Shortly before noon on my birthday, my phone buzzed with a text from my neighbor. She asked if I was home, and I answered that I would be for a few more minutes before heading out to run errands.
Less than 60 seconds later, I heard a knock on my front door. When I pulled it open, my neighbor and her little daughter smiled while handing me a bright pink bag with tissue paper bursting out of the top and stickers plastered on the sides.
“Happy birthday!” they chimed together.
My heart immediately melted. Although they had just flown back from their Hawaiian vacation the day before, they somehow figured out it was my birthday… And then brought over the cutest baseball-themed birthday gift. I have the sweetest neighbors!
Just before they turned to walk back to their own house, the three-year-old girl looked up at me. “Do you have chocolate?” she asked a little shyly. Almost every time I see her, I give her something chocolaty because she’s just as big of a chocoholic as I am!
I told her I only had these peach treats… But I promised to bring her chocolate later that week!
And true to my word, I knocked on their door two days later with a freshly baked batch of these healthy flourless chocolate cowboy cookies! They’re supremely rich and chocolaty, with an almost fudgy brownie-like texture, and truly a chocoholic’s dream. Flourless chocolate cookie dough, lots of chocolate chips… And also easy to make!
There’s a reason I gave her the entire batch of cookies… I would’ve been much too tempted to eat them all by myself if they stayed on my kitchen counter!
WHAT ARE COWBOY COOKIES?
Although I grew up eating countless slices of my grandpa’s homemade cowboy coffee cake, I didn’t realize cowboy cookies were a popular treat until much later in life. Apparently, I was missing out on quite a fantastic dessert… Cowboy cookies are oatmeal cookies filled with nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips!
There are two main theories for how cowboy cookies earned their name… Either (a) cowboy cookies originated in Texas during a time where there were more cowboys than regular homesteaders, or (b) cowboy cookies were hearty enough to survive a trip out into the Wild West.
Regardless of the true reason, cowboy cookies certainly are delicious! I’ve already shared a traditional version, but today… We’re putting a spin on them with chocolate-flavored cookie dough!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE COWBOY COOKIES
With that definition out of the way, let’s go over the key ingredients that you’ll need to make these healthy flourless chocolate cowboy cookies!
Oats. More specifically… Instant oats! Instant oats are also called “quick cooking” or “one minute” oats. They’re smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned oats. This size difference is crucial! Because instant oats are smaller and thinner, they soften faster, which gives your cowboy cookies the best soft and chewy texture.
Hint: Instant oats are not the ones that are sold in those single-serving brown paper packets with flavors like maple brown sugar and apple cinnamon! They only include one ingredient — oats! — and come in containers just like old-fashioned rolled oats. You can typically find them right next to the rolled oats at the grocery store. (Look for their other names too: “quick cooking” or “one minute” oats!)
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy chocolate cowboy cookies gluten-free, then substitute certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Unsweetened cocoa powder. This is today’s fun twist on classic cowboy cookies! Instead of flour, you’ll mix unsweetened cocoa powder into your cookie dough. It adds such a rich and chocolaty flavor!
For this recipe, you need regular unsweetened cocoa powder — not Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. The latter two have a different acidity level, and that can change the taste and texture of your cookies. They also have a more muted flavor, which yields a mellower and blander taste. For the best results, stick with regular unsweetened cocoa powder. It makes these healthy flourless chocolate cowboy cookies taste extra decadent and irresistible!
Sweetener. Instead of refined granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy chocolate cowboy cookies with pure maple syrup. You want the kind that comes directly from maple trees and only contains one ingredient: maple syrup! It’s usually sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this).
Hint: I don’t recommend substituting pancake syrup or sugar-free maple syrup. They contain other ingredients, which can change the texture of your cookies. This is particularly true of sugar-free maple syrup! It’s often water-based, and that yields a cakey or bread-like cookie texture instead.
Mix-ins. Time for those classic cowboy cookie mix-ins! You’ll need mini chocolate chips (these are my current favorite), shredded unsweetened coconut, and finely diced pecans (I sometimes use these as a shortcut so I don’t have to chop my own!).
Tip: This recipe is easily customizable to suit your tastes! I’m not a big fan of nuts or coconut in my cookies, so I only sprinkle in a small amount. You can definitely add more of either one, if you’d prefer! (Or if you’re like me, try substituting chocolate chips for the nuts or coconut… Or for both. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!)
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE COWBOY COOKIES
Let’s briefly cover how to make the best healthy flourless chocolate cowboy cookies! This recipe is easy to make any day of the week. I also have a few tips to help your batch turn out perfectly!
Measure correctly. It’s extremely important that you measure the cocoa powder and oats correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much of either ingredient will dry out the dough and make your cookies taste cakey or bready, instead of soft and chewy. This is especially true of the oats; they act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from your cookie dough! Too much cocoa powder will also make your cookies taste bitter, rather than rich and chocolaty.
It only takes a few extra moments to measure correctly, and I promise these cookies are worth it!
