No Bake Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons
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These Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons are no bake and so easy to make! The perfect mix of coconut, caramel and chocolate! I’m in love!
So we are only about 3 weeks away from Christmas. Can you believe it?! It’s going to come SO fast! Normally at this point I like to have all of our decorations up, but this year I’ve had a few dilemmas.
One is the traveling. We were out of town for Thanksgiving and then my parents were in town visiting this weekend. Not to mention we’ve had a ton of rain, which makes it hard to go get a tree outside. I’m pretty sure it has been raining like this the last 3 years when we’ve gotten our tree. Crazy coincidence?
And this year we have some of the hubs’ family visiting from South Africa for Christmas. Normally I put our tree up so early that by the time the actual day of Christmas rolls around, it’s getting a little droopy. We don’t want that to happen this year because we don’t ever have his family here from South Africa and we both want it to be nice.
On top of that, the sun totally changes as winter rolls in and daylight savings changes. I’m finally getting the hang of the change in sunlight for photo taking purposes. Right now, the best light in our house is right where we put our Christmas tree. ๐ I mean, HELLO DILEMMA! What ever will I do once we put up the tree? I’m considering rearranging furniture to help fix this problem. #foodbloggerproblems
Something else I rearranged is this cookie. It’s sort of a modification of these Caramel Clusters my family has made most Christmas’ since I was a kid. We are big caramel lovers and these super easy cookies were always a hit!
I decided to change them up and turn it into a Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroon and it was a fabulous idea! These cookies are to die for – and possibly even better than the original. The caramels are melted on the stove, then the coconut is stirred into the mixture. I used a cookie scoop to form them and place them on parchment paper to cool and firm.
Once cooled, they are dipped in some melted chocolate, then a little more chocolate is drizzled on top. I used almond bark, since it melts so nice and smooth, but there are several melting chocolate options at most stores – especially this time of year. They are sprinkled with a little bit of sea salt on top, but you could leave that off if you prefer.
Knowing that my dad in particular is a lover of caramel like myself, I took him some of these over Thanksgiving. I was totally right – he loved them! These Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons actually remind me a lot of a samoa. They have the soft caramel and coconut texture and flavor, with the chocolate. They are just without the vanilla cookie.
When I saw my dad again this weekend, he had high hopes that I might still have some of these cookies lying around. Sadly I did not, but he’s put in a formal request for more. I think it’s safe to say we’ve found a new favorite. ๐
Read transcript
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No Bake Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons
These Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons are no bake and so easy to make! The perfect mix of coconut, caramel and chocolate! I’m in love!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 Cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp (45ml) milk
- 6 tbsp (84g) salted butter
- 11 oz bag Kraft caramels*, wrappers removed
- 4–5 cups (288g-360g) shredded sweetened coconut
- 4 oz melting chocolate, such as almond bark
- Sea salt
Instructions
1. Add the milk, butter and caramels to a large pot set over medium heat. Allow everything to melt, stirring often so that the mixture doesnโt boil.
2. When the caramel is melted and smooth, add the coconut, starting with 4 cups. Mix together until the coconut is well coated with caramel. Add additional coconut as needed so that the coconut is all well covered, but not too โwetโ or the final cookies will end up gooey.
3. Scoop out spoonfuls of about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture onto parchment paper, or another nonstick paper.
4. Allow to cool completely.
5. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate according to the package directions.
6. Dip the bottoms of each macaroon into the chocolate, then set back onto the parchment paper to dry. Drizzle with some additional chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt.
7. Allow cookies to firm completely, then serve. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.
* Should be 40 caramels.
Keywords: coconut macaroons recipe, coconut cookies, coconut dessert, caramel dessert, caramel cookies
Enjoy!
I'm a wife and mom to twin boys and a sweet black lab with a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the sugar!
Ahhh I love salted caramel, and they look so cute! I want these on my Christmas cookie plate ๐
I love all these flavors together! How long will they last in a sealed container?
I’d say a week or two should be fine – if they last that long. ๐
Can I use a homemade caramel sauce, my daughter is allergic to corn syrup. If so. How much ch caramel sauce would I need?
I’m sure a homemade sauce would be ok, but it’d have to be a certain thickness for these to dry and not be sticky or fall apart I think. Without testing it I wouldn’t be able to say for sure. I love this caramel sauce and it’s relatively firm at room temperature so you could try it. I’d add small amounts of caramel sauce just until everything comes together and go from there.
Did the homemade caramel work? I have a similar problem but want to try out this recipe!
