Easy Cowboy Blondies with Pecans, Coconut & Chocolate Chips

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These chewy Cowboy Blondies are loaded with peanut butter, oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips. Perfect for BBQs and potlucks!

If you love a dessert that's chewy, hearty, and absolutely packed with texture, you're going to love these Cowboy Blondies.

They're loaded with many of the same ingredients you'll find in a traditional Cowboy Cookie: oats, coconut, chocolate chips, and plenty of chopped pecans. But instead of baking them into individual cookies, everything comes together in one easy pan of rich, chewy blondies.

And there's one ingredient you might not expect: Peanut butter.

It adds richness and flavor to the brown-sugar blondie base and works beautifully with all of those hearty Cowboy Cookie mix-ins.

These are exactly the sort of bars I'd put out at a backyard BBQ, family gathering, church supper, or potluck. Cut them into squares, pile them onto a platter, and let everyone help themselves.

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

What Are Cowboy Blondies?

Cowboy Blondies take the flavors we associate with a loaded Cowboy Cookie and turn them into a thick, chewy dessert bar.

There's no single universal recipe for a Cowboy Cookie, but you'll commonly find some combination of:

• Oats
• Coconut
• Chocolate chips
• Pecans

And those are exactly the goodies packed into these blondies.

Unlike brownies, which use cocoa or chocolate in the base, blondies get their characteristic flavor from brown sugar, butter, and vanilla.

This particular version also includes peanut butter, which adds another layer of richness.

The result isn't a chocolate brownie at all. It's a golden, chewy bar packed with bits of chocolate, coconut, pecans, and oats in every bite.

Are Cowboy Blondies the Same as Cowboy Cookies?

Not quite.

My Old-Fashioned Cowboy Cookies here on Backyard Texas Grill contain a lot more oatmeal and have the structure of an actual cookie.

These blondies use considerably less oatmeal and more brown sugar in proportion to the flour. That creates the dense, chewy texture we expect from a blondie.

They also contain peanut butter, which my Cowboy Cookies do not.

Think of them as members of the same family rather than the same recipe.

Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here's a quick peek at what you're going to need to make these delicious Cowboy Blondies. These are such simple ingredients. You probalby already have most of them in your pantry or refrigerator.

You'll need:

• ½ cup salted butter, softened
• 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt, optional if using salted butter
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut

A Note About the Coconut

The recipe I used as inspiration called for unsweetened coconut. If you use sweetened shredded coconut, keep in mind that the blondies will be a bit sweeter. That's not necessarily a bad thing—especially if, like me, you happen to love coconut.

Coconut also contributes something important besides flavor: texture. Between the chewy coconut, oats, crunchy pecans, and chocolate chips, these blondies have something going on in every bite.

How to Make Cowboy Blondies

These come together so easily! You're going to love making them.

Step 1: Prepare the Pan

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper for easier removal.

Step 2: Cream the Butter and Brown Sugar

Beat the softened butter and brown sugar together until thoroughly combined and creamy.

Step 3: Add the Wet Ingredients

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.

Step 4: Add the Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt if using.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.

Step 5: Add All the Cowboy Goodies

Fold in the chocolate chips, chopped pecans, and coconut.

The batter will be thick and loaded with texture.

Spread it evenly into your prepared baking dish.

Step 6: Bake

Bake at 350°F until the edges are set and lightly golden and the center is baked through but still soft.

Begin checking according to the baking time recommended for your pan and oven. Avoid overbaking; blondies continue to firm as they cool.

Step 7: Cool and Cut

Allow the blondies to cool thoroughly before cutting them into squares. For the cleanest slices, wait until they're completely cool.

Serve and Enjoy!

These are so pretty and delicious. They're super easy to cut and to serve. I enjoyed putting mine on a tray to give to a friend.

A Dessert for Texture Lovers

If there's one thing Cowboy desserts aren't, it's boring.

These blondies combine: Chewy blondie + hearty oats + chewy coconut + crunchy pecans + melty chocolate chips.

Every bite is a little different. And that's exactly what I love about desserts like this. Sometimes I don't want a perfectly smooth piece of cake or a plain cookie. I want crunch. I want chew. I want nuts and coconut and bits of chocolate.

Cowboy Blondies deliver all of it.

Cowboy Blondies vs. Cowboy Brownies

Here's where things get especially fun.

I also make Cowboy Brownies, which combine fudgy chocolate brownie batter with scoops of my homemade Cowboy Cookie dough. The two desserts share several flavors, but they're completely different experiences.

Cowboy Blondies have a golden brown-sugar and peanut-butter base with the oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips mixed throughout.

Cowboy Brownies have a rich chocolate brownie base with distinct patches of chewy Cowboy Cookie baked across the top.

• One is golden and chewy.
• One is dark and fudgy.

Which brings me to one of my favorite ways to serve them.

Make a Cowboy Brownie & Blondie Dessert Tray

If you're planning a backyard BBQ, Western-themed party, or chuckwagon supper, make both.

Cut the Cowboy Brownies and Cowboy Blondies into similar-sized squares and alternate them on a large serving platter.

You'll have dark chocolate squares alongside golden blondies, both packed with those wonderful Cowboy Cookie flavors.

The contrast makes a beautiful dessert tray, and your guests get to decide which one they want.

Of course, there's nothing stopping them from taking one of each.

Perfect for a Chuckwagon Supper

The idea takes me back to a trip I made years ago with my daughter Randi, when she was still a kid.

We stayed at a dude ranch in Bandera, Texas, where one evening they hosted a real outdoor chuckwagon supper beneath an enormous oak tree.

There was barbecue, a hayride afterward, and an official cowboy overseeing the festivities.

Those aren't particularly hard to come by here in Texas.

I don't remember what they served for dessert that evening, but a big rustic platter piled with Cowboy Brownies and Cowboy Blondies would have fit right in.

That's exactly how I'd serve them today.

Variations

Once you've got the basic idea, there are plenty of ways to change these up.

Extra Pecan Cowboy Blondies

Toast the pecans before adding them to the batter to deepen their flavor.

Milk Chocolate Cowboy Blondies

Swap semisweet chips for milk chocolate chips for a sweeter bar.

Dark Chocolate Cowboy Blondies

Use dark chocolate chips to balance the sweetness of the brown sugar and coconut.

Chocolate Chunk Cowboy Blondies

Replace the chips with chopped chocolate or chocolate chunks for larger pockets of melted chocolate.

Extra Coconut Cowboy Blondies

If you're a serious coconut lover, sprinkle a little extra coconut over the top before baking. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too dark.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Backyard Desserts

If you're planning a backyard gathering, don't stop with the main course. Here on Backyard Texas Grill, we're big believers that a good BBQ deserves a good dessert.

Pair these Cowboy Blondies with Cowboy Brownies for an easy dessert tray, or serve them alongside cobblers, pies, cookies, and other Southern favorites.

Because after brisket, ribs, beans, and all the fixings, there's still one important question:

What's for dessert?

Thanks for Stopping By!

If you make these blondies and enjoy them, please leave a comment or review! And before you go, why not pin some photos to your Pinterest boards?

About the Cook

Janice Thompson is a Texas author, baker, and home cook who loves recipes that bring people together around the table. Her cooking is influenced by family gatherings, church suppers, potlucks, backyard BBQs, and a lifetime of Texas memories—from small-town life to chuckwagon suppers beneath giant oak trees.