Vegan Cowboy Cookies Mix makes great Jar gifts for the Holiday Season. Layer oats, flour, coconut, chocolate sugar and pecans. Mix, add applesauce and oil, and bake. 1 Bowl Coconut Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies Vegan Recipe Can be gluten-free.
It’s time to whip up food gifts, meet up with friends, cook together and spend the long (and generally wet out here) cold evenings by the fireplace. As much as I love Summer and long days, a bit of slow down and catch up is helpful to recharge for the new year. Lets start up some jar gifts with these warm, buttery, chewy vegan Cowboy cookies.
These Coconut, Oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies are super tasty and make a great mix to gift. Layer everything nicely in a jar. To Bake, empty into a bowl, add applesauce and oil, chill, shape and bake. I am wondering why it took me so long to make these cookies. They are just the right amount of chewy, fun, delicious and also make great snack cookies.
Use small flaked coconut to make the cookies less chewy and less crumbly. The mix can keep for months!
More cookies from the blog
- PB Chickpea Cookie Pie- Can be nut-free. GF
- Lemon Chia Cookies. GF option
- Peanut/Almond butter Pecan Cookies
- Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies. GF oil-free
- Ginger Tahini Cookies
- Best Chocolate Chip Cookies with coconut oil
More Jar gifts
- Chocolate Pumpkin Cake mix in a jar.
- Mexican Hot chocolate Mix in a Jar.
- Coconut Macaroons Mix in a Jar. GF
- Coconut Chutney Mix and Dosa Crepe Mix in a Jar
- Dal tadka- Indian spiced Lentil Soup mix in a jar.
Put the entire jar into a bowl. Mix well.
Add applesauce and oil and mix them lightly, then mix into the dry.
Chill, then bake.
Recipe Card
Vegan Cowboy Cookies Mix in a Jar
Ingredients
Jar:
- 1 cup (125 g) flour (I use unbleached white flour, See notes for gluten-free option)
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) baking soda
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup (60.75 g) oats
- 2/3 cup (53.33 g) shredded coconut , use 1/2 cup for less coconutty
- 3/4 cup (135 g) vegan chocolate chips ,I use a mix of regular and mini size
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp chopped pecans
To make the Cookies:
- 1/4 cup (2.16 oz) + 1 tbsp applesauce
- 1/3 cup (0.33 cup) + 1 to 2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, salt and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a 4 cup(32 oz) mason jar, add the oats, then add coconut, tap to settle, then add chocolate chips, then 1/2 cup sugar. Tap to settle. Add the flour mixture. Tap a couple of times to settle, so that there is space for the pecans. Add the chopped pecans. Add as many as you can.
- Close the lid. Add instructions and store.
Bake the cookies: (Instructions on the Jar)
- Empty the contents of the jar in a large bowl. Mix well to combine. Make a well a center. (see note if not making a jar)
- Add applesauce, 1/3 cup oil and vanilla extract and whisk them in the center to mix a bit.
- Then mix in with the dry ingredients. Press down and mix for a few seconds. Add a tbsp more oil if needed and mix in. The dough should start to come together even though crumbly. Chill the mixture for an hour for best results.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet with parchment. Make flat discs of the dough and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 11 to 13 mins, depending on size. Cool for 10 mins. Store on the counter for upto 2 days or refrigerate for longer.
Notes
Nutrition
kristen
hi! how long can you make these and store the jars before using? thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
The mix will keep well for 2 days at room temperature and up to a week or so in the fridge.
Renee
Best cookie recipe ever!!!
Vegan Richa Support
wow. -thank you
Sonia
Hello! Thank you! just making these. Used whole wheat flour. Didn’t refrigerate. Chocolate chips won’t bind in cookie. Most of all left. Freezing them to bake a cake with them next.
Vegan Richa Support
thanks Sonia
Nandini
The cookies were amazing.
I didn’t have ap flour so subbed it with half whole wheat and half oat flour.
This will become one of my cookie staples. Thank you !
Vegan Richa Support
awesome
Cynthia
Delicious and easy!
Vegan Richa Support
excellent
Brenda
Easy to make and really tasty.
