Total Time: 45 minutes
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An old classic treat with a few fun twists, these delicious cookies are loaded with chocolate chips, sweet toffee bits and crisp toasted pecans.
This one's going to be short and sweet because I've got a hurricane "herd" headed my way!
A British herd, to be precise. Yup, probably aboutthe time you read this post, that little herd will be galloping through the custom/immigration gates straight into the arms of a very happy Papa and Grammy. It's our daughter Cait, her husband Josh and their four little ones, Annie, Ellie, Lilly and Luke, who will be arriving from London for a summer visit. And though it does, at times, seem a bitlike a hurricane that's blowing into our quiet, empty-nester lives, we love every second of the chaos, commotion and comedy.
It just wouldn't be right for thisGrammy to not have a sweet treat waiting for the children under the cake dome. I was certain you would agree so I picked a recipe I knew you would love too. It'san old favorite cookie that's been around forever though Ichanged it up just a bit.
The story's told that Cowboy Cookies areso hearty and delicious that cowboys carried them when riding the trails. Someone even called these cookies "the original power bars" dating back tothoseold Wild West days. I'm not sure that this is the true history of these fun cookies but I do know that the littlecowboys (girls) that'll be hanging around our campfire this weekend, are going to flip when they peek under the cake dome.
Okay, so I had to put my own little Café signature on these classic, old-fashioned cookies. You knew that, right? I added one of my favorite little cookie-flavor-poppers; toffee bits. I love the sweet buttery taste and the bit of crunch these give to cookies, brownies, bars, etc. You'll find them in the chocolate chip section of many grocery stores (I can always find them at Super Walmart).
I also used a combination of milk chocolate and mini semi sweet chocolate chips and while the oven was preheating, I popped my pecans in the oven with a tiny drizzleof honey and olive oil to toast them till golden and crisp.
And since I truly believe that we taste with our eyes before food ever hits our mouth, I employed a favorite little trick of mine. I reserve a small portion of the chocolate chips and pecans and, after the cookies are in the oven for 10 minutes, I scatter a few of the pretty chips and nuts on top of each cookie. Then it's back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes to complete the baking. It takes a bit more time and it's definitely not necessary but it you want the finished cookies to look they emerged from a fine bakery, give this simple little technique a try!
One last thing. This recipe makes a HUGE amount cookies. Don't worry though, they freeze beautifully and make wonderful small gifts for friends, teachers, neighbors, etc. That reminds me, I need to pull a few of mine out of the freezer right now as there's a herd (and a hurricane) headed my way!
4.8 from 10 votes
Toffee Cowboy Cookies
An old classic treat with a few fun twists, these delicious Toffee Cowboy Cookies are loaded with chocolate chips, sweet toffee bits and crisp toasted pecans.
Author: Adapted by Chris Scheuer from Five Heart Home
Course:Dessert
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Servings: 48
Ingredients
- 1cupchopped pecans
- 1teaspoonextra virgin olive oil
- 2teaspoonshoney
- ⅛teaspoonkosher salt
- 2cupsall-purpose flour 
- 2teaspoonsbaking powder
- 2teaspoonsbaking soda
- 1teaspooncinnamon
- ¾teaspoonsalt
- 1cupor 2 sticks buttersoftened
- 1cuplight brown sugarpacked
- ¾cupgranulated sugar
- 2large eggs
- 2teaspoonsvanila extract
- 2cupsrolled oats
- 1cupmilk chocolate chips
- 1cupsemi sweet mini chocolate chips
- 1 ½cupssweetened shredded coconut
- 1cuptoffee bits
- 1 ½cupscrushed cornflakesI just overfill the cup, then push down on them with my hand to crush to 1 cup.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside.
Combine pecans, olive oil, honey and salt on in a small pan lined with parchment paper or foil. Place in oven for 3 minutes. Remove and stir to coat pecans with oil/honey mixture. Return to oven and bake for another 6-7 minutes or until pecans are golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minute or until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl half way through.
Add eggs, once at a time while continuing to beat. Add vanilla and mix.
With mixer on low speed, add prepared flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add oats, chocolate chips (both kinds) coconut, toffee bits, cornflakes and prepared pecans. (If you want your cookies to look extra special, reserve about 2 tablespoons of each of the chips and 2 tablespoons of the toasted pecans for garnish - see directions for this is step 6). Mix until everything is incorporated.
Scoop up dough (I use an ice cream scoop that holds 3 tablespoons) and roll into balls with your hands. Place on prepared sheet pans, spacing the cookies 2-inches apart. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10 minutes. If you've reserved some of the chocolate chips and pecans for garnish, remove cookies from oven at this point and scatter a few chocolate chips and pecans over the top of each cookie. Return to oven for another 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. (If you are in a hurry and don't want to do this extra step, just bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until golden.) Let cookies cool on sheet pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container or freeze in a covered container.
Recipe Notes
* I have a 6-quart KitchenAid mixer which is plenty big for this recipe. If, after adding the flour, your mixing bowl is quite full, just transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Gina says
Would it work with toasted coconut?
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Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that would work great!
Debbie says
Delicious!!
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Debbie!
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Amy says
They are in the oven now! Toasting the pecans is 100% worth it! Delicious!
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Amy! Enjoy!
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Carrie says
Can I make the dough up in advance and bake them the next day or will the cornflakes get soggy? Thanks!
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Chris Scheuer says
I haven't tried making the dough a day in advance but I think you should be fine with that. You could also freeze the dough in scoops and bake them right from the freezer.
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Sylvie says
I just made these today after making the dough last night -- can confirm the cornflakes stay crispy!
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for letting us know, Sylvie!