No you can notย
I think I saw a chocolate cheesecake covered with ganache and shavings of chocolate on top. I thought I had put it on my FB Page and now can’t find it. If it came from your website, please post again. I love a good challenge!! Thanks!!
Hmm, could it have been a Nutella Cheesecake? The look of it sounds like what you’re describing.
I made these twice in two days. These are so so good! I made them for a cookie exchange and I may have to just keep them!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them! ๐
Just made these for Christmas entertaining…they are so delicious! ย My husband loves them. ย He suggested adding an almond. ย I will making more batches for sure! ย
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed them!
Are they suppose to firm up. My are very gooey. Super sticky to the touch? Did I do something wrong?
They should firm up. You can add a little extra coconut and it’ll soak up some of the extra moisture.
I had a similar problem and couldn’t even really form them or get them off my wax paper. I put them in the fridge (one pan) and freezer (the other) which helped and am storing them in the fridge….will they turn to goo outside the fridge?
Also how do you keep the shape while dipping? Mine tasted fabulous but kind of looked like blobs.
It sounds like some of the ingredient amounts might have been a bit off. Either there was a bit too much milk or butter added, or there wasn’t enough coconut to “soak up” all the caramel mixture. If there’s an imbalance there, you could get cookies that don’t hold shape as well. You want the coconut well coated in the caramel mixture, but not dripping with it. I hope that helps!
I made this AM and they seemed gooey also. I used exact amounts. After I formed them. I ended up putting back in bowl and adding another cup of coconut seemed to help. Then redid the balls. Seem better now.ย
These are to die for! Question.. can i make in advance and freeze? Thanks
Glad you enjoyed them! I would think freezing should be fine.
Would these be too sweet if you used milk chocolate chips to dip them in?
That should be fine.
The second recipe of yours I’ve made so far. Just finished making a batch of these macaroons and popped one into my mouth…. yuuuuuuummm. Salty, buttery, coconutty, chocolatey and sweet, all good flavors individually, but together they are especially delicious. I couldn’t find Kraft caramels, for some reason, so I used Werther’s Chewy Caramels, which were perfectly fine. Oh, and candy doesn’t get much easier than these. The fact that they are no-bake means that I can make them any size I please, and have no obligation to make them all equal. Thank you!
Awesome! So glad you are enjoying the recipes! ๐
Mine came out gooey even though I added extra coconut.
How many does one batch make. I’m considering on making these for my daughters wedding. ย We are doing a dessert bar. ย There will be several different desserts.
It should make about 24 cookies.
Can Kraft caramel be replaced for Dulce de leche? I’m from Argentina and here we do not have Kraft caramels but as far as I can see it seems to be something similar. Dulce de leche should be even better…
Caramels are much firmer than dulce de leche. The cookies wouldn’t firm up the same way using dulce de leche.
????
Are you able to freeze these? I always make coconut macaroons for Christmas and freeze them weeks ahead of time.
I would think they’d be fine frozen for a couple weeks.
Do you think you could use Almond milk without affecting the outcome?
That should be fine.
Made these friday and they were a hit. They taste like a almond joy!
I wish there were specific drying times. I made my own caramel sauce because that’s just me. I am waiting to dip them in chocolate but don’t know how long to wait. This recipe is super easy and took 30 mins to make even with making caramel from scratch. Will let you know how long it takes to firm up.
I definitely wouldn’t suggest suggest making your own caramel unless you know it’s firm when at room temperature. Most caramel sauce is not, and therefore these cookies wouldn’t hold together or dry.
ย Mine wonโt firm up, they are sticky to the touch.
Did you use the Kraft caramels? I ask because I know some people have wanted to try other caramels and as far as I know, that wouldn’t work as it wouldn’t firm up. Otherwise, it could be that a little too much liquid was added to the mix or something. They should be firm but it can take a bit for them to cool completely.
Can you use unsweetened shredded coconut for these and just add a little extra sugar to the mix?
That should be fine.
Iโm planning on making these nummy No Bake Salted Caramel Chocolate Macaroons and wondering if using semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips would work melted instead of the chocolate bark, which I donโt have on hand. Will the CC harden enough after cooling?
You could try it. I find sometimes chocolate chips don’t always harden as well though.
Made the salted carmel macaroons for my sons engagement party and was not disappointed. ย They were a huge hit. ย Super easy, the only adjustment was added 5 cups of coconut. ย They will be added to my Christmas cookie tray.
Can you give me an example of melting chocolate (bark) so that I know what to buy? Thanks!
