baked cowboy cookies

I made Momofuku's Compost cookies a little while back, and loved them. They were crunchy, and chewy, and salty and sweet, ok a lot salty, and had a coffee kick, especially after a few days of hanging around.

So when I saw Baked's Cowboy Cookies on the Baked Sunday Mornings recipe schedule, I could not wait to try them! Pretzels, oats, chocolate chips, espresso powder... Sounds like a winner of a cookie recipe! And even better, I already had crushed pretzels leftover from the Compost cookies, so I didn't even have to dirty the food processor! Score!

This is a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe where you cream the butter and sugar together, add vanilla, and the espresso powder dissolved in hot water. Mix in your dry ingredients, and fold in the pretzels and chocolate chips. Now the recipe says to chill the dough at this point, but I portion it first, because my cookie scoop can't handle cold dough very well. And I skipped the step where I was supposed to sprinkle extra pretzels on top. I did flatten my balls of dough before baking them.

Cowboy Cookies
Recipe adapted from Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito (pg 91)

Ingredients

1 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
2 Cups Rolled Oats
14 Tbsp (1 ¾ sticks) Unsalted Butter, cool but not cold, cut into 1-inch cubes
¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Firmly Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg Yolk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Instant Espresso Powder
2 Cups Semisweet Chocolate Chunks (about 12 ounces)
¾ Cup Thin Salty Pretzels (about 1 ½ ounces), broken into tiny pieces but not crushed into dust

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the oats and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until the mixture looks light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat for 5 seconds. Dissolve the espresso powder in ¼ cup hot water and add it to the bowl, mixing until combined.

Add half of the dry ingredients and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and fold in the chocolate chunks and ½ cup of the pretzel pieces.

Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to scoop out dough in 2 tablespoon-size balls (or use a tablespoon measure) and place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup pretzel pieces over the dough balls. Use the palm of your hand to press the dough down lightly; don’t smash the cookie-you just want to slightly flatten the ball and push the pretzel pieces into the dough.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown or just start to darken.

Set the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies on the rack to cool completely. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes about 36 to 40 cookies

These were awesome. They disappeared really quickly. Crispy edges, chewy middle. Nice crunchy bites from the pretzels. The sweet and salty ratio was perfect. My kind of cookie!

Big thank you to Robin and Rémy for lending me Woody, and for trusting my neighbors not to steal him when they left it on my porch because I wasn't home. And the scratches where there when I borrowed him... I kinda looks like Toy Story 3 Woody, doesn't he?