Oatmeal Mango Cookies with Coconut and Macadamia

These chewy and crispy Oatmeal Mango Cookies are made with dried mango pieces, toasted macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. On top of all the amazing texture and flavor already there, brown butter is added to take them to the next level! 

The recipe for my brown butter coconut macadamia oatmeal mango cookies is based on my all-time favorite oatmeal fig cookies, which have been quite popular with readers too. These delicious tropical oatmeal cookies have been upgraded with brown butter though, giving them an extra depth of flavor. Crispy edges, extremely chewy texture, and a light crunch – if you aren’t a big fan of oatmeal cookies yet, these will surely change your mind.

Just like my coconut macadamia guava rugelach, and my macadamia coconut croissants, or my macadamia coconut “cinnamon buns”, I’m adding a tropical twist to a classic treat with these oatmeal mango cookies. And I guarantee you will love them!

Helpful tools

• I recommend using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer to help you make the cookie dough. 
• A light colored saucepan will be useful for making brown butter.
• A large (¼ cup) cookie scoop will help dividing the cookie dough easier.

Ingredients and substitutions

As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:

1. Unsalted butter – In a pinch, you can use salted butter, but you’ll need to reduce the added salt by at least half. I recommend sticking with salted butter so you don’t accidentally make the cookies too salty since the amount of salt in salted butter can vary. No need to soften, you will brown the butter.

2. Yogurt – this will replace the water lost when you brown the butter. Sour cream is a good substitute.
3. Brown sugar – either light or dark brown sugar will work. In a pinch you can substitute granulated sugar.

4. Egg – just 1 large egg.
5. Pure vanilla extract
6. All-purpose flour
7. Leavening agents – both baking powder and baking soda are used here.

8. Salt – I use kosher salt for all of my recipes. If you’re using table salt, you will want to reduce the amount by half.
9. Macadamia nuts – raw or roasted and unsalted. Don’t use roasted and salted, that would make the cookies too salty. If you don’t like macadamias, you can try using cashews, pistachios and almonds.

10. Unsweetened dried mango – I get bulk dried mango from Sprouts. Don’t substitute unsweetened with sweetened dried mango. And don’t use fresh or frozen mango either. I have more notes down below from all my tests with different types of mango.

11. Unsweetened shredded coconut – I don’t recommend substituting sweetened coconut flakes as it will make these cookies too sweet. Feel free to skip if you don’t like coconut.
12. Old fashioned rolled oats – quick oats will work as a substitute but not steel cut oats.

How to make oatmeal mango cookies

The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

First, make the brown butter and let it cool. Then, start making the cookie dough by creaming together cooled brown butter, yogurt and brown sugar for 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla, and continue to beat for another 2 minutes until thoroughly combined and creamy.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and stir in the salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and stir to form the cookie dough.

Add toasted and cooled macadamias, dried mango pieces, coconut and rolled oats to the cookie dough and stir until evenly distributed.

Divide the cookie dough with a large (¼ cup) cookie scoop. Chill in the refrigerator and bake six cookies to a tray and one tray at a time. 

Notes on types of mango

I tested this recipe with dried mango, freeze-dried mango as well as fresh mango. And the winner is dried mango.

Now, dried mango can come unsweetened or sweetened, as well as with spices and flavoring. For these mango cookies, unsweetened dried mango is the way to go. 

Freeze-dried mango worked too but I thought the flavor wasn’t as strong as dried mango and it’s a bit more expensive.

Fresh mango released way too much water when baked making these cookies too wet and unpleasant. It didn’t add anything extra in ways of flavor either. So I don’t recommend using fresh mango at all!

Needless to say, you shouldn’t use frozen mango either since that would release even more water than fresh mango.

More baker’s tips

• Chilling is recommended – while this cookie dough can be baked right away without needing to chill first, I recommend keeping the dough refrigerated at least while the oven is preheating or longer if you have time. Allowing the dough to rest is essential to flavor development!

• Making the perfect oatmeal mango cookies – these cookies don’t spread too much, but if you want to make them perfectly round, you can use a spatula or a large round cookie cutter to reshape them right when they come out of the oven. 

