Cowboy Cookies with Video
I hit the jackpot with this chewy, buttery, Loaded Cowboy Cookies Recipe! Delicious oats, chocolate, coconut, and pecans in every bite!
Whether you call these Cowboy Cookies or Ranger Cookies, this Oatmeal Cookies Recipe is an amped-up, out-of-this-world cookie you must make.
Why You Must Make
The first-ever cowboy cookies I baked were a huge disappointment. The recipe called for Rice Krispies which lost their crispness within hours. It took me over a decade to recover from that fiasco and to make another batch. It was time to give these another shot!
- The inspiration for this recipe for these easy cowboy cookies in the New York Times, attributed to Laura Bush circa 2000. They were the winner of the Family Circle’s presidential candidates’ wives cookie contest where the Democrat vs Republican competition was moved to the kitchen. I can see why this delicious, chewy oatmeal cookies recipe won!
- This recipe makes a HUGE batch and they freeze beautifully. You’ll have a stash of ready-to-go snacks and dessert in your freezer.
- These cookies are loaded with chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, and oatmeal. You can easily tweak the recipe for your palate, swapping out different chocolate chips or nuts, or leaving out the coconut. They’re very versatile.
Ingredient Notes
- Kitchen Staples – Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Sugar, Brown Sugar
- Eggs, Butter – Have at room temperature for easier incorporation.
- Baking Powder – Unlike baking soda, baking powder usually expires before you use it up. Check the expiration date before using. If you’d like to be certain, place a spoonful into a bowl or cup filled with very hot water. If your baking powder is active, it will bubble vigorously. If it does not, replace before making the dough.
- Chocolate Chips – I use Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate. Feel free to use bittersweet or even milk chocolate chips.
- Vanilla Extract – Use real vanilla extract, never artificially flavored.
- Oatmeal – Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats.
- Coconut – Use sweetened, angel flake coconut.
- Pecans – For the best flavor, toast your nuts before using to bring out their essential oils. This can be done in a skillet or on a sheet pan in the oven at 350° for 6-8 minutes.
Expert Tips
As usual, I had to tweak this recipe for loaded cowboy cookies a bit. I eliminated the cinnamon and decreased the amount of pecans. Of course, Bill would have loved these cookies sans oatmeal, coconut, and pecans. Yeah, those would be plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies! Some things never change.
- Get out your butter and eggs about 60 minutes before you start making your cookie dough so they come to room temperature. This ensures the dough will mix properly.
- Whisking together your dry ingredients before you mix them into the dough helps prevent clumps of baking soda, baking powder, or too much salt in any one cookie.
- I like using my paddle attachment if using a mixer to make cookies. This prevents the dough from aerating which can happen when you beat with a whisk attachment. If you use a hand mixer, just be careful not to overbeat.
- The other option is to mix by hand with a wooden spoon.
- These loaded cowboy cookies were each made with 1/4 cup of cookie dough! They are BIG cookies. Go ahead and use a rounded tablespoon full of dough and bake for 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies.
- I mentioned all my tweaks above, but feel free to add back in 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and an extra 1/2 cup of pecans, or nut of your choice to this oatmeal cookies recipe.
- You could also use an alternative chocolate chip like bittersweet, white chocolate, or butterscotch. Or how about replacing some of the chocolate with toffee bits?
- If you want perfectly round cookies, roll the dough between your two palms to form balls.
- Then, when they come out of the oven, tap them into perfect circles while they’re still hot using a spatula. It works like a charm.
How to Make a Smaller Batch
PRO-Tip: this recipe makes a huge amount of dough, and if you make smaller cookies you will have lots and lots! The measurements can easily be divided into thirds and you can also bake up more petite cookies (I recommend a rounded tablespoon instead of the 1/4 cup of dough called for in the recipe if you prefer a smaller version. Just decrease the baking time.).
PRO-Tip: If you decide to make 1/3 of the recipe, here are the amounts for the smaller batch:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (Check the expiration date.)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8+ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
- 2/3 cup angel flake coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no definitive answer to this question, but a couple of theories. First, the name Cowboy Cookies may have come about because this recipe was developed or at least became popular in Texas. My recipe was adapted from Laura Bush, wife of our native Texan president, George W. Bush.
The other thought was that these Cowboy Cookies, also known as Ranger Cookies, were sturdy enough for cowboys to take on the trail. With oats and nuts, there is some nutritional value, and of course calories.
