These are the original Keto Cowboy Cookies. You can’t resist these big low carb cookies loaded with chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans!
Many of you will recognize these Keto Cowboy Cookies from my cookbook, The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking. It’s easily one of the most popular recipes from the book and I am always getting emails and messages about how good they are.
So good, in fact, that a lot of sites have republished it without my permission. This is the price of doing business as a creator sometimes. But I’m a little tired of it, to be honest.
I decided to fight fire with fire and post the full recipe here. Because if it’s going to be out there on the internet for all to see, I want to get the credit!
And I am so glad I made them again. They are easily one of my favorite keto cookie recipes!
What are cowboy cookies?
Imagine, if you will, a mashup of oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies with some coconut and pecans thrown in for good measure. And also imagine that they are considerably larger than your average cookie. Now you have the famous cowboy cookies.
For a keto version, we have to change things up a little. So we skip the oatmeal, switch up the sweeteners, and use almond flour instead of wheat flour. But the resulting cookies are just as mouthwateringly delicious, just as chockfull of goodness, as the original.
And with the addition of a little gelatin, they also have the ideal crispy-chewy texture. The edges get thin and crisp, but the center becomes soft and chewy!
Reader Reviews
These Keto Cowboy Cookies are extremely popular in All Day I Dream About Low Carb, a Facebook group devoted to my readers and followers. Please feel free to join us over there! Here’s what some of the members say:
“I caved and made Cowboy Cookies last night. They are fabulous! My daughter who struggles with giving up carbs but has committed to doing it said “these are SHUT UP GOOD!” That’s high praise indeed.” — Crystal
“I kept seeing the Cowboy Cookies over and over and over and over (you get the point…haha) from the Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking Cookbook, so I finally broke down and bought the cookbook. Wow, now I see what all the fuss is about, they are incredible!!!! You’d never even know they are Keto!” — April
“I went to the trouble of buying Carolyn’s cookbook, and so far (after nearly two weeks) I have managed to make exactly ONE recipe out of it: the Cowboy Cookies. EVERY time I suggest something else, hubby says “No, I want some more of those COWBOY Cookies!” — Georgene
Ingredients you need
- Butter: Make sure it’s well softened so you can beat it until creamy.
- Sweetener: I prefer an erythritol based brown sugar replacement, to get that crispy-chewy texture. See the Expert Tips section for more sweetener options.
- Almond flour: Always use well ground, blanched almond flour.
- Gelatin: A little grassfed gelatin helps give the cookies a chewier consistency. It is entirely optional.
- Coconut: I like to use the big coconut flakes but you can use shredded if that’s all you have. Make sure it’s unsweetened.
- Pecans: They can be raw, but it’s also really nice if they are lightly toasted.
- Chocolate chips: Both Lily’s and ChocZero work well in this recipe.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Step by step directions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium high. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed together. Stir in the coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips.
- Form the dough into 2-inch balls and space at least 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with silicone or parchment paper. Press the balls down with the heel of your hand to about 3/4 inch thick. These cookies will spread so give them room!
- Bake at 325ºF for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, switching the pans and rotating them halfway through. Let cool completely on the pans.
Expert tips
These keto cowboy cookies like to spread so make sure you give them plenty of room on the pans. If you prefer thicker cookies, try adding another 1/4 cup of almond flour and don’t press them down too much.
I prefer silicone baking mats to parchment paper, as they protect the bottoms of your cookies better. They also cause the cookies to spread more slowly.
The gelatin is entirely optional, but it does give the cookies that perfect chewy but crisp texture. The edges get crisp on the pan while the centers stay chewier.
This makes a big batch of big cookies! But you can easily cut the whole recipe in half for twelve large cookies. You can also make the cookies smaller, if you prefer.
Sweetener Options
Only erythritol will give you a crispy cookie, which is why I used PureCane Brown in this recipe. Any amount of allulose or xylitol will keep the cookies from crisping up properly. You can use those if you don’t mind a softer texture.
If you don’t have access to a brown sugar replacement, regular granulated erythritol sweeteners will suffice.
More delicious recipes you will enjoy
Keto Cowboy Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cup (250 g) brown sugar substitute
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (220 g) blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (2.03 tablespoons) grassfed gelatin, optional, adds chewiness
- 1 ½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (85 g) unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup (109 g) chopped pecans
- 1 cup (180 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line 2 cookie sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Set the oven racks to the second highest and second lowest positions in the oven.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium high. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the almond flour, gelatin, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed together. Stir in the coconut, pecans, and the chocolate chips.
- Form the dough into 2-inch balls and space at least 3 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Press the balls down with the heel of your hand to about 3/4 inch thick. These cookies will spread so give them room!
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, switching the pans and rotating them halfway through. Let cool completely on the pans.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Just made my cookies 🍪 awesome recipe 😋👍👵
Thanks for jogging my memory. I hadn’t made your Cowboy Cookies yet this summer. Planning on baking these delicious cookies tomorrow for a picnic outing.
