Salted Pretzel Cowboy Party Cookies.

The very BEST Salted Pretzel Cowboy Party Cookies for your winter weekend baking. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, made with oats, shredded coconut, plenty of chocolate chunks, pretzels pieces, and a small pinch of flaky sea salt. Each cookie dough ball is hand stuffed with salty pretzel pieces before baking them to perfection. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet chocolate (crunch) cookies. Each bite is slightly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the center…with just a little pretzel crunch.

The last day of January just feels like it deserves a good cookie…I mean, it’s been a long month. On one hand, it feels like this month flew by, but on the other, it feels like it’s been the longest month. We shared a lot of new recipes, with almost all of them geared towards a Healthy January. Today is the exception (well, maybe yesterday too). But I just had to share these cookies because they’re insanely good and so perfect for this weekend! We truly do loooove them, but I can’t really say there’s anything that “healthy” about them. While…there’s oats…and unsweetened coconut?

But they also have butter, some sugar (not a ton), and plenty of semi-sweet chocolate too.

Please do hear me out. I tried, and tried, and tried again to create a delicious, soft, moist, and healthy cookie. But I just could not get them right. There were batches of peanut butter cookies, banana cookies, oat cookies, vegan cookies, butterless cookies. Pretty much every kind of cookie. But none of them were good enough. If you follow on Instagram you may have seen my many failed attempts.

Feeling pretty defeated, I caved in and made these cookies. And I got them right the very FIRST batch. I was immediately sold. Then I gave them to my mom to try. She said she was beyond sold and couldn’t stop eating them. We both agreed that the recipe needed to be shared, preferably before Super Bowl Sunday. So yes, technically it is still January, but sometimes you just need a really good, buttery, sweet, heavy on the chocolate cookie.

Trust me, you do. And I am here to share it with you all.

PS. I haven’t given up on my “healthy” cookie testing, just taking a break.

the back story…

What inspired these cowboy cookies? While I saw a recipe on Pinterest for cowboy cookies. They had oats, coconut, and pecans stirred into a classic chocolate chip cookie. They sounded very interesting, but it also felt like there was something missing from the cookie. Like, if you’re going to add so many “stir-ins” to your basic chocolate chip cookie, at least one of them should be a little more exciting.

For a second I couldn’t figure out what the cookie was missing, but then it hit me, a loaded cookie needs a “salty” component and maybe even a little crunch.

P.R.E.T.Z.E.L.S.

I thought back to these chocolate chip cookie stuffed soft pretzels I made last year. And then these snickerdoodles I made back in December. And I knew that a little salt and a little crunch from a pretzel would make a cowboy-style cookie even better. I tested it and the verdict came in quick. These are indeed the best…MOM says so! And she does not mess around when it comes to chocolate chip cookies.

To make these salted pretzel cowboy party cookies…

One, gather your ingredients. You’ll need the basics, butter, sugar, flour, etc. Simple, nothing fancy, but all good.

Two, the stir-ins are the most important part. You’ll need old fashioned oats, shredded coconut, salted pretzel twists, and semi-sweet or milk chocolate chunks.

Three, beat, mix, stir, bake, wack that pan on the counter, bake again, wack again, eat warm…ENJOY!

Yes, there’s not one complicated thing about this recipe. These are EASY cookies.

A few keys for success…

…smashed pretzels on the outside, only just a few for the slightest salty, crunch with every sweet bite.

…flatten the cookies dough balls a bit before baking. You must do this to help your cookies bake evenly and spread.

…tap that baking sheet on your counter midway through baking, then finish cooking. When the cookies have completely finished baking, remove them from the oven, and tap the baking sheet once more. You guys, this step is KEY. It will ensure you have the least cakey chocolate chip cookie. Instead, you’ll get a cookie with crisp edges and a gooey center. Tapping the baking pan on the counter deflates the center of the cookie, pushing the edges out. I used this same method for my pumpkin cookies and I now do it whenever I bake any cookies…because it works. I learned this tip from the New York Times and you need it too.

…a little pinch of flaky sea salt, which isn’t a must, but it sure is delicious.

What I love about these cookies is that they’re so easy to make. They require no chilling and truly take just thirty minutes from start to finish. I almost always have these ingredients on hand. And when it’s Friday night and the urge for a delicious yet simple chocolatey cookie comes on? These cookies will be my new go-to.

They’re just perfectly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the center, with a nice crunch and a little saltiness from the pretzels on top. The best kind of cookie.

Bake these tonight, or sometime this weekend for the Super Bowl…and then every other day you’re craving something sweet and easy!

If you make these salted pretzel cowboy party cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!