Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Dishpan Cookies - Meemaw Eats (2024)

A dishpan full of cookie dough? Allow me to explain.

It may surprise you to know that baking is NOT my favorite activity. (I would much rather cook than bake.) So when I decide to make cookies I refuse to use a recipe that makes only a dozen or two. If I’m making a mess in the kitchen I want the final product to make that mess worthwhile! I got the urge to bake in order to try out my new thrift store bargain cookie sheets, so I pulled out my huge “Amish store dishpan” and I got to work.

I found this cookie recipe in one of Mom’s old cookbooks. And it warmed my heart to see the names of the women who submitted this recipe for publication. Carol was the wife of Peepaw’s high school basketball coach. And June was one of Mom’s best friends. In fact, I found this old photo as I was composing this blog post so I decided to share it with you.

That’s Aunt Pauline, Belle, Carol and June at one of their monthly “card parties” held in each other’s homes. (And believe it or not, Belle was the telephone operator in town. Yup. She really was a telephone operator…named Belle!)

I absolutely loved those card parties, especially when Mom was the hostess at our house. She would let me pick flowers to decorate the tables. And I remember arranging the “score cards” on a pretty plate. Then I would make the rounds to pass them out to the eight ladies in attendance. There were even prizes for the high and the low scores for the evening. And the laughter around those tables was music to my ears.

After the card games were over, Mom would pour the coffee and unveil some incredible, decadent dessert she had prepared. Those memories are as vivid for me today as they were sixty years ago! Mom was the perfect hostess, and she was blessed with many wonderful friends. God bless them all! Such awesome memories…

But now back to those cookies. This recipe makes a HUGE batch, so you do need a dishpan or a big mixing bowl to make them. But it’s worth it. Trust me.

First, dump in two cups of firmly packed brown sugar.

Then add two cups of quick oatmeal.

Add one teaspoon of salt.

Next, add two teaspoons of baking powder.

Next, add two cups of white sugar.

Then dump in two cups of coconut.

Then add five cups of flour. (Yes…five cups! You’re making dishpan cookies, remember??)

Then add two teaspoons of baking soda.

Mix those dry ingredients together until well blended. Then add the “wet” ingredients starting with four eggs that you’ve beaten with a fork.

Next comes two teaspoons of good quality vanilla. (I buy a quart of pure vanilla at the Stringtown Amish store near Kalona.) I actually add a little more than two teaspoons since I love the flavor!

Then melt four sticks (that’s two cups) of butter. I only use unsalted butter so I can control the salt in recipes and cooking. Add it all to the dishpan.

Then MIX! You can use your hands or a sturdy rubber spatula.

And THIS is what you’ll end up with.

Now…let me tell you about my Salvation Army “score” that started this whole cookie baking project. I found two brand new deluxe, heavy duty Wilton cookie sheets at the local store. For ninety-five cents each! I absolutely LOVE to scour the aisles of thrift stores for kitchen items like that!

I rolled the cookie dough into small balls and then flattened them slightly with a fork.

They looked good enough to eat even before I baked them!

The recipe says bake for ten minutes and remove from the oven even though the tops of the cookies will still be very soft.

I let them “rest” for about sixty seconds before I quickly slid them onto cooling racks.

And just how many cookies did this dishpan recipe yield? Let’s just say that recipe from June and Carol made enough to make that baking event worthwhile!

Yup…those ninety five cent cookie sheets were a real bargain. And an ice cold glass of whole milk and a couple of those cookies were my perfect reward for my afternoon of baking!