I hit the jackpot with this chewy, buttery, Loaded Cowboy Cookies Recipe! Scrumptious oats, chocolate, coconut, and pecans in each chunk!
Whether or not you name these Cowboy Cookies or Ranger Cookies, this Oatmeal Cookies Recipe is an amped-up, out-of-this-world cookie you need to make.

Why You Should Make
The primary-ever cowboy cookies I baked have been an enormous disappointment. The recipe known as for Rice Krispies, which misplaced their crispness inside hours. It took me over a decade to recuperate from that fiasco and to make one other batch. It was time to provide these one other shot!
- The inspiration for this recipe for these straightforward cowboy cookies was within the New York Occasions, attributed to Laura Bush circa 2000. They have been the winner of the Household Circle’s presidential candidates’ wives cookie contest, the place the Democrat vs Republican competitors was moved to the kitchen. I can see why this scrumptious, chewy oatmeal cookie recipe gained!
- Observe: This recipe makes a HUGE batch, they usually freeze fantastically. You’ll have a stash of ready-to-go snacks and desserts in your freezer.
- These cookies are loaded with chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, and oatmeal. You may simply tweak the recipe on your palate, swapping out completely 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 simpler incorporation.
- Baking Powder (affiliate hyperlink) – In contrast to baking soda, baking powder often expires earlier than you utilize all of it. Examine the expiration date earlier than beginning the recipe. In case you’d like to make certain, place a spoonful right into a bowl or cup full of extremely popular water. In case your baking powder is lively, it’ll bubble vigorously. If it doesn’t, change it earlier than making the dough.
- Chocolate Chips (affiliate hyperlink) – I exploit Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate. Be at liberty to make use of bittersweet and even milk chocolate chips.
- Vanilla Extract (affiliate hyperlink) – Use actual vanilla extract, by no means artificially flavored.
- Oatmeal – Use old style rolled oats, not fast oats.
- Coconut (affiliate hyperlink) – Use sweetened, angel flake coconut.
- Pecans – For the very best taste, toast your nuts earlier than utilizing to deliver out their important oils. This may be carried out in a skillet or on a sheet pan within the oven at 350° for 6-8 minutes.

Professional Suggestions
As ordinary, I needed to tweak this recipe for loaded cowboy cookies a bit. I eradicated the cinnamon and decreased the quantity of pecans. After all, Invoice would have beloved these cookies sans oatmeal, coconut, and pecans. Yeah, these could be plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies! Some issues by no means change.
- PRO-Tip: Get out your butter and eggs about 60 minutes earlier than you begin making your cookie dough so they arrive to room temperature. This ensures the dough will combine correctly.
- PRO-Tip: Whisking collectively your dry components earlier than mixing them into the dough helps stop clumps of baking soda, baking powder, or an excessive amount of salt in anybody cookie.
- PRO-Tip: I like utilizing my paddle attachment when utilizing a mixer to make cookies. This prevents the dough from aerating, which may occur whenever you beat with a whisk attachment. In case you use a hand mixer, simply watch out to not overbeat.
- The opposite possibility is to combine by hand with a wood spoon.
- These loaded cowboy cookies have been every made with ¼ cup of cookie dough! They’re BIG cookies. Go forward and use a rounded tablespoon of dough and bake for 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies.
- The unique recipe known as for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and an additional ½ cup of pecans, or nut of your alternative, to this oatmeal cookie recipe. Be at liberty so as to add cinnamon and extra pecans when you’d like.
- You may additionally use another chocolate chip, like bittersweet, white chocolate, or butterscotch. Or how about changing a number of the chocolate with toffee bits?
- PRO-Tip: In order for you completely spherical cookies, roll the dough between your two palms to kind balls.
- Then, once they come out of the oven, faucet them into good circles whereas they’re nonetheless sizzling utilizing a spatula. Ensure to make use of a sizzling pad to stabilize the pan. It really works like a allure.
The right way to Make






The right way to Make a Smaller Batch
PRO-Tip: This recipe makes an enormous quantity of dough, and when you make smaller cookies, you should have tons and much! The measurements can simply be divided into thirds, and you may as well bake up extra petite cookies. I like to recommend a rounded tablespoon as a substitute of the ¼ cup of dough known as for within the recipe when you favor a smaller model. Simply lower the baking time.
PRO-Tip: In case you determine to make â…“ of the recipe, listed here are the quantities for the smaller batch:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt (or barely much less)
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup old style oatmeal
- â…” cup angel flake coconut (sweetened)
- ½ cups chopped pecans
Continuously Requested QuestionsÂ
There isn’t any definitive reply to this query, however a few theories. First, the title Cowboy Cookies could have come about as a result of this recipe was developed, or not less than grew to become well-liked, in Texas. My recipe was tailored from Laura Bush, the spouse of our native Texan president, George W. Bush.
The opposite thought was that these Cowboy Cookies, also referred to as Ranger Cookies, have been sturdy sufficient for cowboys to tackle the path. With oats and nuts, there’s some dietary worth, and naturally, energy.
Each are loaded oatmeal cookies, with Ranger Cookies thought-about a subcategory of Cowboy Cookies. Cowboy cookies are likely to include oatmeal, coconut, nuts, and cinnamon. Then again, Ranger cookies could have Rice Krispies and chocolate chips.
However, on this case, the cinnamon was eradicated, and chocolate chips have been added. So many occasions these phrases are used interchangeably.
Sure, strive walnuts or almonds as a substitute of pecans when you favor a type of.
Positively; omitting the coconut won’t change the end result of the recipe.
A couple of ideas for making chewy cookies embrace not overmixing as soon as the flour is added, utilizing brown sugar (already within the recipe; it’s moister than white sugar), and never overbaking.
As soon as they’ve cooled utterly, retailer them in an hermetic container at room temperature for 3-5 days. After that, they may freeze nicely, additionally in an hermetic container, for as much as 3 months
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Components
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 cups old style oatmeal
- 2 cups angel flake coconut (sweetened)
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 levels. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk collectively flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- In a really massive bowl, beat butter till clean and creamy. Step by step beat in sugars, and mix totally.
- Add eggs one after the other, beating after every addition. Combine in vanilla.
- Stir within the flour combination till simply mixed. Stir in chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans.
- For every cookie, scoop out ¼ cup of cookie dough, roll it into balls, and house them 3 inches aside on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, till edges are flippantly browned. Middles could have areas that seem barely underdone.
- Take away cookies to a rack to chill.
Notes
I exploit salted butter on this recipe. In case you use unsalted butter, it’s possible you’ll wish to enhance 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 till flippantly browned.
In case your cookies aren’t completely spherical once they come out of the oven, use your spatula and faucet the perimeters whereas the cookies are sizzling to kind extra round cookies.
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Vitamin Info:
Serving Dimension:
1 cookie
Quantity Per Serving:
Energy: 315Complete Fats: 18gSaturated Fats: 10gTrans Fats: 0gLdl cholesterol: 34mgSodium: 165mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 3gSugar: 23gProtein: 4g
