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Searching for the best cowboy cookies recipe? THIS IS IT! Featuring coconut, pecans, cinnamon, chocolate, and oats. These golden brown oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are thick, chewy, and so flavorful! No chilling required – roll the cookie dough into balls and bake.
Cowboy Cookies Recipe
If there’s one thing I hope you know about me, it’s that I’m obsessed with cookies! I make at least one batch a week. Sometimes more because you know… it’s my job.
Recently, I discovered cowboy cookies and they changed my life. They’re essentially oatmeal chocolate chip cookies loaded with coconut, pecans, and coconut. Here’s why my version is the best:
- No cookie dough chilling! Just make the cookie dough, roll the dough into balls, and bake.
- Texture wise, these cookies are thick, chewy, and a little bit crunchy.
- Brown butter, my “secret ingredient”, adds so much flavor! And helps the cookies bake up golden brown.
- The cookie dough is totally adaptable. If you don’t like coconut, leave it out. Don’t like pecans? Use walnuts instead. You get it, right?
What are Cowboy Cookies (Presidential Election Inspired)
- Cowboy cookies have been around for AGES! But they rose in popularity during the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential campaign. Do you remember this?
- Family Circle Mag featured recipes from each of the candidates wives. And thad their readers vote.
- Laura Bush’s Cowboy Cookies beat all of the other submissions black and blue! Although I must confess, Tipper Gore’s Ginger Snaps look pretty darn good, too.
After that brief history lesson, I hope you’re ready to run to the kitchen and bake these cookies? and got to work creating my own version of these famous cowboy cookies!
What’s in a Cowboy Cookie: Cowboy Cookie Ingredients
- Butter: We’ll brown the butter because it has SO much flavor and creates golden brown cowboy cookies.
- Sugar: A combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar create sweet, chewy, crunchy cookies.
- Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature – and use large eggs. Not medium or extra large. With eggs, size does matter, and using a smaller or larger variety can totally throw off a recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the complex flavors and adds richness to the cookie dough,
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour, for best results. Make sure you’re not packing your flour into the measuring cup. For the most accurate measuring, use a kitchen scale. Or, gently spoon your flour into the measuring cup and level it off with the flat edge of a knife.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies spread in the oven.
- Cinnamon: Adds a delightful cinnamon flavor signature to cowboy cookies.
- Salt: Balances the flavors and sweetness. Skipping salt in baking recipes is a big mistake! The key is to use just a pinch.
- Old-Fashioned Oats: AKA rolled oats! Do not confuse them with steel-cut oats or instant oats.
- Shredded Coconut: Use sweetened or unsweetened – up to you!
- Pecans: Walnuts can be used, if you prefer!
- Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate all work in these cookies.
I used my chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as the base. But added coconut, cinnamon, pecans, and chocolate chips. These are signature ingredients to cowboy cookies, so that’s nothing new. Since we added more dry ingredients, I decreased the amount of flour and added an egg yolk, which keeps the cookie dough moist.
How to make Cowboy Cookies
- Baking Prep: Preheat oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Make the Cookie Dough: Because the butter is melted, you don’t need to use a stand mixer or electric mixer for this recipe. Once you add the dry ingredients, take care not to over mix.
- Roll the Dough into Balls: Scoop 3-inch balls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave a few inches between so they have room to spread.
- Bake the Cookies: About 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown.
Next try these special edition Christmas cowboy cookies!
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes:
- Chewy Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Brown Butter Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Coffee Cardamom Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Gooey Brown Butter Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt
- Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
The Best Cowboy Cookies Recipe
Searching for the best cowboy cookies recipe? THIS IS IT! Featuring coconut, pecans, cinnamon, chocolate, and oats. These golden brown oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are thick, chewy, and so flavorful! No chilling required – roll the cookie dough into balls and bake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter melted until browned.
- 1 and 1/2 cups (319 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (99 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/3 cups (270 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 3/4 cups (156 grams) old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup (60 grams) sweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup (64 grams) pecans, roughly chopped plus more for decorating
- 12 ounces (340 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl using a whisk, beat together the browned butter and both sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Don't worry if they look a little separated here.
- Whisk in the eggs and yolk, beating until well combined. About 45 seconds. Whisk in the vanilla.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
- Scoop 2-inch balls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2-inches between each ball so they have room to spread.
- Bake, one sheet at a time, in preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden and set at the edges and still slightly soft in the center.
- Press extra chocolate chips and pecans on top of cookies when they come out of the oven (optional). Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
- Cool cookies on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tried it and loved it?Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram @Bakerbynature and by using the hashtag #BakerByNature
Can you freeze these cookies?
Yes! You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 2 months and then bake (just add a minute or two onto the bake time) or freeze the cookies.
These are heaven. Absolutely delicious. Disagree with negative comments. We used chopped pecans. But still were great
When I came across these cookies I was so excited to make them! I purchased all the ingredients and was ready to get going when I read all the “negative” reviews. I was surprised and disheartened but decided to move forward as I already had my heart set on them! Boy, am I glad I didn’t listen to those people! I just took my first batch of cookies out of the oven and they are spectacular!! I am not sure why so many people are having such a hard time with these very detailed instructions!! I suspect they didn’t follow the first rule of making someone else’s recipe which is, READ the recipe ALL the way THROUGH BEFORE starting!! Thank you for sharing and I am so excited to feed these to my Family this week! My husband who is here has already given them a thumbs up!!
This made my day! So happy you enjoyed them, Janet. Happy holidays!
Not a fan of coconut so I added about 4 oz. of craisins with good results. Next time I plan to increase the amount of cinnamon, or maybe add some coconut extract to kick up the flavor a bit.
Your recipe says makes 2 dozen which I did but the size was a lot bigger than your picture …. maybe you should explain that you decorated them with pecans and coconut and was not part of the recipe …you are a little misleading
How would one adjust this recipe at 5,545 elevation?!
Just made these cookies tonight. The flavor is full and very delicious but texture is softer than I had anticipated. My dough was wet and very sticky, not crumbly like the photo suggests. What did I do wrong? I definitely want to try again!
Could you please help me? My mother used to make cookies called Dunkers! Chewy a hint of crisp, Choc chips. Oh they were so good! I can’t find the recipe!
I know it was a big batch recipe, like 8 dozen or so.
It had in them, oats, rice krispies, brown sugar white sugar, 2 cups of melted butter and whatever add in you wanted! I always asked for Choc chips!
Do you have a recipe for these delicious cookies??? Thanks Leigh
I made two batches of these and everyone loved them. They are now my favorite cookie. My coworkers have already asked for more.I am glad I read the comments too so I could see how you added the extra touch to the cookies to make their appearance pop.
I made these today, and they turned out great! Love the cookies, and the recipe for easy to follow