In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, milk and butter to a boil; reduce the heat and cook, stirring often to prevent the mixture from boiling over, for six minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the oats, coconut, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
To make thin squares, pour the mixture into a parchment-lined 9x13-inch pan and spread it out evenly. Or for balls, let the mixture cool in the saucepan (or transfer to a bowl), cool and refrigerate until it firms up.
Roll the mixture into balls or cut into squares, put about half a cup of coconut into a shallow bowl and roll the balls or flip the squares to coat, adding more coconut as you need it.
