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5 Ingredient Magic Cookies. Made with coconut, roasted cashews, sweet chocolate chips, quick-cooking oats, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. Just mix, scoop, and bake. Simple as that! These cookies take only a few minutes to prep. Then bake these up, and kind of like magic, you’ll have delicious cookies!
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I think any of you from the Midwest are likely familiar with 7-layer bars. Everyone’s mom or grandma had their own recipe. Some looked the same, and others had slight variations. Either way, they always turned out so yummy!
My mom used to make them all the time. Only she didn’t use graham crackers, which tend to be traditional. She’d use a layer of oats, but no graham crackers. We loved them. These are the cookie version, using just five ingredients.
I was so happy with how these turned out. I think they’re even more delicious than 7-layer bars. A bit chewier and saltier with lots and lots of chocolate chips!
I baked up yet another (double) batch of these just last night for my family to take with them this weekend to Aspen. Everyone is staying together in the same house, and I’m sure these will get eaten right up!
I’ve been making these on repeat!
Here are the details
Ingredients
- unsweetened fine shredded coconut – I like the Bob’s Red Mill brand
- roasted cashews – make sure these are dry roast with nothing else other than salt. You don’t want any weird oils on the nuts!
- semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- quick cooking rolled oats – this is what my mom used growing up, but I imagine regular oats probably work fine too
- sweetened condensed milk – the magic ingredient
Special Tools
You need just a mixing bowl and a cookie sheet for these cookies.
Steps
Step 1: mix the cookie dough
Do this in a mixing bowl. The order the ingredients that go in doesn’t matter. Just make sure the sweet milk evenly coats all the ingredients. It will be sticky.
Step 2: scoop and bake
Take a spoon or use a cookie scoop, and scoop out mounds of the dough. I do nine cookies per baking sheet, but this will vary depending on the size of your cookie sheet.
If any of the mounds look too loose, push them together with your hands. These do not need to be perfect or uniformly shaped, so don’t stress!
Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. I like around 12 minutes, then I let the cookies set and finish cooking on the cookie sheet. Your cookies will come out looking a little puffed, but once they settle and set, they’ll look perfect.
Step 3: time to enjoy!
I found my cookies to be absolutely delicious while warm, but they’re also yummy once cooled.
You can also add a sprinkle of flaked sea salt if you like. I’m sure that’s so delicious!
Some Tips!
These are honestly so easy, you can’t mess them up! I will say that if your dough feels too wet and sticky, you can add up to 1/2 cup of additional oats. The more oats you add, the drier the cookie, as the oats soak up the condensed milk more than the other ingredients.
And then, lastly, if you want your chocolate chips to look more like mine, add a few directly on top of each cookie just after you pull the cookies out of the oven. The chips will get melty on top! YUM!
Looking for other winter dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
Chocolate Dipped Sesame Oatmeal Bars
5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Healthy…ish Homemade Samoas Cookies
Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Salted Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lastly, if you make these 5 Ingredient Magic Cookies be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
5 Ingredient Magic Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cups roasted cashews
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Scoop out mounds of dough (3 tablespoons or a scant 1/4 cup) onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your hands to push any loose dough back into dough mounds.3. Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden on top. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes to fully set. Enjoy warm or room temperature! Delish either way!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
So the recipe requires dry-roasted cashews, not roasted? That isn’t clear from the recipe, but now that I read the blog post … there is no roasting step, which is what I was planning to do before adding them to the dough. Is that what you would recommend? I feel like dry-roasted is very different than roasted.
Hi Sarah,
You do not need to roast the cashews for this recipe, I just used roasted cashews from the store. Please let me know if I can help in any other way!
These were easy and delicious
Hey Erin,
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your thoughts—so happy it worked for you!
Have a nice weekend!
Can I swap the cashews for pecans? I don’t like cashews.
Hi Kierra,
I have never tested this, but you could give it a try if you wanted!
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
These are SO delicious! I ended up using mini semi-sweet baking chips from whole foods (a favorite!), subbing the coconut for the same volume of finely chopped pecans (did myself with a food processor) and added flaked sea salt on top. I also added 3tbsp brewers yeast for additional lactation benefits (new mama here). I will definitely make with coconut at some point but I wasn’t in the mood for coconut this time and the pecans were a perfect sub! Together with the cashews they were so yummy! These are a new favorite which will stay in my rotation!
Hey Kassie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a whirl, I’m so glad it turned out nicely! Stay warm!
WOW! The cookies are fantastic! I like that I don’t need to add flour or sugar and the ease of the recipe. I will try with coconut condensed milk next. Thank you!
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for giving this recipe a whirl, I’m so glad it turned out nicely! Stay warm!
These were amazing. Added sea salt when they came out of the oven to offset the sweetness. Also, I used pecans because I didn’t have cashews. They were so delicious. Thank you!
Hey Jennifer,
Wonderful! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!
Have a great weekend!
It was way too sweet for me. I threw the batch away after eating a pc.
Sorry to hear this, thanks for trying the cookies!
Huge fail.
Hi Peggy,
So sorry to hear this. Is there anything specific that I can help with? Please let me know!
So delicious – sweet, crunchy and nutty! It’s like a candy bar in cookie form. I love how easy it is too. Wondering if you can make ahead as cookie balls, refrigerate, then bake the next day? Would love to just pop in the oven and eat a fresh batch. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Thank you!!
Hey Jacquie,
Wonderful! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!
I haven’t tried that, but it should work for you.
Have a great weekend!
Can u use regular oats
Hi Dawn,
That should be okay for you to use! I hope you love these cookies! have a great weekend!
hello. how do u store these ,lu any left lol, and can they be made ahead and frozen?
Hey Cheryl,
You can store in an airtight container at room temperature. Yes, you can go ahead and freeze these. Have a great weekend!
What could you use to substitute the coconut?!
Hi Jackie,
I’m so sorry, I have not tested this recipe without the coconut. Here is another recipe you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/almond-butter-cookies/
Please let me know if I can help in any other way!
Can I use condensed coconut milk?
Hi Esther,
I haven’t tested this, but it should work for you! Let me know if you give these cookies a try, I hope you love them!
Delicious and so easy! I substituted pistachio for the cashews.
Hey Sandra,
Fantastic! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your comment, love to hear it turned out well for you!
Have the best weekend!
super easy! the 2nd batch I made smaller cookies about a heaping teaspoon or so.. the cookies were about 1.5-2 inches wide. Mini chocolate chips and crushed pecans seem easier to manage and I wet my fingers to make a rounded shape. Making another batch for a friend and may try the graham crackers idea crushed and dusted over the cookies before baking. fun recipe with so many ways to improvise.
Hey Loryia,
Happy Monday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your notes, so glad it was a winner!