There’s the Wilton brand candy melts, Candiquick and Almond Bark. All would work well.
To all you non bakers: FYI -You should never have both metric & US standard measurements in the same recipe, it makes it very confusing to many people.
11 oz Caramel should say 312 grams
Actually, I’m thanked by people all over the world for including both. I sorry you find it confusing though.
your measurements are all wrong:
https://www.cookitsimply.com/measurements/cups/coconut-shredded-0070-0242l.html
My measurements are not wrong. If you look at several different sites, they’ll all have something a little different. My measurements are correct for my recipes. Thanks so much.
i’m sure they’re right they just come out gooey…
but delis…
I thought they were fine…I had no issues and made them as they are. they took some time to sit, but no issues at all. They are delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I personally can’t wait to try this recipe! But I definitely agree room temp could definitely play a factor.. Also humidiy. Low humidity works best for setting caramel.. If available maybe try running a humidifier for a day or so before making. But I look forward to giving this a shot!
i made these used the exact ingredients and they didn’t firm up either. I cooled them off and nothing. somethings off with these if everyone is saying the same thing. They are still amazing but gooey
I’d try thinking about them similar to rice krispie treats – too many rice krispies and they’re hard, too few and they’re sticky. If these cookies turned out sticky, they probably just needed another handful or so of cornflakes.
Cornflakes?? This recipe doesnt call for cornflakes? Do you just use regular D milk?
Just use more coconut, not cornflakes. I have another cookie thats very similar and uses cornflakes. The way I see comments on the backend is very different than how you see them so it can be easy to be confused about which recipe someone is asking a question about.
I would love to make this recipe but there is something definitely wrong with it because so many have problems with it. Please respect your readers and figure out what’s wrong. It casts doubt on ALL your recipes. And since your reply above indicates that there are cornflakes in the cookies but none in the recipe, this could be the missing item and the reason your subscribers are having a problem with their cookies being too gooey.
Hi Nancy – Let’s start with the cornflakes. If you read my entire response above, then you’d see that I mis-spoke (and clarified that) because I have a different but very similar recipe that uses cornflakes. There’s not a problem with the recipe, I simply mis-spoke. It happens. Let’s be clear on that. Second, I have plenty of respect for my readers, as evidenced by the fact that I take the time to respond to hundreds of comments I get every week and help when I can. I have updated many recipes when necessary, but given that I have made these cookies literally DOZENS of times, I KNOW they work. And while you can’t see it here, I did a full tutorial showing people how to make them on Instagram at one point. Please don’t lecture me on respecting others and helping. That’s completely off base. As for issues with gooeyness, if you’re concerned about that, it’s usually attributed to not adding enough coconut. So if they are too gooey, simply add more coconut. Also, your comment seems to indicate that most people have issues with this recipe, which is not the case. MOST people have success and some have commented that they’ve made them repeatedly without issue. I’ve been tagged over and over on Instagram from people who have had success. So again, I am 100% confident in this recipe. If you try them and have a specific question, please let me know. Thanks.
Are these gluten free?
I’m not super familiar with gluten free baking, but I believe they are.
I have a date tonight with your “No Bake Samoa Cheesecake!” That is getting made tonight….. nom, nom ,nom. Thanks for sharing. I love “No Bake! “
Have you ever tried freezing the salted caramel macaroons?
I haven’t, but I’d think they’d be ok.
Thank you. I always try to do as much ahead of time as possible. ย If I made them now for Christmas, I feel pretty certain I wouldn’t have any left for gift-giving. ย I will let you know how they freeze
Lindsey, I’ve been a great fan of your site for a long time and have successfully baked many of your recipes to rave reviews. I’m certainly not a professional baker, but your recipes make me look like one! On this recipe for No Bake Salted Caramel Macaroons, I read the recipe three times and still could not figure out why the photos did not seem to correspond to the recipe. I had to watch the video to see that when you say “dip the coconut balls in chocolate” you mean JUST THE BOTTOM, not the entire ball!! That had me really confused for awhile. I hope others don’t have the same problem. I’m making these for my New Years party. Thanks for a wonderful blog and recipe site!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes! I can see how that wording may have been confusing. It’s been updated. Thanks!
Are these kraft Caramels the hard candy or soft and chewy candies? Iโve never heard of kraft Caramels.ย
It’s these. They are soft.
I just made a sample batch and I used all the exact ingredients and it’s been a few hours. In fact my coconut bag said it had 5 & 1/3 cups in bag & I ended up using ENTIRE bag as it looked too wet. They are cool but they are not firm enough at all. They were coming apart a bit when I was putting choc on bottoms. Do you have any sort of time guide for how long until they should be firm? Thanks. Also any tips for forming? I used a scoop but it was still tough getting them to form and what did u use to drizzle choc on with? Thanks.
