Gluten-Free Cowboy Cookies

I feel like I have gotten quite used to baking dairy-free cookies. There are a couple of recipes that I can’t adapt to dairy free, items with toffee or cream cheese, but even those items are easier and easier to find using dairy alternatives. I need more practice with gluten-free recipes, although I feel like I am learning. So far, I have been focusing on the gluten-free recipes that I find, rather than converting recipes. I feel like that is a good start, and the gluten-free flour blend that is available at the store works well.

Cowboy Cookies are one of my favorites, sort of like a chocolate chip cookie but with extra bits added. These have oats, nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips, but you could certainly add crispy rice cereal, other types of chips, dried fruits, etc. Make sure that you don’t add too many mix-ins for the amount of dough you have! The ingredients listed here reflect slightly more add-ins than the original recipe, but not too many. I think the dough would fare even better if it were chilled, so I suggest chilling the dough if you have time.

Although it may seem like this recipe calls for many specialty items, it isn’t too bad. Oats are naturally gluten-free but may be processed in a plant that handles gluten. I have unsweetened coconut, but if you don’t have that you can use regular sweetened coconut. I try to keep dairy-free chocolate chips on hand but if you only need gluten-free, then any type of chip will work. I find that gluten-free cookies tend to be quite thin, and I do wonder if chilling the dough would help. The recipe specified that this would make 24 cookies, but I made about 40. Perhaps larger cookies would spread less? While they are thin, the cookies have great flavor, and it would be interesting to try these with a different combination of mix-ins.

Gluten-Free Cowboy Cookies
½ cup vegan butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cup gluten-free oats
1-1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the melted butter and brown sugar on medium until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, mixing until smooth. Stop the mixer and add the oats, gluten-free flour blend, and coconut. Stir on low for about 30 seconds. Add the pecans and chocolate chips and stir on low until the mixture forms a soft dough.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, using a 1-1/4” scoop.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies may seem slightly under baked when removed from the oven but will set as they cool.

Recipe from Fearless Dining