Vegan Richa Support
Excellent
Sarah Appleton
I’m sorry to bother you but I have scrolled the the comments and can’t find the answer to my query. Can you please confirm that the flour for this recipe plain flour? Given the amount of baking powder and bicarb soda in the recipe I’m assuming it’s not self-raising flour. Also for the non-vegan recipients of this – if they wanted to add an egg instead of the apple sauce would it be only one egg?
Thanks.
Richa
It’s all purpose flour.
I wouldn’t know about the egg as I haven’t baked with them in over 14 years
Sarah
Thank you.
Vegan Richa Support
very welcome
Emily
Hello!
I’m so excited to make these with my senior group!! Just wondering if the cookies turn out okay if you don’t chill them?
They must be just as tasty – but harder to put together before baking?
Thanks!
Richa
The dough will be a bit sticky. You can let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 mins and some of the moisture will get absorbed by the flour. Use a cookie scoop
Paula
OMG…even my nonvegan husband likes them. One of the first vegan cookies that actually made the amount of cookies it was supposed to make.
YUM!
A keeper!!!
Vegan Richa Support
lol – excellent – feel free to leave a rating if you wish
Alyssa
Saw these on Instagram and had to make them! I swapped out about a third of the flour for unflavored pea/quinoa protein powder and granulated monk fruit for the powdered sugar. They are a decently healthy cookie without veering too far away from what a cookie should be: a dessert treat. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
thank you so much!
Nav
I make these with my toddler all the time! I just reduce the sugar and chocolate chips and it’s a blast to put together.
Vegan Richa Support
that sounds like a lovely activity to enjoy together
Sherri B
Made the mix about a month ago, made the cookies quick today with the peanut butter and apple sauce. Big hit!! Your recipes are always so good! Thank you for doing what you do.
Richa
Yay
Cathy
These are delicious! We like to keep them in the oven for a few extra minutes to get a really nice toasted coconut flavor. We’ve made it with the oil as called for in the recipe, and with a mashed ripe banana in place of the oil. They come out great both ways. Thank you for a terrific recipe. 🙂
Richa
Yay
Rose
Hi Richa. Making my second batch of these cookies in a week. They are GORGEOUS!! I added in some toffee bits in place of some of the chocolate chips. Made my first batch with 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 AP. And they were great. This batch, am using all AP. Also toasted the coconut and the pecans. Truly one of the BEST cookies ever – thank you!!!
Jacky
These are seriously the best cookies I have ever made! Thank you, Richa!!
Richa
yay
natalie
delicious! i used a flax egg instead of apple sauce and added lots more cinnamon and they turned out great.
Rachel
I received this as a gift and they are SO DELICIOUS! The different textures and the consistency are PERFECT! They’re a quick bake and easy to make.
I didn’t have applesauce so I made a flax egg (1 tablespoon of ground flax meal, 3 tablespoons of cold water, set in fridge for 10min) instead and they still turned out perfect!
Thank you for the great recipe!
Richa
awesome!
Michelle May
Sounds delicious, I can’t wait to make these and give them out! I was wondering, do you think dried cranberries would be an ok substitute for the chocolate chips? Want to give this to someone who can’t have chocolate..
Richa
yes thosee would work fine
sharyn
I made these for family (hubby, kids, son-in-law, grandkids.) A definite winner of a recipe! I rarely bake cookies to have on hand ‘cuz I’m too tempted to eat them. This recipe will most likely become my “go to” cookie recipe for when I bake cookies!
Richa
Thats so awesome!!
Tonie
If I pre-make the dough, instead of just the dry ingredients, can this recipe be frozen for later?
Richa
i think so, shape the cookies and freeze andbake later, or freeze baked cookies
Alex
Absolutely delicious!
Didn’t have pecans so made them with hazelnuts and walnuts – so good! Also gf with rice/almonds/cornflour which turned out great!
Thanks for a great recipe!
Jo
Tried these out today (minus the pecans) and everyone loved them! Loved how they got crispy after they cooled!
Richa
awesome!