Both are loaded oatmeal cookies, with Ranger Cookies considered a subcategory of Cowboy Cookies. Cowboy cookies tend to contain oatmeal, coconut, nuts, and cinnamon. On the other hand, Ranger cookies have Rice Krispies and chocolate chips.
But, in this case, the cinnamon was eliminated and chocolate chips were added. So many times these terms are used interchangeably.
Yes, try walnuts or almonds instead of the pecans if you prefer one of those.
Definitely. Omitting the coconut will not change the outcome of the recipe.
A couple of tips for making chewy cookies include not overmixing once the flour is added, using brown sugar (already in the recipe; it’s moister than white sugar), and not overbaking.
Once they’ve cooled completely, store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. After that, they will freeze well, also in an airtight container, for up to 3 months
You May Also Like:
- Better Than Brownies Chocolate Cookies from Brown Eyed Baker
- Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from Spend with Pennies
- Chewy Ginger Cookies
- Butterscotch Cookies Recipe
- S’mores Cookies
- Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies
- Layered Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Plus if you’re a pecan lover, these Pecan Tassies are fabulous!
- More Cookie Recipes
- More Chocolate Recipes
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Loaded Cowboy Cookies Recipe
Delicious oats, coconut, pecans and chocolate chips in every bite!
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
- 2 cups angel flake coconut (sweetened)
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- In a very large bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in sugars, and combine thoroughly.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
- Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans.
- For each cookie, scoop out 1/4 cup of cookie dough, roll it into balls, and space them 3 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Middles may have areas that appear slightly underdone. Remove cookies to a rack to cool.
Notes
I use salted butter in this recipe. If you use unsalted butter, you may want to increase the salt.
Make one-third of this recipe for a smaller batch of cookies.
Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough for smaller cookies and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
If your cookies aren't perfectly round when they come out of the oven, use your spatula and tap the edges while the cookies are hot to form more circular cookies.
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Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 315Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 165mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 3gSugar: 23gProtein: 4g
106 Comments on “Cowboy Cookies with Video”
Can you refrigerate the dough and does it change. The cookie?
Hi, Cindy, it should be fine to refrigerate the dough. Just cover it well with plastic wrap so that it’s airtight and then you’ll need to bring let it sit at room temperature before baking so that it softens enough to roll or scoop into balls. I do this all the time with many cookie recipes 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!
These cookies look amazing. I love all the ingredients in the recipe. Great video!
Great recipe! Added a tablespoon of cinnamon to the large recipe, which added a great additional flavor (I always like some cinnamon in my chocolate chip cookes). My husband loved these! This recipe makes plenty to freeze, which is really great to have for future!! Thank you so much!
So happy you loved these, too, Eileen! And adding cinnamon sounds like a delicious addition.
Made these for my husband he loves them! Although what a huge recipe! I wanted to make the whole recipe so I could freeze them, but wow! definitely a keeper recipe!
Thanks, Carla! Yes, it makes a ton—so I’m glad they were a hit!
I see you recommend old fashioned oats, but all I have are quick oats. What would be the impact if I used those?
Hi, Mary, you can certainly use quick oats. The texture will be softer, but they’ll still be tasty. I hope you enjoy!!
Is the flaked coconut sweetened or unsweetened?
It’s sweetened, Rhona. I use angelflake coconut. Hope you enjoy!
I baked. These cookies for my Good News Club (kids Christian club). They were crazy about them. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so glad they were a hit! Thanks for letting me know. Carolyn!
These cookies are amazing. I did half butterscotch and half chocolate chips. I only had walnuts which were a fine substitute for pecans. I scooped out the dough and froze more than half of the recipe because this makes a lot and I did not read the fine print with the smaller recipe. But that is totally fine because these will be great to have at the ready when my husband wants cookies.
Loved the recipe!! Make a lot of cookies so next time I’m cutting the recipe in 1/2!
Thanks, Jeannie! Thank goodness they freeze well. Happy holidays!!!
These cookies were a big hit this year! I cut the recipe in half, still had a lot of cookies, the family ate them and I ended making another 1/2 batch again! Great for gifts!
SO glad to hear your family loved them, Sharon! Merry Christmas!!
Could these be baked as a sheet then cut into bars?
I have not tried this, but I do it all the time with chocolate chip cookie dough, so it should work. I wouldn’t make the whole batch as it makes a LOT of dough. Maybe start with 1/3 of the recipe? Let me know how it goes!