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Tina says
I tried this recipe this afternoon. Holy Cowboy cookies! They are amazing. This may be my new favorite cookie!
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Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks, Tina!
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Carole says
I made this cookies yesterday, absolutely amazing.
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Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks, Carole!
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Sandy says
I have a similar recipe. Mine calls for oatmeal and cornflake crumbs. I think I found them near the dry stuffing mixes. They work great, can also be used to coat chicken breast in the oven. Box isn’t huge and could easily go in frig, but you’d probably use up before their expiration date.
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Chris Scheuer says
Great suggestion, Sandy!
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Lisa Beall says
These spread like crazy and ran together. The suggestion of 2Tbsp of chips and pecans for the tops is woefully inadequate—photo is misleading. I’m refrigerating remainder of dough after two pans, in an effort to save it. This is a lot of ingredients to waste. No idea how they taste since they are still on the sheets. They cooked a total of 15 mins and appear brown but are very thin and can’t be picked up with spatula yet even after cooling 10 mins so far.
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lisa, I'm so sorry you had trouble with these cookies. I too hate wasting good ingredients. It's difficult to say what went wrong without having been right there in the kitchen with you. Others have had good success with this recipe.
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Steph says
I made a 1/2 batch of these & it does make a lot.
Just got them out of the oven & cannot wait time try one. I did not have any cornflakes but I had some rice crispies so I used those instead. Mmm these are delish!! Thank you!Reply
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Rice Krispies was a great sub! Thanks for sharing your results, Steph!
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T Sarao says
This recipe is almost identical to a recipe I found in a very old cookbook of my mothers. The recipe was called Cornflake Cookie and it has been a favorite of mine for close to 20 years. It uses shortening instead of butter, and only semi sweet chocolate chips. While this is a large batch to make, I only back half at a time and freeze the remaining raw dough to use latter. Freezes beautifully. BTW, when I’m not in the mood for chocolate, I substitute golden raisins and add cinnamon to create a delicious oatmeal cookie version.
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for letting us know, T! Your adaptations sound delicious.
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Luanne says
I had an older distant cousin who brought cornflake cookies to every event. She called them
Dishpan Cookies because the recipe made such a large amount she had to mix them in a dish pan ❤️Reply
Chris Scheuer says
That's great, Luanne!
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Connie says
Can I bake the cookie mixture in a pan for bar cookies
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Connie, I haven't tried that but I think it will work fine. Of course, the baking time will be longer.
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Michiko says
Hi Chris,
First of all I love your blog with all of the photos and your recipes looks so scrumptious. I’ve tied a few and they were the best! Regarding this recipe, I don’t keep corn flakes on hand and don’t really care to buy a box of cereal the I won’t eat so could I possibly substitute the corn flakes with ruffle potato chips? Too much crunch and salt?Thanks
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Michiko, thanks for your kind words. I think you probably could use potato chips although the flavor would be different. One other thought is this: buy a box of cornflakes and keep them in the freezer. Then whenever you want to make these cookies, you can use them right from the freezer. That's what I do as we're not big cereal eaters.
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Paulette says
Love these cookies! My hubby did, too! So delicious, maybe a little TOO delicious 😋 I didn’t have toffee chips on hand, so I used a combination of semisweet, white chocolate and butterscotch chips. Since some of my family likes coconut and the rest do not, I made half the cookies without coconut, then added half the coconut in the remaining dough. Both versions are delicious! I will definitely make these again and try them with toffee chips! Thank you for a great cookie recipe!
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, for sharing your review and adaptation, Paulette! I'm so happy you enjoyed them!
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Patricia Ann Holden says
Chris: I love your "jump to" button". My husband can't handle all the detail you give, while I, on the other hand, love it--the more the better. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes AND all the details.
Patti
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Chris Scheuer says
Haha! I love that button too! Sometimes when I'm looking at one of my recipes, I don't want to read "all that" 🙂
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Patricia Ann Holden says
Chris: Can I substitue oatmeal for cornflakes? We're not a cereal family but I do keep oatmeal on hand.
Thanks,
Patti
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Patricia, I haven't tried that so I wouldn't want to say for sure. If you try it, please let us know!
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phyllis says
please dont post so many of the same photos of one recipe. it is so annoying! takes forever to get to the recipe. that is why i dont follow anyone or save their recipes! there are seven photos of the same cookie!
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Phyllis,
Thanks for your comment. I know there are people who don't enjoy scrolling through lots of pictures so we added a "jump to the recipe" button a while back. If you click on that, you won't have to scroll through anything.Reply
Marian says
How many large cookies does this make?
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Chris Scheuer says
Hi Marian, the recipe makes 48 medium-size cookies. For large cookies, the yield will depend on how large you make them. Happy baking!
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Darlene says
Made these for my hubby, he said they were his new favourite. Thanks for sharing. I toasted extra nuts and used extra toffee bits and chocolate chips to sprinkle on top. Just did it before I put them in the oven and baked them 12 minutes. Worked fine. Also, they were better the second day, if that’s possible. Yum
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Darlene! I love that your husband loved these cookies so much!
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JC says
I'm not a fan of coconut. Since it's so much what would you suggest I replace it with?
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Chris Scheuer says
Hmmm, you're right, there is a lot of coconut but I think you could skip it and still have good results.
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Maria says
These look very yummy but I would leave coconut out cuz I don’t care for it! Did you really mean to put 9 hrs 12 min prep and 9 hrs12 min bake? It makes your recipe a little deseving! Otherwise I’m looking forward to trying them yum yum!
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Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Maria, haha! I changed recipe templates a while back and have been slowly going through and fixing the times. That's one thing that go messed up with the change.
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