Tap this easy recipe to transform the bits of salty and sweet goodies hanging out in your pantry into custom treats to share!
Now and then, I get into a cleanout mood. I’ll pick a cupboard or closet, pull out everything I’ve stuffed into it for months, weed out the things I no longer need, and then reorganize the space. Recently, my pantry was that chosen space. I found so many nearly empty containers of snacks and sweets! Tossing them all into the trash felt wasteful, but consuming them all at once seemed ill-advised.
Enter this recipe for salted peanut butter candy-pretzel cowboy cookies! It’s the perfect solution for using up small amounts of goodies. You start with a basic oatmeal cookie dough, then mix in a variety of salty snacks and sweet candies. Among my culled stock were mostly crushed pretzels, a small amount of M&M’s Peanut Butter candies, some peanuts, a few chocolate chips, and some leftover milk chocolate chunks from a birthday cake I made months earlier. They come together in these cookies with the most unexpected balance! Each bite delivers sweet, salty, earthy notes with a pleasant combo of chewiness and crunchiness.
You can totally adapt this recipe to whatever you’ve got on hand. Swap the pretzels for potato chips, the M&M’s for toffee bits, the flaky sea salt for a sprinkle of coconut—and you’ll have your own custom treats to share!
The presidential pedigree of cowboy cookies
The precise origins of cowboy cookies have been lost to time. But they remain linked to the mythic American West in our collective imagination—one common origin story casts these treats as a kind of first-generation “power bar” that could travel in a ranch hand’s saddlebag without falling apart. The only well-documented lore about them is that former first lady Laura Bush helped push them into the mainstream. In the 2000 Family Circle First Lady Bake‑Off (since renamed the Presidential Cookie Poll), her “Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies” won the reader vote over Tipper Gore’s gingersnaps. Fans of the event went nuts for the giant, coconut‑pecan‑chocolate oatmeal cookies—and wide reprinting of the recipe cemented the term “cowboy cookies” as a recognized style of chunky, everything‑but‑the‑barn cookies.
How do I store leftovers?
Once your cowboy cookies have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container or resealable bag. They’ll keep at room temp for up to 5 days or up to 2 weeks in the fridge. You can also freeze these cookies for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container or bag with as much air removed as possible. Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temp for 20-30 minutes.
Serving suggestions
Serve your salted peanut butter candy-pretzel cowboy cookies alongside other multi-flavored treats. They pair beautifully with a bowl of Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, or Strawberry-Basil Ice Cream. Or embrace simplicity by pairing them with a good, old-fashioned Vanilla Milkshake.
Salted Peanut Butter Candy-Pretzel Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pretzels crushed
- 1 cup M&M's Peanut Butter candies
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chunks
- Flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each. Mix in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients just until combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Fold in the pretzels, peanut butter M&M's, peanuts, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or two spoons to drop equal portions (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are lightly golden and set, and the tops no longer look wet. The centers should still look slightly soft—they’ll firm up as the cookies cool.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, 15-20 minutes.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
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