Just chuckling a little bit on the need to make a smaller batch Cowboy Cookie… LOL …like these would last more than 24 hours anyways with boys! These huge cookies look packed with goodness. Is there a link we can watch your TV broadcast from the other day, would love to see you in action dear friend? Stay well and take care
No link this time…not sure if I’m happy about it or not, LOL. Thanks for your kind message!! xoxo
Absolutely love your cookie recipe!! I generally scoop all my cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and then freeze. Once frozen I place them laying flat into large Ziploc bags writing the cookie name, cooking temp and time onto bag. It is so great to have a stash of dough already to bake whenever you need them.
Great tip, Wendy! I do that around the holidays since I make a lot of Christmas cookies, but you’ve reminded me that I should be doing it all year long. So glad you enjoy these cookies, too!
Made these today, yum! I had to mix this by hand once I added all the goodies there was no way I could use a spoon! So much batter I was worried my bowl wasn’t big enough! They came out perfect!
It makes a lot of dough, doesn’t it? I’m so glad you enjoyed them—thanks for reporting back, Melissa!
These cookies look and sound awesome. I love oatmeal cookies. I like the modifications you made too. I’m afraid an hour isn’t enough time for our butter to soften these days because of Butter Gate. But I’ll give these a go once we exhausted the current cookie dough supply in the freezer.
Is angel flake coconut the same as sweetened shredded coconut? Thank you!
Yes, Janet. They’re the same thing! Hope you enjoy.
Woo hoo!!! They look so delicious, Liz, and I’d love one now! This is definitely my kind of cookie! I’ve made these before, using LB’s recipe. and I like your version. My Bill would say the same, stick to the usual recipe. I say, the more coconut and nuts, the better!
These are the best!! I’ve made 3 batches already. Made one with raisins soaked in hot warwe dor a few minutes and squeeze dried in a paper towel and they wew soooo moist and chewey! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much for taking the time to report back, Debbi! Love how you plumped up your raisins—great tip!
I have been in search of a “perfect” cookie for my wife. She is very picky and does not like chocolate chips in cookies so I took the recipe and left out the chocolate and coconut and used dried cranberries (Crazins) and chopped pecans and she loves them. I have made several batch’s for friends this Christmas and gotten nothing but high compliments on them so your now in my book of favorites. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, I’m so glad, Martin!! Your version sounds delicious and your kind words made my day! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I can see why these cookies are so popular. Yum. I love the name too.
can these be made as bars rather than cookies? If so, what is the time to bake in a 9 X 13 pan?
Hi, Lee, That’s a great question, but since it makes a huge batch of cookies, it would be way too much dough for a 9 X 13. If you have made chocolate chip cookie bars before, you could use part of the dough (filling the pan to the same level) and baking about 25 minutes. Let me know if you try them as bars as I’d love to pass along your experience to my readers.
Great cookie, but I did make some changes. I added the cinnamon back in and the full 2 cups of pecans. I left out the chocolate chips and used 2 cups of white chips and 1 cup of craisins. They are absolutely fabulous.
Isn’t it great how adaptable these are?! I love your tweaks. Thanks for taking the time to report back 🙂
I halved the recipe, dont ask me how i split and egg in half, it was horrid, but they came out wonderful. They are so good. I did add the cinnamon, half the recipe would of called for 1 and 1/2 tea spoons but I did only 1/2 teaspoon because Im not a fan of cinnamon either but I knew that traditional oatmeal cookies have it and they are amazing, the 1/2 teaspoon isnt overwhelming. I can eat three in one sitting. I also used milk chocolate chips and did a full cup of pecans, I wish I had put more. Maybe toasting the coconut would have been good too.
So glad you were able to cut the recipe in half and tweaked it for your palate! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!!! xo
Yields almost 8 dozen regular size cookies!! I split my dough into 3 to make a batch of butterscotch, one without coconut, and a batch that follows the recipe! Turned out great!
Ooh, I love the 3 variations!! I’d be happy to eat them all!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend 🙂
Hey Liz just wanted to thank you again for this recipe. It’s amazing and still my go to when I make cookies. This is the only recipe that always turns out good every time and everyone loves it. Making it again this weekend. Even if it takes me an hour to roll all the dough haha. So worth it. I was wondering if they work without coconut? I ran out lol. Thank you!
I know! I eat way too many when I make these and I’m glad you love them, too. You can definitely make them without coconut. Happy baking, Andrea!!!
