Healthy Cowboy Cookies
Healthy Cowboy Cookies
I made a healthier version of my cowboy cookie recipe, and they turned out so incredibly good! They have a sweetness to them but are not nearly as sweet as cookies made with granulated sugar. Cowboy cookies are sometimes called “everything” cookies. Play around with the ingredients and add in your favorites, change the type of nuts and leave off the coconut. Let me know if you try them or make any changes. Enjoy!
Note: These cookies tend to be softer in texture than cookies made with regular sugar. Still delicious though! :-)
Yield: 32
Healthy Cowboy Cookies
This is a healthier version of my cowboy cookies recipe, and they are full of wholesome goodness!
Prep time: 9 MinCook time: 11 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 50 Min
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter - melted (see Notes)
- 1 1/2 cup organic coconut palm sugar
- 2 Tbsp molasses (I use Grandma's - see Notes)
- 2 Tbsp almond milk or other nut milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
- ¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar or dates
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter, coconut sugar, molasses, and milk using either a stand or hand mixer. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute. Add vanilla and mix well.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture using your mixer on low speed just until blended. Do not over-mix. Add in oats and mix at low speed until incorporated.
- Remove bowl from stand mixer (if using) and fold in coconut, walnuts, and chocolate chips with spatula and mix by hand until fully incorporated.
- Cover the dough and place in fridge for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Resting the dough not only adds flavor to the cookies, it also helps alleviate over-spreading and gives the oats time to absorb the moisture of the butter and eggs.
- After chilling the dough, preheat oven 340° F .
- Remove dough from fridge and shape into balls or use a small cookie scoop to ensure size consistency. Place approximately 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for approximately 11 – 14 minutes or until edges are golden and the middle is set. Let cool for approximately 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet and placing on wire rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- Melting the butter makes for a chewier cookie and a more consistent texture. I find that if I don’t melt the butter before baking, these cookies tend to spread too much. You can use a microwave or sauce pan to melt the butter but watch to make sure it doesn't burn. It just needs to be almost melted so that if there is just a bit of solid butter, it disappears when you stir it. Cool to room temperature before you start mixing it in with the sugars.
- Don’t skip refrigerating and resting the dough. This is especially important for this recipe as the oats need time to absorb the butter. Refrigerating the dough also enhances the flavor of the cookies.
- The molasses adds a bit more flavor (kind of a nutty/toffee flavor) to the cookies. I use Grandma's Molasses as it's vegan/vegetarian and they do not use bone char sugar to process their molasses. Still, molasses is made from sugar so if you are trying to cut out all sugar, please be aware of that.
- Oven times vary so keep a close eye on the cookies so they do not over-bake.
- Weighing your flour will always give you better results as the measurements will be completely accurate. If you’re on the fence about weighing your ingredients, try this: If you have a kitchen scale, measure out one cup of flour and then weigh it. Then do it once more. You’ll find that you will get a different result every time with each cup. Once I started measuring my flour, I never went back to using cups.
- Store in airtight container in fridge for up to 4 days or up to 3 weeks in freezer.