Crunchies with oats and coconut

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.

Crunchies

I love this recipe – it’s like having two recipes in one. Depending on how long you bake these crunchies for, you can either have chewy slices, reminiscent of the English flapjack, or crunchy biscuits that just 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 be eating 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 do the measuring 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 – dessicated 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 1/2″ (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, making sure to press it well down, and into the corners.
• Bake in a pre-heated 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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Convert grams to cups

To help you convert your recipes, I have created a handy Cookery Conversion Calculator which will convert ingredients between grams, ounces, tablespoons, cups and millilitres. I hope you will find it useful.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read about how to do this in this post on baking at high altitudes.

Recipe – Oat and Coconut Crunchies

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Oat and Coconut Crunchies

A deliciously crunchy tea-time snack packed with oats and coconut with a hint of cinnamon flavour.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Baking

Cuisine: British, South African

Servings: 24 biscuits

Calories: 136kcal

Author: VJ

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• 9" x 13" Baking sheet
• Spatula / wooden spoon
• Small saucepan

Ingredients

• 1½ cups coconut 150g / 375ml
• ½ cup cake flour (all purpose) 120g / 150ml
• 2 cups oats 225g / 500ml
• ½ cup sugar 130g / 190ml
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup butter 140g / 125ml
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup 45g / 30ml
• ¼ cup milk 60 ml
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 5g / 5ml

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 350°F
• Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and set aside
• Combie all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
• Heat the butter and syrup in a saucepan, or in the microwave, until the butter is just melted.
• 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

This is a very dry mixture – it should just hold together when you squeeze it with your hand.  If it is too crumbly, add another splash of milk.

Line your baking tray with baking parchment – this will make it easier to remove the crunchies from the pan.  If you don’t have baking parchment, just grease the pan lightly with butter or margarine.

Cut into squares while still warm – if you wait until the crunchies are completely cold you may find that they crumble when you cut them into squares.

For a crunchier biscuit – bake for an extra 5 minutes.

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.

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