Delish! Wish I could send a photo! Wee bit flatter than your pic, but I love them. Added M&Ms after the first two batches.
FYI for those of you making 1/3 the recipe- it made 35 small cookies using Pampered Chef’s smallest scoop, well rounded.
Thanks for this recipe. I want MORE coconut!
Yum on the M&M’s and I’m with you on more coconut!! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
Just finished baking these cookies. Oh my goodness! So delicious, rich chewy and crispy. I have a family of cookie lovers and this recipe is getting thumbs up from the youngest to the oldest. I didn’t read the part about decreasing the recipe size until after I made the dough…so much dough! I formed half the dough into pre-portioned balls to freeze for later. For a minute there I thought my stand mixer was going to give up with all the dough but I did get it incorporated. Delicious, thank you. Looking forward to trying Ranger Cookies too!
Thanks so much, Nichole! I appreciate your nice review. Great idea to have some frozen dough balls ready to go. Stay well!
So I used this recipe and i made 102 cookies. I’m not complaining but omg 102 cookies to eat
I had to laugh, Lauryanne! Thankfully, these freeze well! And you’ll make lots of friends if you share 🙂
Hi there I had posted a question but I actually thought I’d let you know I ended up throwing out more then half the dough 🙁 the cookies just were not turning out at all. Really disappointed:( hope I can find another recipe like this one !
I’m so sorry, Tymara, that this recipe didn’t work for you. The recipe has been tested and used numerous times with good results, so I’m not sure what happened. I’m wondering if your dough was too warm? Or if the amount of flour was accidentally mismeasured? How frustrating for you!! Good luck with your next recipe 🙂
P.S. You may never want to try this recipe again, but you could try 1/3 of the recipe (so not to waste so many ingredients if it still doesn’t work. Plus the ingredients divide nicely) and chill the dough before baking. If they’re still thin, add an extra tablespoon of flour.
Hi there!
Just made your cookies .. I’ve found my first batch really thin and crispy where I wanted them to be the thicker and chewy? Any tips what could’ve went wrong!
Could I add some creamy peanut butter instead of coconut?
Hi, Erin, You can definitely skip the coconut and the cookies will be fine. Adding some peanut butter might work, but I haven’t tested it. I worry that the texture of the dough might be compromised with the increased fat without changing any other ingredients. If you’d like to give it a try, I’d made 1/3 of the recipe with 1 stick of butter, 1 egg, etc. so that if they don’t work, you haven’t wasted a lot of ingredients. Your idea sounds delicious, though!!! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Omg these were sooooo good! Instead of 3 cups chocolate chips, I used 1 cup and added 1 cup butterscotch chips and 1 cup peanut butter chips. (I had 1/2 bags of each I wanted to use up lol) it turned out great! They were gone so fast! Everyone loved them. Thank you for the recipe!
SO glad you enjoyed! Love your chip selection, too!! Sounds wonderful.
Can the cookie dough be frozen instead of the cookies themselves. We like cookies right out the oven so I w/prefer to bake them as we want then. Delicious!
Hi, Elaine, definitely! I’d freeze dough balls, then defrost and bake! I usually don’t bake from frozen, but I’m sure that would work, too!! Enjoy!
OH. EMM. GEE these will forever be my go-to cookies!!!!! All my friends and coworkers loved them too!! The second time I made this recipe, instead of 3 cups of chocolate chips I used 1 cup chips, 1 cup chocolate chunks and 1 cup butterscotch chips!!! They were so delicious. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
Oh, you made my day! My friends went nuts for them, too. Thanks for sharing your tweaks—shaking up the add ins sounds delicious!
hi. I’m just wondering why there are 2 different pictures for these cookies in the heading. one is thinker and crispier on the sides while the other is thicker with no crispy appearance. I’d prefer the first one but didn’t see a difference in the recipe to create one over the other. ??
Hi, Lorrie,
All these cookies were from the same batch. Most likely, there were some batches where the dough had warmed up a bit more from sitting on the counter. Since all ovens bake differently, you may have to experiment with the timing to get that crispy edge. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy these!
I cut your recipe in half following your directions
And my cookies came out a little on the thin side. Any tips, l do live @ about 33 thousand feet. Maybe just a little more flour?
Yes, that might help. The King Arthur Flour website has a great post on high altitude baking—https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking Hope your next batch is thicker! Good luck!
Took these to a BBQ and got RAVE reviews. (11 yo girl “someone’s got talent”… 10 yo boy “these are the best cookies EVER!”) The only thing I did differently was to substitute half of the semi-sweet chocolate chips for M&M Minis, which added a pop of color.
