Cowboy Cookies
Howdy, baking buckaroos! With the perfect proportions of pecans, chocolate chips, oats, and shredded coconut, these cowboy cookies will be your ace in the hole! I experimented with different amounts of those awesome ingredients to create the dadgum best-tasting cowboy cookies this side of the Mississippi!
In honor of the National Day of the Cowboy, which is celebrated every year on the fourth Saturday in July, I wanted to share my cowboy cookies recipe with you. To learn more about the National Day of the Cowboy, click here!
Y’all might be thinking, “What in tarnation is a cowboy cookie? Why is it called that?” Lend an ear, partner, and I’ll tell ya.
According to mashed.com, “The cowboy cookie is considered the first power bar of the plains. The nutritious snack kept well and provided energy for long days in the Old West. Nobody knows for sure if that’s where the cookie got its name, but one thing is certain: We were enamored with cowboys when the cookies got their start.”
As with all my recipes, I use the scientific method to carefully craft them to ensure you get deliciously perfect results every time.
My easy and delicious cowboy cookies will put a smile on the face of even the most dastardly outlaw in the Wild West!
Happy trails and happy baking!
Ingredients
1 stick (113 grams or 1/2 cup) of unsalted butter
1 large egg
67 grams (2/3 cup) of pecans, toasted and chopped
67 grams (1/3 cup) of white granulated sugar
104 grams (1/2 cup, packed) of dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
128 grams (1 cup) of all-purpose flour
80 grams (1 cup) of old-fashioned/rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (I didn’t use it in my cowboy cookies because I wanted the other flavors to stand out more.)
80 grams (2/3 cup) of sweetened shredded coconut
85 grams (1/2 cup) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Yields 18 cookies
Instructions
Let all ingredients come to room temperature. Cut the butter into small pieces to help it come to room temperature.
Geeky Tip: Ingredients that are all the same temperature incorporate more easily and fully.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Geeky Tip: Oven temperatures vary wildly, so get an oven thermometer. When my oven “beeps” to indicate pre-heating is done, it is usually 50-75 degrees below the target temperature. An oven thermometer is the best $5 baking investment you can make!
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Geeky Tip: I highly recommend using a light-colored aluminum baking sheet. Baking sheets that are dark will conduct more heat and may burn whatever is on them. Just think of wearing a black shirt versus a white shirt on a hot sunny day. Old baking sheets that have dark spots may heat unevenly.
Evenly spread the pecans on the sheet. Bake them on the oven’s center rack at 350 degrees F. for 7-8 minutes. Pecans can burn quickly, so keep an eye (and nose) on them.
Once the pecans have cooled, roughly chop them. Set them aside.
Fully whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and optional ground cinnamon. Set it aside.
Geeky Tip: Whisking together all the dry ingredients ensures a homogenous mixture, and it breaks up any clumps in the flour. Also, make sure to keep flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place to maintain freshness and prevent spoilage.
Beat the butter until it has a smooth appearance. About 1 minute on medium-high speed.
Geeky Tip: This helps to work some air into the butter that will aid the rise later, and it makes it easier for the sugar to cut into the butter.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the white sugar into the butter, and cream together until lighter in color and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed.
Geeky Tip: Adding the white sugar before the light brown sugar produces a better result and makes it easier for the white sugar crystals to cut into the butter to create small air pockets that will help generate the rise later.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the brown sugar, and cream together until fully incorporated. About 1 minute on medium-high speed.
Geeky Tip: If the brown sugar is packed, break it up with a fork to help it incorporate better.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Beat in the egg until it is incorporated.
Occasionally, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Mix in the pure vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by halves, and mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix.
Geeky Tip: Overmixing will build up the gluten and protein structure in the dough and lead to a tougher and denser cookie.
Gently fold the pecans, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips into the dough.
Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the refrigerator.
Using a #30 cookie scoop (2 tablespoons), make scoops of dough, and roll them into balls with your hands.
Evenly space the balls 2 inches apart on the sheet.
Bake on the oven’s center rack for 13-15 minutes.
After baking, place the sheet on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy!
Storage
To store the cookies, put them in an airtight container with a slice of fresh plain bread. The bread helps to keep the cookies from going stale. They can be stored at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. They can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick (113 grams or 1/2 cup) of unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 67 grams (2/3 cup) of pecans, toasted and chopped
- 67 grams (1/3 cup) of white granulated sugar
- 104 grams (1/2 cup, packed) of dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 128 grams (1 cup) of all-purpose flour
- 80 grams (1 cup) of old-fashioned/rolled oats
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (I didn’t use it in my cowboy cookies because I wanted the other flavors to stand out more.)
- 80 grams (2/3 cup) of sweetened shredded coconut
- 85 grams (1/2 cup) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Let all ingredients come to room temperature. Cut the butter into small pieces to help it come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Evenly spread the pecans on the sheet. Bake them on the oven’s center rack for 7-8 minutes. Pecans can burn quickly, so keep an eye (and nose) on them.Once the pecans have cooled, roughly chop them. Set them aside.
- Fully whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and optional ground cinnamon. Set it aside.
- Beat the butter until it has a smooth appearance. About 1 minute on medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the white sugar into the butter, and cream together until lighter in color and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the brown sugar, and cream together until fully incorporated. About 1 minute on medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Beat in the egg until it is incorporated. Occasionally, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Mix in the pure vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by halves, and mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix.
- Gently fold the pecans, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips into the dough.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the refrigerator. Using a #30 cookie scoop (2 tablespoons), make scoops of dough, and roll them into balls with your hands. Evenly space the balls 2 inches apart on the sheet.
- Bake on the oven’s center rack for 13-15 minutes. After baking, place the sheet on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
To store the cookies, put them in an airtight container with a slice of fresh plain bread. The bread helps to keep the cookies from going stale. They can be stored at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. They can be frozen for up to 6 months.