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Gluten free cowboy cookies are chewy and hearty, with just the right amount of chocolate chips in a big, generous cookie packed with oats and coconut chips.
The cowboy cookies origin story
I'm no cowboy, and frankly I was always kind of neutral about Laura Bush, but these are some seriously good cookies. I don't think she “invented” cowboy cookies. Clearly, Tipper Gore didn't stand a chance with her gingersnap cookies.
I love snappy, picy gluten free gingersnaps, but if I'm entering a contest I'm not showing up with that. Even just visually, a cookie with mix-ins beats a straight-up cutout cookie with no frosting, no nothing, any day of the week. In fact, I'd be more likely to show up with our best gluten free chocolate chip cookies. When the dough for those classic cookies is chilled first, they brown in all the right places and just look and taste like the perfect example of a cookie.
Let's ignore that, as recently as election year 2000, Family Circle Magazine held a cookie bake-off between the presidential candidates' wives, Tipper Gore and Laura Bush. That certain wifely stereotype, like that's all that they're good for, has thankfully been upended (right?).
I'm just in it for the cookies anyway. My gluten free cowboy cookies are chewy and hearty (oats!), with just the right amount of chocolate chips in a big, generous gluten free chocolate chip cookie.
Nubby, hearty gluten free cowboy cookies
Similar to our peanut butter and oats filled gluten free monster cookies, my version of gluten free cowboy cookies, seen in these photos and the how-to video, don't spread much, if at all, during baking. I cut back on the butter called for in the original recipe (or at least Laura Bush's version of it).
I wanted a thick cookie that was crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. So shape them before baking in the manner in which you'd like them to turn out after baking.
This is not the type of cookie you're going to eat when it's gooey, as it has a crisp outside when it cools. After baking and before they're cool, the cookies will be fragile. After they're mostly cool, their crisp and nubby texture outside makes them very stable.
What raw gf cowboy cookie dough is like
This cookie dough doesn't happen to be especially sticky, even though the cookies are chewy inside. Often, the chewiest cookies begin with the stickiest cookie dough.
These cookies are made in one bowl, using what's called the “reverse cream” method, where the wet ingredients are mixed into the dry. This way we don't add much air to the cookie dough, which preserves the hearty, chewy flavor.
There's enough butter and eggs to moisten all of the dry ingredients, but you may find that some of the most dry ingredients seem to resist combining. Just keep pressing the underside of the bowl of the spoon or spatula you are using for mixing into the wet ingredients so they absorb the flour.
Mix the dough with a spoon for as long as you can before switching to using clean, dry hands to knead the dough together. If you touch the dough with your hands too soon, too many wet ingredients will stick to your fingers.
I don't recommend using a handheld mixer, since beaters will aerate the dough too much. But you can use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and make quick work of making the dough.
Gluten free cowboy cookies: substitution information
Dairy free
In place of the butter in this recipe, I recommend trying Melt or Miyoko's Kitchen brand vegan butter. I don't recommend Earth Balance buttery sticks, as they contain too much moisture and your cookies will spread too much and potentially burn before they're nicely browned.
If you're dairy-free, be careful about your chocolate chips. There are plenty of gluten free varieties of semi sweet chocolate chips. You could use any other sort of chip you like for a different flavor profile.
Egg free
There are two eggs in this recipe. Try replacing each of them with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
Oat-free?
Purity protocol gluten free oats are, indeed, safely gluten free. If you can't find those sort of oats, or you simply won't eat them, you can try using beaten rice in their place (for more detail on oat substitutions in baking <—click over).
Coconut free?
If you think you don't care for coconut, you might not be familiar with the good type of coconut (just an idea). are you thinking of the bagged, shredded sweetened coconut?
If you've never tried the wide, flat coconut flakes that are sometimes called coconut chips, I submit that you're selling coconut short. If you want to replace it here, though, maybe try an equal amount, by weight, of chopped nuts.
The coconut chips are adding flavor and texture, but not really entering into the chemical reaction in any meaningful way. So experiment away!
Gluten Free Cowboy Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (218 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups (150 g) certified gluten free old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups (120 g) coconut chips, (See Recipe Notes)
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar and mix to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar. Add the oats and coconut chips and mix to combine.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, eggs, and vanilla, mixing to combine after each addition.
- Press the back of your mixing spoon into the dough to moisten all of the dry ingredients and create a cohesive dough.
- Add the chocolate chips, and mix until they’re evenly distributed throughout the dough. If necessary to bring the dough together, knead it with your hands.
- Divide the dough into 20 pieces, each about 2 ounces. Roll each into a ball and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Flatten each ball into a disk about 1/4-inch thick.
- Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven, one at a time, and bake until lightly golden brown all over (about 12 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was a Good and easy cookie. I’m Allergic to coconut. So, I used walnuts, raisins, and chocolate chips. I’m thinking about making a cream cookie.
Sounds good, Bevvy! Walnuts are a good choice since they’re a tender nut. Pecans are also good!
I wonder if you could add regular coconut instead of the coconut chips (which I’ve never seen).
What do you mean by “regular coconut,” Jackie? Do you mean shredded coconut? I guess you could try, but the chips are sold nearly everywhere. My local Trader Joe’s even sells them. They’re just wide flat pieces of dried coconut.
Nicole, these turned out to be fabulous! A big hit with my teenaged boys and their friends; grown-ups, too! I doubled the recipe and we’re already out. Must. make. more. Thanks for all you do!
Danger Will Robinson! Warning! Warning! Danger! I can tell you right now that I would eat all of these and that is NOT a good thing for me and my blood sugar! Nicole, have you tried freezing them? That would be my only saving grace – out of sight – one once in a blue moon. Otherwise, these will have to stay away from my house!
These look perfect! I can’t wait to try them. I’ve been looking for a crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle gluten free chocolate chip cookie for ages!
Yum. I love this! I have to tell you though I made the oatmeal NY cookies and my husband was like – what is up with the size of that cookie???? we all had a good laugh because they are huge. These look regular sized right? not that I care what size my cookies are – they are all good.
I grew up with cowboy cookies, as did my mother, citing her mother as the baker of the delicious treats. I don’t know where my grandmother got the recipe, but Laura Bush could not have invented them as she is only one year older than my mom. But they’re my favorite cookie and I’m happy to have a GF recipe now, thanks!!!
Good to know, Elspeth! P.S. Extra points for knowing how old Laura Bush is! ;)
I have made cowboy cookies many times before going GF and they also had cocoa in the recipe.
I haven’t converted the recipe yet, these were always my favorite cookie. The recipe came out of a tupperware cookie cookbook “Chocolate Lovers Cookies”, my girls are not chocolate fans but they do surprise me and want chocolate on the occasion.
I will definitely make these, school is to commence here on Sept. 2, if the teachers strike is over which they seem to be holding out for all they can get, at the students expense.
Nicole, your chocolate graham crackers were a hit at the campfire, to my surprise since it was chocolate over kill!
We are going camping again in 3 weeks, do you have any suggestions for a campfire treat?
Love ya!
Chocolate, coconut and oatmeal? Oh, yum! What a great combo! I may even toss in a few chopped pecans, too. What a wonderful treat! Thanks!
Made them this afternoon, and they are fab.u.lous. My husband doesn’t usually like coconut, and he really likes them too. It will be nice to have these in the freezer. Thank you!
That’s awesome, Michelle! Thanks so much for reporting back. :)
Any hints on where to find coconut chips? I’m thinking my first stop will be Amazon, but I wanted to make these tomorrow!