I’d say several hours is best, maybe 3-4 just to be sure. It could also depend a bit on the temperature in your home. I believe I used a cookie scoop for shaping them and then a piping bag and tip for drizzling.
Do you think I could add crushed graham crackers to the coconut and caramel mixture? I’ve run out of coconut and my mix is very gooey. Thanks!!
I would think the graham crackers would end up a little soft and funky texture in the caramel.
I want to make these for my Christmas cookie plate and am wondering about adding some time of cookie on the bottom. A vanilla wafer or shortbread cookie base, scoop the coconut on top, then dip and drizzle. Have you tried this and what cookie worked for you?
I haven’t tried it, but have thought about it before too. ๐ I think it’d be great. Either cookie would work well I think.
Well, I have to be brutally honest. I just made these and I could not stop tasting the coconut. They are drying and I am dying to taste them. I already love them. Thanks Lindsay!. Merry Christmas.
Awesome! Merry Christmas! ๐
I just made these about 45 minutes ago and before I will ever get them dipped I think they’ll be gone! These are DELICIOUS! i bake every week all year round and these are already being hollered to put on my weekly list!
These are VERY sweet. Next time I make them I will make them smaller.ย
These were wonderful. Other than using the whole bag of coconut I followed the recipe exactly. Definitely a keeper.ย
So glad you enjoyed them!
I have made over 10 of theses recipes, and we LOVE it!!!! We add crushed pecans when adding the coconut, and we like our balls a little smaller so they are more bite size- I get about 70 per recipe. I have also experimented with white chocolate and dark chocolate. They are amazing!!! Even people that don’t like coconut have 2 or 3! Thank you so much for the recipe!!!!!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them!
Will using any soft caramel peices work or does it have to be the ones mentioned in the recipe
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It would be best to use the ones in the recipe. I can’t guarantee results will work with other ones. The cookies could end up too soft or too hard with others.
Hello! I really love to try this recipe. Just worried about the shelf life. I live in a tropical country and the weather is hot. How long will this last outside the fridge? Thank you!
They should be fine for at least 4-5 days.
These are so good!!! ย Have made them several times now, and everyone loves them. ย Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed! ๐
Can’t wait to try these little Macaroons. They look Delicious
Are these cookies gluten free?
Iโm not super familiar with gluten free baking, but I believe they are.
These are so good. Thanks for the recipe. Mine. Arenโt nearly as pretty as yours but that didnโt hurt the taste.ย
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Yummy! ย These are fabulous! ย Only change I made was to toast the coconut a wee bit before I added it. ย These are definitely going to be on the cookie list from now on, fab results and so easy to make! ย Thank you for sharing!
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Good idea! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
I have the kraft caramel bits on hand. Do you think it would still be 11oz?
Making these for my birthday party! Yum
I’d use the same amount by weight, but I’ve never tried using those bits before.
I made this for the first time yesterday for a Christmas party and they were amazing all gone before I could take a pic!! Love all your recipes. Thank you!
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Awesome! So glad to hear that! Thanks Andrea!
Can I use your basic caramel recipe instead of using these pre-made ones? Thanks.
Sadly, no. The caramel sauce would be too thin.
Outstanding recipes! These are definitely going to be a permanent cookie/candy on the holiday cookie platter! ย I too found the mixture too gooey initially, but I just kept adding coconut until it was perfect! ย I am going to freeze them right away so that they do not disappear before Christmas!
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Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!
Found this recipe for my daughter, who is gluten free. This cookie doesn’t miss on flavor and is so easy to make. The sea salt is a must! Will definitely add to my annual Christmas Cookie must have list!
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Iโm so glad you enjoyed them!
I’ve been making your macaroons for two years at Christmastime and they are so easy and delicious…the recipe is forgiving too! This time I didn’t have sweetened coconut and it worked fine; the macaroons didn’t need any extra sweetener to compensate. I also used chocolate chips with a little Crisco in place of the chocolate bark. Thanks for the recipe!
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Iโm so glad youโve enjoyed them!
Just made these, no idea how anyone can have problems, mine are perfect, held together just fine! Will be making again! Thx for the recipe
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Can you use those little caramel bits you find in the baking aisle?
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I havenโt tried them so Iโm not sure. They are the same brand, so Iโd think itโd be ok. But Iโm not sure.