Crunchies with oats and coconut are delicious treats that you can whip up in next to no time. And the beauty of this recipe is that you can make these crunchies exactly as you like them. Take them out of the oven early and you have soft and chewy slices... leave them in a bit longer and they turn into crispy crunchy biscuits.

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Crunchies
I love this recipe - it's like having two recipes in one. Depending on how long you bake these crunchies, you can either have chewy slices, reminiscent of the English flapjack, or crunchy biscuits that beg to be dunked in a cup of tea.
Either way, they taste amazing. They are packed with oats and coconut, and sweetened with golden syrup. And as a bonus, crunchies are so quick to make. The dough mixes up in only 5 minutes, and with 20 minutes in the oven, you can enjoy freshly baked crunchies in less than half an hour.
Crunchies are also great for making with the kiddies. You don't need to be too exact with the measurements, so the little ones can even measure the ingredients themselves. And because it's all hands-on mixing they can roll up their sleeves and get stuck in with the mixing too. There's also no rolling and cutting involved - just mix, press into a baking tray and bake - instant cookies in no time!!!
How to make crunchies
This recipe for crunchies makes 24 pieces. If you want to make a bigger batch, just double the ingredients. Get the exact measurements and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Gather together the ingredients. You will need:
- Oats - you will need proper oats that have to be boiled - don't use instant oats - they won't give the same results.
- Coconut - desiccated coconut (not fresh)
- Plain Flour -not self-raising flour
- Sugar - plain white sugar is fine, if you have brown sugar you can use that for extra flavour.
- Butter - butter obviously gives a better flavour, but if you only have margarine you can use that instead. It would have to be a brick of margarine though, don't use the soft spread.
- Golden Syrup - this is a must for the lovely gooey texture and flavour it provides.
- Cinnamon - optional - if you don't like it, leave it out.
- Salt - likewise!
- Bicarbonate of soda - don't mistake this for baking powder.
- Milk - this is mixed with the bicarbonate of soda.
Step-by-step instructions
- Measure oats, flour, sugar, coconut, salt and cinnamon into a mixing bowl (image 1) and stir to combine (image 2).
- Melt the butter and golden syrup together until the butter is completely melted and then pour into the dry ingredients.
- Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the milk and pour into the mixture (image 3).
- Mix well until thoroughly combined (image 4). You will probably have to use your hands for this. The mixture should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand. If it is too dry and does not hold together, add another splash of milk.
- Line a ½" (1cm) deep, 9" x 13" (23m x 33cm) baking tray with baking parchment. This will enable you to remove the baked crunchies from the tray easily (image 1).
- Press the mixture evenly into the tray, ensuring you press it well down, and into the corners.
- Bake in a preheated oven (180C / 350F) for 20 minutes. This will give you a soft chewy slice (image 2).
- If you want to make them crispy, bake for an extra 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cut into squares while still warm (image 3).
- Once the crunchies are cool enough to handle, remove from the baking tray and allow to cool on a wire rack (image 4).
- Store in an airtight container.
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📋The recipe
Oat and Coconut Crunchies
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- 9" x 13" Baking sheet
- Spatula / wooden spoon
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
- 1½ cups / 150 grams / 360 ml coconut
- ½ cup / 70 grams / 120ml cake flour (all purpose)
- 2 cups / 170 grams / 480 ml oats
- ½ cup 100 grams / 120ml sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup / 115g / 120mlbutter
- 2 tablespoons / 45g / 30mlgolden syrup
- ¼ cup / 60 ml milk
- 1 teaspoon / 5 grams / 5ml bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 350°F
- Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and set aside1 teaspoon / 5 grams / 5ml bicarbonate of soda, ¼ cup / 60 ml milk
- Combie all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl1½ cups / 150 grams / 360 ml coconut, ½ cup / 70 grams / 120ml cake flour (all purpose), 2 cups / 170 grams / 480 ml oats, ½ cup 100 grams / 120ml sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Heat the butter and syrup in a saucepan, or in the microwave, until the butter is just melted.½ cup / 115g / 120mlbutter, 2 tablespoons / 45g / 30mlgolden syrup
- Add the the dry ingredients along with the milk
- Mix well to combine (use your hands if necessary). If the mixture is too crumbly add another splash of milk
- Line a 1cm deep 9" x 13" (23cm x 33cm) baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Press the mixture evenly onto the baking tray, making sure to press down well, and distribute the mixture evenly into the corners.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut into squares while still warm.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!
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Claire
I enjoyed these, easy and turned out like flapjacks. I topped up the coconut and golden syrup with mixed nuts and date syrup Also reduced amount by 1/3 as didn’t have enough oats so used a 9x9 square tin for 25 min. thanks for sharing your recipe ☕️
VJ
My pleasure - glad you enjoyed them!
Mpho
Tried this and added a spoon of peanut butter, all I can say is Wow and thank you for the recipe. All the way from South Africa...
VJ
What a good idea - I must try them with peanut butter next time!
Felicity
Why do my biscuits come out so crumbly they just fall apart, can i add more butter and syrup and rebake
VJ
Hi Felicity
I was so worried about your comment that I remade these crunchies today.
What I noticed was that while the cup measurements were correct, there appears to have been a problem with the conversion program that I used for the gram and millilitre amounts.
Unfortunately, the gram amounts for the dry ingredients were too high, which would have caused the biscuits to be so crumbly.
(I think I'm going to have to sack my proof-reader (ie me)).
I have adjusted the gram measurements and updated the recipe accordingly.
I can only apologise, but I must thank you for pointing this out so that others won't have the same problem.
VJ x
Germariet
Delicious thank you!