Buffalo Chips

These are not dainty cookies. Buffalo chips are oversized, loaded drop cookies stuffed with every good thing in the pantry: rolled oats, corn flakes cereal, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and pecans, all packed into a rich butter-and-shortening dough.

Using both butter and shortening in the base is what gives these their particular texture. Butter brings flavor, shortening brings tenderness and spread. Together they create a cookie that’s crispy on the edges and chewy in the center.

The corn flakes are the secret weapon. They shatter into crunchy, toasty shards throughout the cookie and add a texture that oats and nuts alone can’t provide.

Drop these by large spoonfuls. Buffalo chips are meant to be big. A regular teaspoon-sized drop makes an ordinary cookie. A generous tablespoon or ice cream scoop gives you the dramatic, bakery-sized rounds these are supposed to be.

Pro Tips

• Don’t crush the corn flakes before adding. You want large flakes that create pockets of crunch, not cereal dust.
• Cream the butter-shortening mixture with both sugars until genuinely fluffy. This step builds the structure for a cookie this loaded.
• Space the dough far apart on the sheet. These spread significantly during baking.
• Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes. They’re too soft to move when hot.

Variations

• Peanut butter chips: Swap half the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips for a chocolate-PB combo.
• Trail mix version: Replace pecans with mixed nuts and add dried cranberries for a trail mix cookie vibe.