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that, Terri Joy! My friends went wild for them, too. I love the idea of adding some M&M’s. 🙂
I bet these would be really with dried cranberries in place of coconut. Can’t wait to try them both ways
I used butter flavored crisco and more flour. Only had one cup of oatmeal. Also short on pecans I added in peanuts TURNED OUT GREAT !!!!
Thanks for sharing your review, Julie!
These cookies look so good! My kids will finish an entire batch in minutes!
Not much beats a warm cookie that is the size of your hand!! I love that you added pecans AND coconut!
Your cowboy cookies sound out of the world good, these will disappear in our house. Definitely making a batch.
my family loves these cookies and I do make them often they are so addicting! yours looks perfect!
Although mine didn’t turn out as pretty and perfect like yours, they were the first cookies gone at my daughter’s party! What a hit!
These cookies remind me of my grandma who recently passed. She loved Imperial products and baking in general! I will definitely be making these in her honor.
My kids can’t stop eating this! They were so good!
I’m glad you gave cowboy cookies another chance because these turned out perfect!
These are my new favorite cookie!
Every time I make these cookies, I always get asked for the recipe! Thank you!
The cookies were delicious but next time I would make a smaller batch. There was so much dough that I barely had a bowl big enough to mix it in!
They freeze well, Beth! And I gave a lot to my friends 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
These sound perfect!
Those are especially beautiful cookies. I’d love to hear your tips on getting them to be so perfect!
Yum! I’m definitely making this recipe! Off to pin it now.
love the texture and size of these!!! And I totally agree with you on taking out the cinnamon, much better without!
This cookies are needed any my and ANYONE’S life!! Thanks for sharing!!!
I haven’t baked any cookies this season and a cookie recipe that calls for 3 cups of chocolate chips is very tempting.
These sound yummy!! And hearty too! Yay for #Choctoberfest
Perfect cookies.
These look like the perfect cookies! can’t wait to give it a try! 🙂 Thanks foe the recipe!! XO
I can see why you would want to keep them in the freezer, they sound very tempting.
Can I trade places with your husband?? I would have no trouble eating these!! They look amazing Liz! I love the coconut and pecans!
I’ve only made cowboy cookies ones and it called for corn flakes instead of rice krispies and they were awesome! I can see how mushy rice puffs can be a disappointment. Glad you found a keeper this time!
Gorgeous Cowboy Cookies, Liz! How fitting they should come from the kitchen of Laura Bush! I love coconut and pecans in cookies. Not to mention chocolate. Glad you had girls over that can appreciate the finer things in life. XO
Great cookies and I agree with the coconut, the more, the better! I can’t imagine just a quarter of the cookies, that would take more control than I have. Can’t wait to try these! Thanks,Liz!
These cookies look so good. My son has the same tastes as your husband:) But my book club would love these.
A quarter of a cookie just won’t cut it for me. I’d want several of these beauties! These look terrific — great texture and flavor. Thanks!
These look awesome Liz, chuck full of chewy and chocolatey goodness! I love oatmeal and pecans in cookies. Personally, I prefer slightly smaller cookies so I can est a whole one but JT would love the larger ones.
BTW, I made your skillet chocolate chunk cookie and WOWZERS they were a huge hit at thanksgiving this year! So good that I’m blogging about it soon!
These look so… delicious Liz, definitely a winner. I like your adaptations too, although I love both cinnamon and chocolate, I’m not a fan of them together. I’d gladly take a bag of these gems home, lucky friends you have!
They really look good! And the oatmeal and pecans make them healthy… right?:@)
Hi. These are awesome! I was worried about them coming out not flat but they were perfect. It makes sooo much dough though Hahaha. How long will the dough last in the fridge? I froze some but would also like to keep some on hand to bake them through the week. Seriously big thanks for this amazing recipe!
Hi, Andrea! I’m so glad you enjoyed these! I’d keep the dough in the fridge only 3 days, maybe 4 max. What I like to do is divvy up the leftover dough into balls, freeze them on a sheet pan so they keep separated, then put the frozen dough balls into a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or container. Keep them in the freezer, then pull out what you need when you get a craving! Hope you enjoy the holiday weekend!
Cowboy cookies are the best! Yours look absolutely perfect, as always! 🙂
3 cups of chocolate and 2 cups of coconut flakes!!! They have got to be GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!