Description
My go-to recipe for Texas Cowboy Cookies that I’ve been perfecting for three years. Every cookie is loaded with oats, crunchy corn flakes, toasted pecans, coconut, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips. They’re thick, chewy, and disappear faster than I can make them in my house!
Ingredients
Cookie Base:
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks) – I leave mine on the counter for about 2 hours
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar – I use dark brown because that’s what mom always bought
- 2 large eggs – from my neighbor’s chickens when I can get them!
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled – learned this the hard way
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix-ins (The Good Stuff!):
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats – don’t even think about using quick oats
- 1 cup corn flakes cereal – Kellogg’s is what I use, straight from the box
- 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped – I toast these while my oven preheats
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes – the bag kind from the baking aisle
- 1 cup peanut butter chips – these are what make my kids fight over cookies
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips – I buy the big Costco bag
Instructions
Heat your oven to 350°F and line those baking sheets with parchment paper – trust me, you’ll thank yourself later when cleanup is a breeze! I always toast my pecans first in a dry pan for about 4 minutes because my neighbor taught me this trick, and now I can’t make them any other way.
Beat that softened butter for a good 2-3 minutes until it looks fluffy and pale. I used to rush this step and wonder why my cookies were dense – turns out patience really does pay off here!
Mix in both sugars and beat until everything looks creamy and combined. The brown sugar is what makes these cookies stay chewy for days (if they last that long in your house).
Add your eggs one at a time – I learned this from my grandmother who insisted it made smoother dough. Then add that vanilla and mix until everything looks smooth and happy.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl. I know it seems like an extra step, but it prevents those awful flour pockets that nobody wants to bite into.
Slowly add the flour mixture to your wet ingredients, mixing just until you can’t see any more flour streaks. Overmixing here will give you tough cookies – learned that lesson the hard way during my first attempt!
This is my favorite part! Gently fold in the oats, corn flakes, cooled pecans, coconut, and both kinds of chips. The dough will look absolutely packed with goodies – that’s exactly what we want.
Put that bowl in the fridge for at least an hour. I know waiting is torture when you want cookies NOW, but this step is what prevents flat, sad cookies. I usually make the dough after dinner and bake them the next morning.
Use about ¼ cup of dough per cookie – they’re meant to be big and satisfying! Leave plenty of room between them because they spread more than you’d expect.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden but the centers still look slightly soft. They’ll finish cooking on the hot pan, so don’t be tempted to overbake them.
Let them sit on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving them. I used to be impatient and had cookies fall apart on me – not fun!
Notes
The first time someone sees corn flakes in cookie dough, they look at me like I’ve completely lost my mind. But then they try the cookies and suddenly understand! Don’t crush them up – you want those irregular pieces that create little pockets of crunch.
If your dough feels too sticky to scoop, stick it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Mine gets sticky on humid summer days, and that extra chill time fixes everything. If it seems dry and crumbly, add a splash of milk – I learned this from my first batch disaster when I thought I could just power through with dry dough.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes + Chill Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American