If you love coconut, boy are you in for a treat today! These easy Almond Joy Cookies take just four ingredients and don’t even require a mixer! No beating, no chilling, just mix ’em up and throw ’em in the oven EASY! You’re going to love these ooey gooey fabulous cookies!
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I’ve got a major coconut lover in my life – my Dad. He loves all things coconut: coconut cream pie, coconut macaroons, raspberry coconut magic bars and especially these easy Almond Joy Cookies. These cookies are crazy easy to make and bake up to ooey gooey perfection.
So no flour, no eggs, no butter…what the heck is in these cookies you ask? Chocolate chips, coconut, almonds, and sweetened condensed milk – that’s it! I scoop the cookies right onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and off they go for about 12 to 14 minutes. When the bottoms starts to look golden brown and you seem some of the coconut with brown tips – it’s time to come out!
After scooping out the cookies with my cookie scoop, I wet my fingertips and kind of pat the cookies into more of a disc shape. The cookies are the same shape going in as they are coming out so it’s up to you!
If you love coconut, you simply have to give these a try! See how easy these are to make!
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Almond Joy Cookies - Just 4 Ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz bag sweetened coconut flakes
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup chopped lightly salted almonds I used Blue Diamond Low Sodium Lightly Salted - light blue bag
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk regular or fat-free works
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine coconut, chocolate chips, almonds, and sweetened condensed milk.
- Stir until combined.
- Scoop out dough with a cookie scoop onto prepared baking sheet.
- Moisten the tips of your fingers with water and shape into discs. Pat the tops flat.
- Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until tips of coconut are just starting to turn golden brown.
- Let cool on baking sheet.
- Store cookies in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
More delicious coconut recipes!
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Chris Hoover says
Just made these exactly the way the recipe stated. Had to throw away almost all of them,couldn’t get them off the parchment paper! So sad and frustrated??
Cheryl says
I Just had same problem with them sticking. They are fresh out of the oven, stuck to the paper. By the time I started my third batch I sprayed lightly with olive oil. I’m not going to throw the ones stuck to paper, maybe figure out a solution.
Cheryl says
Lift the parchment paper off the cookie sheet or baking pan. Place the paper with the cookies on it on a hot, damp towel. Let the cookies sit on the hot towel for several minutes. Gently remove the cookies from the parchment paper.
Whew… No wasting cookies here worked like a charm.
Nicole says
Thanks for the damp towel idea. Worked better. Definitely did not slide right off but peeled off better and didn’t have to peel little pieces off the cookies.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hi Cheryl! Are you sure you used parchment paper and not waxed paper? Nothing should stick at all to parchment paper – the cookies should just slide off. I’m so glad you found a way to save them though!!
Pam says
I have never had cookies stick to parchment paper and these cookies are yumm5,let cooked them real light and very good results
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Excellent!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Chris it sounds like you may have used waxed paper? They should absolutely slide right off if you used parchment.
Nicole says
I had the same problem.i had 4 good ones out of the whole batch
Brenda says
I love these! I even used unsweetened coconut, because that’s what I had, and mini chocolate chips, because that’s what I had, and halved the recipe, so I kind of eyeballed the measurements, and they still turned out great!
Chris Hoover says
How did you get them off the parchment paper????
Diana says
I tried this with dark chocolate morsels and frozen coconut with the sweetened condensed milk. I used the slivered almonds and chopped them. I cannot get it to not be runny. Please help? I can’t figure it out as I am using the right amount of ingredients but just tends to be way too much moistened!!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Frozen coconut? That won’t work here. You need shredded coconut from the baking aisle.
Diana says
Thank you! I will try that next time. They were good any way even if it was a mess my first go around… LOL!
Marie Geraldine LeBlanc says
Oh no! All the milk ran down on the parhment paper….what a mess!
Diana says
Same thing happened to me too.
Diana says
I am wondering if it will work better if you use less sweetened condensed milk. Just add it as you’re mixing everything but just enough of it and not the whole can.
Lori says
Make sure the can you’re using says “sweetened condensed milk” not just “condensed milk” and definitely don’t substitute regular milk. Sweetened Condensed Milk is thick, like, too thick to run. You can’t even pour it out of a can. You have to scoop it out. But regular “condensed milk” is just evaporated milk is a lot runnier. If you use the “sweetened condensed” (Eagle Brand is very reliable) it will not be possible for it to run. It’s thicker than yogurt.
