Shredded coconut substitutes

Usually the same product under a different name, just cut finer and dried harder.

Best for

cakes and cookies, coconut macaroons, coating balls and truffles, curries and sambals

This is mostly a naming difference between countries. In the US, shredded coconut means longer, softer strands and is often sweetened; in the UK, Australia and much of Asia, desiccated coconut means fine, dry, unsweetened shreds. Swapping desiccated in for shredded gives a tighter, sandier crumb and a slightly drier bake, so add a teaspoon of water, milk or coconut milk per half cup and let it sit five minutes before mixing. Going the other way, shredded coconut in place of desiccated leaves visible strands and a chewier bite, which is fine in a cookie and wrong in a smooth filling.

Same ingredient, bigger cut, and easy to reduce.

Best for

cakes and muffins, granola, streusel and crumble toppings, toasted garnish

Pulse in a food processor in three or four short bursts, checking each time, because coconut is oily and ten seconds too long turns it into a paste. Left whole, flakes toast beautifully and look far better on top of a cake, but inside a batter they stay leathery and separate from the crumb rather than blending into it. Sweetened chips will make the bake noticeably sweeter, so cut a tablespoon or two of sugar from the recipe.

The original ingredient in Southeast Asian and South Indian cooking, where recipes calling for kelapa mean this.

Best for

urap and other Indonesian salads, serundeng and coconut sambals, kue and steamed cakes, South Indian chutneys and poriyal

Frozen grated coconut from an Asian grocer is genuinely much better than dried for anything savoury or steamed, because it is moist, sweet and fresh-tasting rather than dusty. It carries considerably more water, so if you are substituting it into a batter developed for dried coconut, hold back a tablespoon or two of the liquid. It also spoils fast: use it the day it thaws. Going the other way, if a recipe wants fresh grated and you only have desiccated, soak the dried coconut in an equal volume of warm milk or coconut milk for fifteen minutes first, which gets you surprisingly close.

The honest no-coconut answer for texture and bulk in baked goods.

Best for

cookies and flapjacks, granola, crumble and streusel toppings, energy balls

Pulse two or three times so you get short, ragged pieces rather than flour. Oats give you a comparable chew and they soak up moisture at roughly the same rate, so the batter behaves normally. What is completely missing is coconut's sweetness, its aroma and its fat, so add a tablespoon of melted butter or coconut oil per cup and a tablespoon of sugar to compensate. Nobody will think there is coconut in it, but the cookie will still be a good cookie.

Good for richness and a toasty note, though it will not give you strands.

Best for

macaroon-style cookies, cake toppings and fillings, crumble toppings, coating for truffles

Use less by volume, because ground nuts pack more densely and carry more fat, and too much makes a heavy, greasy bake. The result is richer and more marzipan-like, with a completely different aroma. Finely chopped pecans or walnuts do a better job on top of a cake, where the eye expects texture. This does not work in coconut macaroons, where the shredded coconut is the structure that holds the whole cookie together.

Include it only if flavour is what you are after, because it behaves nothing like shredded coconut.

Best for

adding coconut flavour to a batter, small additions to smoothies or porridge

Coconut flour is defatted, powder-fine and drinks up three to four times its weight in liquid, so putting a cup of it where a cup of shredded coconut should go will produce a dry, crumbling brick. Treat it as a flavouring, not a substitution: two tablespoons will give a mild coconut note, and you should add an extra two tablespoons of liquid alongside it. If flavour without texture is genuinely all you need, a couple of tablespoons of coconut cream or a quarter teaspoon of coconut extract is a cleaner route.