Can I use regular gelatin?
I tried them 2 xs they are no way like the ones posted!!!!!! batter is dry crumbles does not hold together. very disappointed. did not taste for they looked horrible a clump of crumbs. I followed directions to the tee
I am sorry but you must be making some mistake somewhere. The photos are REAL and I don’t fake any of that. Plus you can see from the many reviews that people love these. In fact… you can WATCH me make them right here on YouTube and see that they turn out EXACTLY like the photos. https://youtu.be/5NILBaUBY_g
Please tell me what brands of ingredients you are using… are you using an almond flour that’s been defatted (dry and powdery)? That would be a huge issue.
FYI… If I created a recipe and ended up with a pile of crumbs, I would not post that recipe. I am a VERY well respected keto blogger whose recipes are widely acknowledged to be among the best. Particularly my baked goods, and in fact I wrote a book about keto baking. So instead of accusing me of faking my photos, ask me how I can help. I am more than willing to work with you to diagnose the issue…
I have made these cookies many times and the recipe is spot on. The cookies are very moist and delicious. They are my favorite cookie ever!
yay!
Wonderful!!
Can oatmeal be swapped out 1 to 1 for the coconut? If not, then what should the substitution be?
This is a low carb recipe and oatmeal is not low carb so I cannot recommend it. However, there are many cowboy cookie recipes that aren’t low carb that you can use. A quick google search should give you many of them. Hope that helps! 🙂
I made these last night and loved them! Thank you, Carolyn!
Do you happen to know of an egg substitute that would work well with this recipe? We have egg allergies in the house, but I’d love to try these!
I am so sorry, I really don’t know of anything that would help hold the cookies together properly. I do have a good egg-free cookie that people love… you can put chocolate chips in these! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-butter-pecan-cookies-2/
So glad you liked them!
I promise, I read through the information and recipe and didn’t see this. Can the uncooked dough balls be frozen? If so,do you recommend freezing as balls or flatten them a bit first? Thanks, and I can’t wait to make them! I actually have all the ingredients on hand!
I didn’t try it that way but you’re welcome to experiment!
Somehow I have everything but the cochise chips. Do you think they’d work well either by omitting, or using the raspberry or pumpkin chips that need to be used up instead?
Do the pumpkin chips! That would be fab…
Could I use coconut flour instead of almond flour and omit the pecans?
I want to make cookies for a get together but there are nut allergies.
No, sadly this will not work with coconut flour. They aren’t interchangeable at all. Please read this: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-basics-baking-with-coconut-flour/
Can I substitute the pecans for hazenults o walnuts?
Absolutely!
Do you think using Knox gelatin would give the same results? Where I live, grass fed gelatin is prohibitively expensive.
Yes, just use 2 envelopes and mix in with dry ingredients.
I considered making a half batch, but your recipies are fool proof. imagine my surprise to get 3 dozen cookies! I’ll be making these again soon to share with friends. Thanks for another hit!
these sound amazing! When do you add the gelatin?
Fixed it!
These look delicious and I can’t wait to try them! Your blog is my favorite keto blog. My family has liked every recipe I make from here.
We love these cookies. You have so many great recipes in your book, so I decided to get serious, bought new pans and silicon sheets (always used parchment paper). When taking them out of the oven, they looked perfect. But the bottoms were way to brown, almost burnt. Of course my husband didn’t care, these are his very favorite cookies and he ate them all. What am I doing wrong? Should I decrease the time or the temp or both? Had the same problem with the peanut putter cookies. Once again..great cookbook, thankyou.!!
Okay, lots of possibilities here… how dark in color are your pans? Where are you putting the pans in your oven? Is your oven convection, by chance? And finally… what sweetener are you using? All of these issues can affect your cookies. I can assure you that mine do not get too dark on the bottom (I wish I could flip one over and show you!).
Dark pans conduct heat too quickly. Pans should be in the center rack of the oven (or, if doing two pans, the 2nd to lowest and the 2nd to highest, and then switch halfway through baking). Convection ovens cook more quickly so you are supposed to lower the temp by 25 degrees. And finally, any amount of allulose in the sweetener will make the cookies brown faster, especially the part that’s against metal.
Hope these suggestions help!
I’m a Cookie Monster and these are always in the cookie jar. The large recipe makes it easy to share with family members who are keto and/or gluten sensitive.
so yummy
i love that cookbook! That is ridiculous that people have stolen your recipe and posted it online. You give so many recipes for free on your blog and your books are fairly priced. I’ve been following your blog for years and have almost all of your cookbooks. You think ahead and answer any questions a reader may have about the recipe. I can always tell when people don’t read the blog because their question has already been answered 😊.
My favorite cookie I some in the fridge now but mine spread very thin I can only cook for 10 minutes and they almost burn the spread so much.
Did you read the blog post on how to address that issue?