Pat
Made them oil free by subing the oil with apple sauce straight up and works perfectly. I doubled the recipe as well, cause more . 🙂
Richa
awesome
Monica
Hi Richa,
I made these cookies and wanted to let you know my results: First off I had NO baking soda or baking powder. I now live in Spain and what is used alot is “levadura” which in fact in NOT yeast but is a mix of rice flour, a “gasifier” (snicker!), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and a stabilizer. It is a dry powder that comes in envelope. I used a whole envelope hoping I might get some lift for these cookies.
Unfortunately, my problems didn’t end there. Midway through mixing the ingredients, I discovered the only oil I had in the apartment was about 4 tablespoons of olive oil . So I used that and added a 4 tablespoons of sunflower seed butter. I also used walnuts in place of pecans and add some chopped dried cherries. Well, they DID NOT rise at all and came out looking like energy balls. However, my husband (resident recipe tester!) took one bite and quickly declared them the best cookie I’ve ever made! I had agree the flavors are spot-on. I will definitely be making these again with or with baking soda/powder. Long live improvisation!!!
Richa
😀 I am glad they worked out in the end. Do try them with baking powder
Yoko Osako
I add orange zest. can’t stop tasting the dough lol and baked cookies as well ! I’m excited to bake it for my friends next time ;D
Richa
awesome!
Ginny
I want to make these and I’m out of applesauce. What can I sub instead?
Richa
pumpkin puree or mashed banana
laurey greider
Thank you for your wonderful recipes! I’m reading through, haven’t made them yet. I’d like to make these cookies, and am wondering what you mean by starch in the gluten free note. I do wish not to use flour if possible, wish it could be flour free. Thanks! Could I use ground oats? I guess I’d be making flour then , lol. Thanks for your help:-)! Do love almond flour though!
Richa
yes you can use use oat flour or ground up oats. 🙂 When using gluten-free flour like oat, i usually add a tbsp or 2 of starch for better binding as otherwise the cookies can be crumbly.
Liza
Dear Richa, I have made these cookies yesterday and they are wonderful. I have substituted the chocolate chips for chopped golden raisins that I have soaked in rum. Cowboy slowly shape-shifted into Hawaiian dream 🙂 Very good, will definitely be making them again! Thank you!
Richa
that sounds wonderful!!
Amalia
INCREDIBLE!!!! ONE OF THE BEST COOKIES I’VE EVER MADE!!!
I didn’t want to use oil so instead I used 1\3 cup mix of peanut butter and almond butter. I added 2 extra tbsp of the apple sauce. I used 3\4 cup total of coconut sugar instead of all the ones mentioned. Also used 1\4 cup rice flour, 1\2 cup almond flour and 1\4 spelt flour.
SOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely make it again 🙂
Lynne Caine
Richa, you did it again! Super Yummy! My family loves these! Could I hide ground flax seeds in these?
Would this work, and if so, what should be adjusted?
Thanks a bunch!
Richa
yes you can add about 2 tbsp flax seed meal. Reduce the flour or oats by 2 tbsp if fitting in for gifting. No need to reduce if you are making the cookies
Sue
Great recipe! i made 7 kinds of cookies for gifts, and these were voted #1.
Thanks Richa!!
Richa
yay!!
Samantha
I made these exactly the way the recipe read and they were the best cookies I have ever made. Seriously delicious!!!
Richa
yay!!!
Cassie Autumn Tran
The kit for these cookies looks adorable! I love how the cookies turn out as well!
Daniela
Wonderful! Thanks for the idea Richa 🙂
Betty McEnaney
I can’t wait to try these. I have not had any luck with any of the Pinterest links working. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought I would let you know. Thanks for all that you do!
Richa
oh, i havent heard about that. Can you tell me what happens? maybe email me or message me (on facebook or instagram) , a screenshot. Thanks!
Karin
Thanks for the idea Richa. I just don’t like the name. I know many might think this is a small thing but small things are important. Cowboys are people who farm and kill animals and harass and injure animals in rodeos. I will be renaming them and I hope you do too.’ Cowboy’ has very negative connotations for most vegans.