• No brown butter variation – I had a hard time deciding whether I liked the brown butter or the non brown butter version. I ultimately decided to go with the brown butter version as I’m a bit brown butter obsessed, as evident by these brown butter miso chocolate chip cookies and these brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies! But the other version – without the deep toffee flavor of brown butter – was a bit brighter and lighter. If for whatever reason you want to make these without brown butter, simply use 6 oz of softened and omit the yogurt.

• Don’t over bake – make sure the middle of the cookies are still underbaked when they come out of the oven for the best texture. When I baked these for 15 minutes, they were too crispy and dry out quicker in storage. They were perfectly underbaked at 14 minutes.

Storage

These oatmeal mango cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 – 5 days. To prevent the cookies from drying out, you can store a slice of sandwich bread in the container with the cookies.

You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months, but I prefer freezing the cookie dough instead. This way you can have warm freshly baked cookies anytime! Frozen cookie dough will last up to 6 months.

Old recipe

The original recipe for these oatmeal mango cookies included zest of 1 lime and ½ teaspoon of allspice, no brown butter and no coconut. Many readers had enjoyed this version but I wanted to bring forward the tropical flavors in these cookies by adding coconut and omitting lime and allspice. 

I really love the upgraded new version. If you liked the old version, I promise you, this new one is even better!

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📖 Recipe card

Brown Butter Oatmeal Mango Cookies with Coconut and Macadamias

These chewy and crispy Oatmeal Mango Cookies are made with dried mango pieces, toasted macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. On top of all the amazing texture and flavor already there, brown butter is added to take them to the next level!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes minutes

Total Time: 44 minutes minutes

Yield: 16 cookies

Author: Trang

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• Large Cookie Scoop

Ingredients

• ▢ 6 ounce unsalted butter (170 g, browned and cooled)
• ▢ 1 cup macadamia nuts (raw or roasted and unsalted, 141 g)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon plain yogurt (or sour cream, room temperature, 28 g)
• ▢ 1 ⅓ cup light brown sugar (274 g, packed)
• ▢ 1 large egg (room temperature)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (169 g)
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened dried mango (cut into ½” pieces, 112 g)
• ▢ 1 ¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats (100 g)
• ▢ ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (40 g)

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Instructions

• First, brown the butter: heat 6 ounces of unsalted butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty, take it off the heat and let cool before using.
• Roast the macadamias: toast 1 cup of raw or roasted and unsalted macadamia nuts in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly brown and fragrant. Spread it on a cutting board to cool, then roughly chop and set aside. Make sure the macadamias are unsalted or the cookies will be too salty.
• In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, add the cooled brown butter, 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt (or sour cream) and 1 ½ cup of brown sugar, beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 1 large egg and 1 ½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and continue beating for another 2 minutes until thoroughly combined and creamy.
• In a small mixing bowl, sift together 1 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and stir in ½ teaspoon of kosher salt at the end; give everything a good mix until evenly distributed. Add this to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
• Add the toasted and cooled macadamias, along with 1 cup of unsweetened dried mango, already cut into bite size pieces, 1 ¼ cup of old fashioned rolled oats and ½ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. Stir to distribute evenly. Stop the mixer and give the mixture a final stir with a spatula, scraping the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
• Use a large (4 tablespoons) ice cream scoop to divide the dough into 16 dough balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, or at the very least while the oven is preheating.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Place 6 cookie dough balls on a lined baking sheet about 2” apart, and bake one tray at a time for 14 minutes in the middle of the oven until the edges are golden brown but the center is still under-baked.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 5 – 10 minutes before removing and placing the cookies on another wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• Dried mangoes come in large flat pieces that are a bit like fruit leather. Use a kitchen shear to cut them into small bite size pieces, it will be easier than a knife.
• You can use quick cooking oats to replace old-fashioned rolled oats but not steel cut oats.
• Cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for 3 – 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
• Frozen cookie dough can be baked straight from the freezer, add 1 minute to the bake time.
• To keep cookies perfect and round, use a large round cookie cutter or a spatula to gather or push in the uneven edges as soon as you take them out of the oven while they’re still hot.
• Store baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days along with a slice of sandwich bread to keep the cookies moist.

Nutrition

Serving: 68g | Calories: 304kcal

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American, Hawaiian

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