The Best Cowboy Cookies Recipe - Baker by Nature (2024)

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 mychewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookiesas 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

1. Baking Prep: Preheat oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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

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