While traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway this past summer I discovered the best cookies I ever ate.  I was in a small one stop light town in Western Virginia called Floyd.  This sleepy little town is home to the Floyd Country Store which hosts a wide range of products along with a quick-service café.  The café offers a variety of sandwiches, soups, and southern classics.  However, it was the sweets that stole my heart.  The lemon curd coconut cake was divine, the chocolate peanut butter pie was melt-in-your mouth, but the cowboy cookies were unlike anything I had ever had before. 

What makes Cowboy Cookies so special?  Picture the best chocolate chip cookie you ever had.  Kind of crispy on the outside, but still soft and chewy on the inside and of course plenty of chocolate.  Now picture the best oatmeal cookie you ever had.  That earthy chew of the oats combined with the aromatics of the cinnamon and nutmeg.  But don’t stop there… now picture the best coconut cookie you ever ate.  Not too sweet and full of delicious coconut.  Now throw in some pecans and you have a cowboy cookie. The perfect combination of chocolate, oats, coconut, and pecans all mixed into one jumbo cookie.

The origin of the cowboy cookie name remains unclear.  There does not seem to be a clear reason why these cookies are named the way that they are.  The theory I personally buy into is that the cookie is so hearty and satisfying, a cowboy could eat one and not be hungry for the rest of the day.   

This recipe is my attempt at re-creating this confectionery masterpiece. I used Barbara Bush’s Cowboy Cookie Recipe as a jumping off point and made some adjustments.  I decided to use a combination of both semi-sweet and dark chocolate to elevate the chocolate flavors.  I also upped the cinnamon and nutmeg to give the cookies a little extra spiced flavor.  All in all I think the experiment was successful. 

Like with most cookie and cake recipes it is important to start with room temperature ingredients; butter, shortening, and eggs.  This will allow the butter and sugar to cream together properly and avoid a cookie that is slightly gritty in texture.

These cookies have a lot “mix-ins” and it is important to not add them all at once. I recommend adding the oatmeal and coconut first and then adding the nuts and chocolates. Adding these ingredients in stages helps them to fully mix into the batter.

You also do not want to over mix the batter.  The more you work the batter the more gluten develops in the dough and the tougher the cookies will be.  Therefore, I finish the final mixing stage with a spatula, instead of relying on the mixer. 

Careful, this recipe makes a lot of batter, so your mixing bowl is going to be very full by the time you are done.  You can of course make your cookies as large or small as you want and adjust the baking time accordingly.  However, I find that a scoop of batter equivalent to about 2 to 3 tablespoons makes for a decent sized cookie.  Be sure to spread your cookies out on the baking sheet, they will spread while baking and you don’t want them to run together.   

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Ingredients

• 1 Cup of Butter, Room Temperature

• 1/2 Cup of Vegetable Shortening, Room Temperature

• 1 3/4 Cup of Sugar

• 1 Cup of Brown Sugar

• 3 Eggs, Room Temperature

• 1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

• 3 Cups of Flour

• 1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder

• 1 Tablespoon of Baking Soda

• 2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon

• 1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg

• 1 Teaspoon of Salt

• 2 Cups of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

• 1 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chunks

• 2 Cups of Old Fashioned Oats

• 2 Cups of Sweetened Shredded Coconut

• 1 1/2 Cups of Chopped Pecans

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Directions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment start by creaming together the butter and shortening. Then add the white and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• While the sugars are mixing into the butter and shortening sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
• Once the fats and sugars are well combined add the eggs one at a time. Stopping to make sure each egg fully incorporates. Finally, add the vanilla.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Then stop the mixer and add the oats and coconut. Mix for about 5 to 10 seconds, just until the ingredients start to incorporate. Then add the chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and pecans. Mix again for about 5 to 10 seconds.
• Take the bowl off the mixer and finish mixing the dough together with a spatula. Do this for as short a time as possible.
• Set the dough in the refrigerator to chill while the oven preheats to
  350° F.
• Once the oven has preheated place large scoops of dough on baking sheets and bake for approximately 16 to 18 minutes. Check on the cookies half way through and rotate the sheets if necessary. Remove from the oven when done and allow to cool on the sheet pan for about 4 to 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat this process until all of the dough has been baked.