cookies recipe, and arguably the more indulgent sweet-tooth-oriented one on the list. In this take from Chew Outloud, the “nest” is mostly coconut and the cookies are baked before they’re filled with Nutella and sweet little “eggs.” They look so cute!
4 ⅔ cups sweetened, shredded coconut (about one 14 ounce bag)
Super easy 4-ingredient chocolate chip macaroons
Mixing sweetened condensed milk and shredded coconut makes for a super fast macaroon in Melanie Cooks’ recipe. Just add in vanilla extract and chocolate chips and you’re on your way.
6 cups (24 ounces) sweetened, flaked coconut
Ambrosia Macaroons (gluten free)
Here’s a classic macaroon recipe where pantry staples, chocolate and some orange zest are all you need. Binkys Culinary Carnival’s recipe includes instructions for a dairy or dairy free chocolate glaze.
7 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
DIY Coconut butter
If you have a lot of coconut, some coconut oil and a blender, you’re well on your way to DIY coconut butter. Adrienne at Whole New Mom points out, “Depending on the size of your blender/food processor you can really use almost any amount of coconut for this recipe!”
10 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
Macaroon Kiss Cookies
With loads of loads of coconut, as well as Hershey kisses, cream cheese, orange juice and some baking staples, you can make these cookies from The Cookin’ Chicks.
