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Cowboy Cookies are loaded with coconut flakes, chopped walnuts, and oats giving them a variety of flavors and textures!!
Tasty cowboy cookies really pack a flavor punch and are sure to make your go-to cookie list. If you love variations of chewy oatmeal cookies, then you NEED to try Oatmeal Coconut Cookies and Oatmeal Scotchies.
what are cowboy cookies?
Cowboy cookies typically include a variety of nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, and oats. This is where they get their hearty feel and chewy texture.
Apparently former First Lady Laura Bush is known for her cowboy cookie recipe, who knew?! There are slightly different versions, but all follow the basic ingredients.
You may substitute walnuts for pecans, or chocolate chips for white chocolate.
No matter how you pack these texas cowboy cookies, they are totally addictive. They kind of remind me of our well-loved Monster Cookies, which are also packed with filling mix-ins. Which variation do you prefer?
How to Make them
PREP. Preheat oven to 325°F (175 degrees C).
DRY INGREDIENTS. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
WET INGREDIENTS. Using a large mixing bowl and a hand-held electric mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and stir until combined.
COMBINE. Gradually stir in your flour mixture ingredients. Add rolled oats, shredded coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
BAKE & COOL. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop onto greased baking sheets, or sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
Variations
I will never share a recipe that I am not perfectly happy with, and I loved how these turned out. However, I also know it’s fun to change things up every once in a while and you may even stumble on something you love just as much.
Here are a few variations that you may want to give a try:
- Chips: Trade the chocolate for white chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips.
- Candy: Add toffee bits, mini Reese’s pieces, or mini M&Ms.
- Fruit: Add raisins or dried cranberries.
- Chewier: For a chewier cookie remove the white sugar and use 1 ¾ c brown sugar.
Recipe Tips
Nuts. The pecans in these give a delicious nutty flavor and a bit of a crunchy texture. Or use chopped walnuts or even almonds. Another option, to deepen the flavor, is to toast them first.
- To toast: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes flipping them halfway.
Picture perfect. Sometimes I’ll have people ask how I get my cookies to look like they’re from a bakery. The answer is super simple:
- Roll the dough balls in my hands to make them smooth.
- Top the dough balls off with 5 chocolate chips and a few pieces of pecan.
Storing info
STORE the cooled Cowboy Cookie recipe in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Placing a piece of white bread into the container will help keep the cookies softer.
FREEZE baked cookies. Put each cookie in a foldable sandwich bag and then place them together in a freezer Ziploc. They’ll last for up to 3 months.
FREEZE the cookie dough to be baked later. The dough will last for 3 months. Thaw before baking.
- Log form. Roll the dough into 1 or 2 logs. Wrap the log(s) with plastic wrap and again with foil. Label and freeze.
- Dough balls. Form the dough into balls and line them up on a tray. Place them in the freezer until they are all solid. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe storage container.
Recipe FAQ
No one really knows for sure. Some claim they originated in Texas, others say they were actually the “first power bar of the plains”–a nutrient dense snack that could withstand long journeys in the saddle bag.
Use either old-fashioned oats or quick oats in the recipe but stay away from steel-cut oats.
For More Cookie recipes, try:
- No Roll Sugar Cookies
- Jack Jack Num Num Cookies
- Monster Cookies
- Butterscotch Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Candy Bar Cookies
Cowboy Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed down
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (175 degrees C).
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl or stand mixer, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and stir until combined.
- Gradually stir in your sifted ingredients. Add rolled oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.
- Bake at 325 for 11 – 13 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them from the baking sheet.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
adapted from www.allrecipes.com
Cinnamon is in the ingredients but not the recipe. When should it be added in?
One of my favorite cookie recipes!! So yummy!