Chill. When you first mix everything together, the cookie dough will be rather wet. Chilling helps stiffen the cookie dough and makes it easier to shape. It’ll still be somewhat sticky though, so don’t try to use your hands! I use a spoon and one of these mini spatulas. They’re so handy!
Flatten + shape. These healthy chocolate cowboy cookies don’t really spread, so you must flatten the cookie dough with a spatula before baking. Otherwise, they’ll end up looking like little dough balls! Still tasty, just not quite as cute as regular cookie shapes…
But with this much chocolate and their fudgy brownie-like texture, I probably wouldn’t notice their shape that much. I’d just be eating them as fast as I could! 😉
And because someone always asks, the answer is no — I don’t use any special equipment to make my cookies look perfectly round! Just this mini spatula, plus a little patience.
Bake. This is my #1 trick for extra soft and chewy oatmeal cookies… Remove them from the oven when the centers still feel a little squishy and underdone. Don’t wait until they feel completely firm! The residual heat from the metal baking sheet will continue to cook those squidgy centers all the way through while you let them rest before transferring them to a wire rack. It’s my favorite cookie tip and works like a charm!
Time to lasso — I mean snag — one or two of these cookies! 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy flourless chocolate cowboy cookies!
Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white (room temperature)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) nonfat milk (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup (room temperature)
- 2 tbsp (10g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- 2 tbsp (14g) finely diced pecans
- 2 ½ tbsp (35g) miniature chocolate chips (divided)
Instructions
- Whisk together the oats, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg white, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup. Add in the oat mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the coconut, pecans, and 2 tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet. Flatten to ⅜”-thick using a spatula. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 325°F for 10-13 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Classic Cowboy Cookies
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Cowboy Cookies
♡ Healthy Flourless Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake
♡ Healthy Chocolate Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
These look great and I am looking forward to trying them. It caught my attention because it is one of your recipes in the minority that doesn’t use stevia or artificial sweeteners. I would love if you would provide guidance on your recipes that do use those how to substitute for sugar sweeteners. Desserts are such a rarity for my family that I feel like sweeteners are allowed when we do have them.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes, Greg! I actually do that already in the Notes section of the recipe, directly underneath the Instructions, for recipes that use vanilla stevia. I give alternatives for using other “clean” sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar. It can be easy to miss that Notes section, but I promise those substitutions and alternatives are there for my recipes with vanilla stevia! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies if you try them!
Well I feel pretty silly then. I feel like I have scoured your recipes quite a bit and never noticed that. You can feel free to delete my comment if you like. Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely have to go look back through some that I have skipped once I saw vanilla stevia in the list.
No worries, Greg!! It happens ALL the time. You’re not the only one! 🙂 I know how lengthy my Notes sections can get. Don’t feel badly at all! I can’t wait to hear what recipes you decide to try next!
Hi Amy! Do you think I can substitute the maple syrup with ripe bananas? If so, would you know how many to use?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Nithya! I really don’t recommend that substitution. Bananas aren’t nearly as sweet, and they’ll make these cookies turn cakey instead of chewy if you tried to substitute them for the maple syrup. I include the best substitutes for maple syrup on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page, which is linked to in the Notes section directly underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss that section! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies!
they look great
Thanks Iza! I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies! 🙂
Baked a batch of these today…OMG, so good! I followed the recipe exactly except I used rolled oats, and doubled the coconut and nuts. My boyfriend and I are “dieting” and these were a welcome clean-eating treat.
I’m so glad you loved these cookies, Lisa! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
Hi Amy,
Can i omit the nuts from this recipe without altering the structure of the cookie? my partner is allergic to them!
Do you have any suggestions on substitutions for the nuts?
Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Laura! You can definitely omit the nuts without any issues. I’m actually not a fan of nuts in cookies, so I usually leave them out! 😉 You can either omit them or substitute additional chocolate chips — both options will work! I can’t wait to hear what you and your partner think of these cookies! 🙂
these look really good but do you have to use the coconut and nuts? does it change the structure or recipe by not using it? are there any substitutions?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Caroline! You can definitely omit the coconut and nuts. I’m actually not a fan of either in my cookies, so that’s what I usually do! 😉 If you’d like, you can also replace them with additional mini chocolate chips instead. I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
Can I sub a flax egg for the egg white? Also I’d like to add chilli – do you think it would go with the oaty flavour?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these cookies! I haven’t personally tried substituting a flax egg (I don’t really like the taste of flax, so Ener-G is my favorite egg replacer!), but other readers have said it works great. I absolutely LOVE chocolate + chili as a flavor combination, so I think adding a tiny pinch would be a wonderful idea! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
Hi amy, do you think I can reduce the cocoa powder but increase the oat ( without increasing the flour)?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these cookies, Lina! You can decrease the cocoa powder by 2-4 tablespoons and increase the oats by 2 tablespoons or so. Just keep in mind that your cookie dough will be stickier and a bit harder to work with. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these cowboy cookies!