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This recipe came to The Times in 2000 during the Bush-Gore presidential campaign when Family Circle magazine ran cookie recipes from each of the candidates' wives and asked readers to vote.

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  1. Step 1 Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Step 2 Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl.
  4. Step 3 In a very large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in sugars, and combine thoroughly. Step 4 Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla. Step 5 Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans. Step 6 For each cookie, drop ¼ cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Step 7 Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool. Cowboy Cookies You have limited access to New York Times Cooking. Subscribe to return to this recipe, plus over 20,000 more for every interest and skill level. 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Kenji López-Alt Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Shortcake Nancy Harmon Jenkins RATINGS 5 out of 5 3012 user ratings Your rating 1 star2 stars3 stars4 stars5 stars Submit Have you cooked this? Mark as Cooked COOKING NOTES All Notes (304) Most Helpful (42) Private (0) Sarah 4 years ago Delicious! But made a TON (I got 58 cookies). I literally didn't have a mixing bowl big enough, had to use the lid to my cake carrier. To scale by 1/3: 1 c flour 1 t baking powder 1 t baking soda 1 t cinnamon 1/4 t salt (heaping) 1 stick butter 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 t vanilla 1 c choc chips 1 c oats 2/3 c coconut 2/3 c pecans Is this helpful? 701 Barb 5 years ago I think every butter cookie recipe should come with a link to this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/dining/17bake.html?_r=0 I printed it out and stuck it in my recipe binder when I first ran across it, and I reread it for tips almost every time I try a new butter dough recipe. I also think the suggestion to reduce the butter would help keep the cookies from flattening, and will try that. Is this helpful? 243 Alicia 5 years ago Chill the dough for 24 hours, and your cookies will be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Is this helpful? 135 Julie 5 years ago To address the flat cookie problem, I suggest cutting down on the butter; this makes the proportion of flour to butter greater, and I think will allow dough more rising fr/ the leavening. (And are we trying to hit cardiac arrest level of butter, or what?) Is this helpful? 70 Laurie 5 years ago This is a good recipe!! After making it as written the first time, I now make a few adjustments...decrease the flour by up to a cup, increase the amount of oats by half a cup, toast the pecans before adding and use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. Is this helpful? 60 Sarah 4 years ago There is nothing wrong with this recipe! It is perfect, even better after refrigerating the dough. There is a reason that it is such a large batch and should NOT be halved because you think it makes too much. These are supposed to be giant cookies, not typical 1-2 Ttbsp size. You are supposed to use 1/4 cup PER cookie. Also if you are using typical cookie size they would probably be very dry and not crispy outside, chewy inside like they are supposed to be. Is this helpful? 59 Dali 5 years ago These cookies are tasty and have a great chewy but not soft texture. The recipe makes three times what I would normally make so I would halve the ingredients next time. I substituted 1 cup of chocolate chips for dark raisins for more variety. I would reduce the amount of sugar and butter next time. Is this helpful? 38 Sarah Z 3 years ago These cookies are fantastic. Recipe works well substituting gluten free flour. The huge batch tends to overflow the bowl of my standard sized KitchenAid mixer, so I would recommend a 2/3 batch: 2 c. flour 2 t. baking powder 2 t. baking soda 2 t. cinnamon 1 t. kosher salt 2 sticks butter 1 c. granulated sugar 1 c. brown sugar 2 eggs 2 t. vanilla 2 c. chocolate chips 2 c. oats 1 1/3 c. coconut 1 1/3. pecans Is this helpful? 36 kniterati 5 years ago Delicious crispy rounds! I added 1 cup raisin/dried cherry mix (to clean out the pantry) and substituted a small portion of the oats with wheat germ. In my world, flat is the goal. Never was a fan of the raw cookie dough so gummy round cookies disappoint. These are perfect. As for butter and sugar, if you resist them, what's the point of cookies? That day comes next month when I will need all of NYTimes experts to help me survive until Easter. For now, laissez the bontemps roulé! Is this helpful? 33 Sharon 5 years ago Chill dough 24 hours. Scoop out into balls the size of small walnuts. (press balls together a bit so they will hold). Bake only 12 - 14 minutes (coolies will look like they are not done--only golden brown--but they are done. DO NOT COOK TOO MUCH, COOKIES WILL GET HARD. This recipe makes about 8 dozen cookies--one half recipe probably good for most uses. Is this helpful? 26 Lisa 5 years ago Can you use quick cooking rolled oats? Is this helpful? 23 Kristin 5 years ago These are delicious! Hearty, sweet and full of chocolate, oat-y goodness. (I left out the coconut and didn't miss it.) Is this helpful? 20 mosselyn 5 years ago These have become my favorite cookie, but I usually cut the recipe down to 2/3 of a batch. I make the balls with an ice cream scoop, which results in about a 4" cookie. The balls freeze well, just up the cooking time to about 20 min. if baking from frozen. Is this helpful? 19 carmen 5 years ago I just found this recipe and made it they are amazing, i used real butter and cooked them to where just the edges turned brown i didnt use 1/4 cup per cookie, so i made 20 cookies to start and rolled the rest of the dough into balls and put them in the freezer for future baking. Is this helpful? 18 Kris 5 years ago This recipe reminds me of the "Ranger Cookie" recipe which I love because it is the absolute best way to use up leftover boxed cereal. I use a cereal similar to "Life" or "Chex". The recipe uses three cups of cereal, which give the cookies a great crunchy texture in addition to the chewiness of the coconut and oats. They are my family's favorite chocolate chip cookie. The King Arthur flour website's recipe is excellent. Is this helpful? 15 Ally 5 years ago Maybe try chilling the dough for 24 hours, and/or using more brown sugar and less granulated? http://www.handletheheat.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies/ Is this helpful? 14 Bridget 5 years ago They are not overly cinnamony (!) at all. I know it seems like a lot, but there is a lot of everything in this recipe! My stand mixer is completely packed with all of the goodies and it just barely fits. So don't fear the cinnamon. I have my last two trays in the oven right now and my house smells awesome! This is a great cookie. Is this helpful? 14 Gail Ann 5 years ago Hello, Thank-you for mentioning the coconut omission. I dislike it, and I wondered if it made a difference. Is this helpful? 13 Geoff 5 years ago In reading some of the comments, I’m wodering if some may be using the stated cooking time for cookies that are smaller. I used two tablespoons of dough and found that 13 minutes was just right, leaving them for five minutes on the pan before removing them to a cooling rack. Also the dough does need to rest in the fridge for a few hours. I couldn’t find unsweetened coconut so I used two cups of dried cherries soaked in congnac and dark chocolate chips instead of semisweet. Made over 6 dozen. Is this helpful? 13 lilbev 5 years ago I think this recipe has to be one of the most forgiving cookie recipe I’ve ever made. While juggling baking a cake concurrently I made some mistakes like using the wrong size measuring cup for the sugar and having to make 3 eggs into 1 1/2. The batter seemed thick enough so I put the first tray in the oven and then realized I had forgotten to add the flour! I grabbed the barely baked cookies from the oven and added them and the batter back in for another mix and they came out delicious! Is this helpful? 13 Show more notes Hungry for More Recipes? 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