These fresh milled flour cowboy cookies are soft and chewy, with lightly crisp edges and plenty of old-fashioned oats, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and crunchy pecans. Freshly milled flour adds even more flavor to these hearty, loaded cookies.

Fresh milled flour cowboy cookies with oats, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans

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If you like cookies with plenty of texture and a little bit of everything in each bite, cowboy cookies are hard to beat. They’re buttery, chocolatey, nutty, and packed with so many delicious mix-ins that every bite is a little different.

What Are Cowboy Cookies?

Cowboy cookies are hearty oatmeal cookies loaded with old-fashioned oats, chocolate chips, pecans, and shredded coconut. Think of them as an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with a little bit of everything added in.

The oats and coconut give them a chewy texture, pecans add a buttery crunch, and chocolate chips bring plenty of chocolate to every bite. Recipes vary, which also makes cowboy cookies easy to customize with your favorite mix-ins.

Fresh milled flour cowboy cookies served on a plate with a glass of milk

Why You’ll Love These Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Soft and chewy: Chilling the dough helps create soft, chewy centers with lightly crisp edges.
Loaded with the good stuff: Every cookie is packed with oats, coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans.
Made with fresh milled flour: Freshly milled wheat adds wonderful fresh flavor and texture.
Easy to customize: Swap the chocolate, nuts, or other mix-ins to make them your own.
Perfect for sharing: These hearty cookies are great for lunchboxes, gatherings, or keeping around for an easy homemade treat.

Ingredients for Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Fresh Milled Soft Wheat Flour: I usually use fresh milled soft white wheat for cookies, but other soft wheat varieties work well too, like spelt, einkorn, or Khorasan (Kamut®).
Butter: I always use salted butter, but unsalted will work too. You can use softened or melted butter.
Brown Sugar: I use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar works just as well.
Eggs: Large eggs work best. If you remember, let them come to room temperature before mixing, but I’ve made plenty of cookies with eggs straight from the fridge too.
Vanilla Extract: I like a good amount of vanilla in these cookies—it goes especially well with the brown sugar, chocolate, and pecans.
Ground Cinnamon: Just a little cinnamon adds warmth without making the cookies taste overly spiced.
Baking Soda: Helps the cookies spread and brown as they bake.
Salt: I still add a little salt even though I use salted butter. It balances the sweetness and brings out the other flavors.
Old-Fashioned Oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats rather than quick oats. They give cowboy cookies their hearty, chewy texture and hold up much better in the dough.
Shredded Coconut: I use unsweetened shredded coconut, but sweetened works too if that’s what you have on hand.
Chocolate Chips: I usually use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or even chocolate chunks will work.
Pecans: You don’t even have to get out a cutting board to chop these. I put the pecans in a small sandwich bag and crush them with a wooden spoon until they’re broken into small pieces. It’s quick and makes cleanup easier.

Inside of a fresh milled flour cowboy cookie showing oats, pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips

Cowboy Cookie Variations

One of the best things about cowboy cookies is how easy they are to customize. The combination of oats, chocolate, coconut, and pecans is my favorite, but you can easily change the mix-ins depending on what you have on hand.

Leave out the coconut: Replace it with additional oats, pecans, or chocolate chips.
Change the chocolate: Try milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips.
Try different baking chips: Butterscotch or peanut butter chips are both delicious additions.
Swap the pecans: Use chopped walnuts instead.
Add dried fruit: Raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried cherries add another layer of chewy texture.
Toast the pecans: Toasting the pecans brings out even more of their buttery, nutty flavor.

You can have fun with the mix-ins, but I wouldn’t add too many extras beyond the amount called for in the recipe. Cowboy cookies are already packed full, and adding too much can make it difficult for the dough to hold everything together.

Homemade fresh milled flour cowboy cookies with milk and cookies cooling on a wire rack

Tips for the Best Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Chill the Dough

Don’t skip the chill time! After mixing the dough, cover it and refrigerate for at least 60 minutes before baking.

Chilling gives the freshly milled flour and oats time to absorb moisture and firms up the butter. This helps keep the cookies from spreading out too much while baking and gives them a chewier texture.

It also makes this loaded cookie dough easier to scoop.

Don’t Overbake

For soft and chewy cowboy cookies, take them out when the edges are golden, but the centers still look a little soft.

They’ll continue baking and setting from the heat of the pan as they cool.

Use a Cookie Scoop

A 2” cookie scoop makes portioning this chunky dough much easier and helps the cookies bake evenly.

Milling wheat berries into fresh flour for cowboy cookies

Butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer for cowboy cookie dough

How to Make Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Weigh and mill the wheat berries. Weigh the wheat berries and mill on the finest setting of your grain mill.
Combine the dry ingredients. Stir together the freshly milled flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the softened butter and brown sugar together until smooth and well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined.
Add the mix-ins. Fold in the old-fashioned oats, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and chopped pecans until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Chill the cookie dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 60 minutes. This gives the freshly milled flour and oats time to hydrate while firming the butter so the cookies don’t spread too much.
Scoop the cookies. Using a 2″ cookie scoop or heaping spoonful, scoop the chilled dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set.
Cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Fresh baked cowboy cookies made with freshly milled flour cooling on a wire rack

How to Store Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Store completely cooled cowboy cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

For longer storage, freeze the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.

For that soft, fresh-from-the-oven texture, warm a cookie in the microwave for just a few seconds before eating.

More Fresh Milled Cookie Recipes

Equipment

Grain mill
Kitchen scale
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Cookie scoop

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

½ cup butter (113 g) softened or melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

140 g soft white wheat berries (or another soft wheat grain)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Mix-Ins

1 cup old fashioned oats
¾ cup shredded coconut sweetened or unsweetened
¾ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Weigh out the wheat berries and mill on the finest setting of your grain mill.
Stir together the freshly milled flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the softened butter and brown sugar together until smooth and well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Fold in the oats, coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans.
Cover the cookie dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Using a 2" cookie scoop or heaping spoonful, scoop the chilled dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Notes

Don’t skip the chill time. Refrigerating the dough for at least 60 minutes gives the freshly milled flour and oats time to absorb moisture while firming the butter, which helps the cookies stay thicker as they bake.

Avoid overbaking. The centers should still look slightly soft when the cookies come out of the oven. They’ll continue to set as they cool.

Different freshly milled grains can absorb moisture differently, so the amount of spread may vary slightly depending on the grain you use.

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

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Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

What Are Cowboy Cookies?

Why You’ll Love These Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients for Fresh Milled Flour Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy Cookie Variations