Lhise Schmitz says
I tried this recipe and triple checked the amounts but they still ran all over and stuck to the parchment paper. I used Eagle scm too. ?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I’m not sure what to tell you… Absolutely nothing sticks to parchment paper so first I would check your box and see if it actually is parchment paper. Second, I have made this recipe SO many times, and have had zero problems. So have thousands of other people 🙂 Other than telling you to check your ingredients – again… Did you watch the video? Did your cookie “dough” look like mine? I just posted the video again yesterday on Facebook, you can see the comments there if that will help. https://www.facebook.com/MomOnTimeout/posts/1189284464489010
Mary says
It may be possible that it’s the weather where they live. Humidity can affect baking.
My question is: Have you made these with unsweetened coconut?
Karen says
I followed directions to the letter. Mine didn’t stick but the SCM ran out of the cookies as the baked. They aren’t cookies at all. The bottoms did not brown. Slightly browned on top. Eating them with a spoon.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Check your measurements Karen 🙂
Kelly says
Mine too! I have one giant pan of mess 🙁
Zoe Pickburn says
These look gorgeous, I love coconut 🙂 Would it work with dried fruit in place of chocolate?
Ken says
Just made these, and if they are not the BESTCOOKIE I ever ate, they are pretty darn close. The only substitution I made was to use bitter sweet chips, instead of semi sweet,. Because, I was concerned that they would be overly sweet. Cookies were a cross between Mounds and Almond Joy
Thanks for the recipe
Mary says
I wanted to make the almond joy cookies vegan for my niece, so I was going to use sweetened condensed coconut milk, couldn’t find it, I used sweetened heavy coconut cream and vegan dark chocolate chips, I kept baking them and they looked greasy and weren’t browning or sticking together, baked them almost 30 min before they looked brown and cookie like! In the end they did come out great!
Michelle says
Could these be made into bar cookies??
Robbin says
Yes, definitely. I now do it that way every time. One recipe just about does a quarter sheet pan – don’t worry if it doesn’t go all the way to the edges. Let it cool most of the way and then slice into bars. It’s MUCH less messy this way.
I also use unsweetened coconut – the amount of sugar in this recipe is enough to send sometime into diabetic shock! LOL The unsweetened coconut makes it just right in terms of sweetness.
Trish, I have never found a bag of 14 oz unsweetened coconut, so I just use the 8 oz bag that is standard. I add the condensed milk until it looks “right” so that the bars are not too soggy. So somewhat less than half a can.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
So many great tips! That’s so funny about the coconut – I’ve never even seen an 8 oz bag lol! It’s 14 oz here in California at every store I go to.
Audrey says
If made into bars, how long should they be baked and at what temp?
Lisa says
Audrey, I baked mine at 375 for about 20 minutes, but I was looking for something more like a biscotti than a chewy cooking. After 20 minutes I turned the oven off but left the cookie pan in there. It turned out EXACTLY like I wanted! Not too sweet, crunch with just a little chew. perfect with coffee – AND red wine 🙂
Dawn McDowell says
I don’t have salted almonds. Should I just add some salt or would plain chopped almonds do. Thank you
Erin Perry says
Do you think cashews would work as a substitute for the almonds? I am allergic to all nuts but cashews oddly enough 🙂
Glenda Holcomb says
I don’t see why you couldn’t do that. I’m allergic to nuts and am simply leaving the almonds out. Going to call them “Mounds Cookies”… 🙂
Bronwyn says
That’s what I’m planning to do too. While the almonds would be lovely, for me there’s nothing like coconut and chocolate. We’ll see!
valerie says
How far a head can you make them?
Jane Castelli says
Sounds yummy. Can these be frozen?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I haven’t tried Jane but I don’t see why not.
Barbara Clark says
Trish, I saw your Almond Joy Cookies on Pinterest. I am interested in your cookbook.
I am one who likes baking simply and making salads. I am wanting some ‘simple recipes’ to start
cooking more. It is just me, but I want to start making some nice meals for friends and pot luck
dinners.
I am NOT computer savvy and know very little about Pinterest. I truly don’t know how to print off
the Almond Joy Cookies. If you have the time, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks…………….