Richa
Thanks for the input Karin. I thought the same thing about the name. there are many other names that bother me and eventually those will change with time or having many vegan versions and the names might not mean the same thing anymore (maybe cowboys in the future will be mostly be people who run cow sanctuaries). I’ll think of different names for these. like Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Belle Ball
Cowpal cookies… I made a batch last night, they were delicious. The mixture of powdered sugar and brown sugar makes for a delicious cookie.
Richa
Awesome!!
Roz Callow
Caravan cookies?
Vegan Richa Support
right on
Anna
Just shaking my damn head. This is why people mock like vegans.
Lindsey
Cow patty cookies?
Linda
These sound wonderful but I wonder if it’s posisble to omit the coconut, as my husband dislikes this. If so would a sub be needed? Thank you!
Richa
hmm, maybe more of the oats. about 1/2 cup
Michelle
I made these last night, and they are almost gone!! They’re so good! The only change I’d make? More pecans!
Ricardo
Wonderful, Richal. This is truly amazing.
SallyE
Please could you tell me what size of jar I would need to find to make this as a gift for my niece? I’ve not made a recipe in a jar before and can’t quite think how I work out what size those ingredients would go into. Many thanks.
Richa
its a 32 oz or 4 cup mason jar.
Melissa
I have everything but the powdered sugar. Any thoughts on a substitute? More brown sugar?
Also, I realize that I bookmark nearly every recipe that you post. You’re amazing!
Richa
If you have other dry sugar like granulated or coconut, just pulse in the blender until it is somewhat fine and mix into the flour. Brown sugar isnt fine enough and wet so it takes longer to incorporate. The dry fine sugar mixed in the flour ensures that that the dough has even distribution of sweetness in case of not mixing (the dry jar ingredients) well enough.
Edith Tsacle
I agree. She is totally amazing! I bookmark almost every recipe too and try a lot of them-they come out fantastic!
Alana
I’m thinking of doing this as a gift. If I give to someone who isn’t vegan and they want to use eggs, how many eggs would you say to use?
Richa
I dont know, i havent used eggs a long while. There are several non vegan cookie types that dont use eggs, which they wouldnt add eggs to, so why add to this when the recipe isnt written and tested for it. This recipe is adjusted to work well with few ingredients, the amounts, baking time etc adjusted to get the best results. Changing significant ingredients changes baked recipes and would need changing other things as well. I just gave these to a not vegan neighbor, they said they couldnt tell the difference and they took the entire leftover tray 🙂
Kathy
I didn’t see the temperature to bake at–I’m imagining 350 or 375? Maybe it is there and I don’t see it.
Richa
oops. yes at 350. i’ll add it
Kathy
I didn’t see your comment and just made them at 375 degrees. They are delicious!
Michelle
What temp should the oven be to bake them?
Richa
350 deg F. updated
Belle
YES! Thank you, Richa, for this recipe. I am so tired of buying Christmas junk for gifts. I’m definitely doing this instead, and I LOVE Cowboy Cookies!
Gail
These cookies sound wonderful! Is there any way to make them oil free?
Richa
You can try it with a combination of some smooth nut butter and more applesauce as needed to make a dough.
Patricia
Instead of oil I used 1/3 cup of aquafaba and 2 additional tablespoons of applesauce and they came out great.
Richa
oh awesome! thanks for letting me know! i’ll try them with aquafaba
Mary
How’d they work for you?
Richa
I havent tried with aquafaba yet. i dont use it much.
Bridget
Wow! I’m going to try that! Thanks for the tip.😃
Sue
You read my mind! Thanks for your perfect timing!!!
Richa
😉
Janine
Hi Richa, what a nice idea to put all ingredients in a jar! I definitely Keep that in my mind for my xmas gifts. Wonderful blog by the way. xoxo Janine
Richa
Thanks! They make a wonderful gift.
nicole
Does recipe really call for powdered sugar or did you mean granulated sugar?
Richa
Any fine sugar will work. If it is too large granulated then you will be able to feel the granules on baking. So the one that is mixed with the flour has to be powdered or really fine. You can blend the granulated sugar to make it fine and use that instead.
Jean
Richa, these look fabulous. My daughter cannot have oatmeal and is gluten free. What could I sub?
Richa
Quinoa flakes or rice flakes.