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hi Barbara! The print button is directly below the image where the recipe is located. Just click on the buttton. If it doesn’t print for some reason, right click and select “print”. That should do it!
jr says
Barbara, on the printable page if it still doesn’t want to print (like my computer) press ctrl, shift,p at the same time, a menu to print will pop up and it works for me.
Jenny says
Hi I made these cookies only exchanged the semi sweet chocolate chips for dark and condensed milk for coconut milk (which is a normal substitute I’m told) but the cookies are not cookies! I have to eat with a fork or my fingers! Do you think it’s the milk!? I love this recipe but am not getting a cookie:(
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Coconut milk is definitely not a substitution for sweetened condensed milk which would explain why the recipe didn’t turn out. The dark chocolate substitution is perfectly fine though 🙂
Lori says
Did you use parchment? Or waxed paper? They look the same but they’re different, and waxed paper will stick.
Chantal says
I used waxed paper and got a terrible mess. I had to eat the (wonderful) cookies off the waxed paper; it would not separate. I guess there really must be a difference between it and parchment paper because no one else mentioned this awful problem. Good cookies though.
Nicole Gray says
I just did the same thing! Lol I should have paid more attention. Waxed paper was AWFUL. We’ve been eating them with a spoon, still delicious! ?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yep, parchment paper is a must but I’m glad you’re still enjoying the cookies!
Nancy says
Condensed milk is more thicker while coconut milk is thinner and will probably be runny. Maybe that is why it is not making cookies…
Analee says
I found the same thing. I used your tip to water my fingertips to shape the cookies before placing in the oven. They came out pretty flat. Still tasty, but not a cookie. Moreso a very textured almond joy pancake. The second batch I tried shaping without the water, and they came out the same. Any tips? Anyone else have this happen?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
There is no baking powder or soda – the cookies are the same shape going is as they are coming out.
Melissa says
These taste good, but they stick really badly to the pan that has parchment paper on it, and then I even tried greasing the paper on the pan. I’m pretty much shaving off the bottom of every cookie. So sad.
Laurie says
You might try greasing and flouring the pan. I make a different type of coconut drop cookie, and that`s what I do and it works great.
Lori says
Did you use parchment? Or waxed paper? They look the same but they’re different, and waxed paper will stick.
Debbie says
I made these as instructed on parchment paper. The ingredients ran and it looked like one big cookie. So I tried it on.a greased pan.and this helped. I did take a spatula to them shortly after removing fro the oven to keep them from sticking. They sure didn’t look like the ones shown on this recipe.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Might want to double check your measurements then Debbie. Not sure where you went wrong…
Candy says
I have tried several times after wasting money and they do not hold together and stick to everything I’ve tried.
Grace says
Just grease the cookie sheet. When they are cooled, use a thin spatula dipped in water to remove the cookies from the sheet. I may try spraying the spatula with vegetable oil the next time I make these.
Tabitha says
I didn’t have parchment paper and cooked these on my silpat. The first batch stuck and the second batch cooked longer to get a darker ring as shown in the picture. Once the second batch cooled, i could easily peel the cookies off. So the silicone lined sheet needs a few minutes more. Also fyi in case it also sticks to parchment when underbaked.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
The silpat will work but I still prefer parchment 🙂 Thanks for the info!
Deborah says
Can I use coconut cream to substitute the condensate milk? If not, what can I use?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
No you cannot. I really can’t think of a substitute for SCM.
Abby says
Nature’s Charm has a Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk. It’s dairy and soy free. I’m going to try it, fingers crossed! 🙂
Donna says
How did it work?
Abby says
They turned out beautifully! I’m making them again for Christmas 🙂
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Love it! We’ll be enjoying a batch on Christmas as well 🙂
Rebecca H says
Do they cool first. Batch stuck to the pan ??
Elizabeth says
Did the substitution work?
Elizabeth says
How good were they when you used the coconut milk?
Abby says
These were amazing with the coconut sweetened condensed milk, but I also used unsweetened coconut flakes. I can’t imagine them any sweeter! The Nature’s Charm can is a little smaller than regular sweetened condensed milk, so I did add a little evaporated coconut milk (also Nature’s Charm) because I needed more moisture to add the almonds. They were a hit!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Awesome Abby!