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These really are the WORLD’S BEST COOKIES! I know that is a lofty proclamation, but it’s so true. The first bite I took of these cookies was heaven and in my mind I said “that’s why they call them the World’s Best!”

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cookies stacked on a brown wood board


What makes these cookies the World’s Best Cookies?

This is another recipe from my Mom’s recipe box. Much like her banana bread and snowball recipe, this one is sure to be a keeper. I was rifling through her recipe box looking for nuggets of gold when I came upon this cookie recipe. Fast forward a year, and she was doing the same thing and texted it to me. It was finally time for me to try them!

I think that the first (and most important) standard for any cookie is taste. These have a taste that’s hard to describe; kind of like a non-chocolate chocolate chip cookie and a pecan sandie, all rolled into one. The flavor is amazing!

The other requirement for any cookie, in my book, is a chewy texture with a crisp outside but soft and gooey inside, and this cookie is most certainly that.

I’m pretty sure this recipe is from the 70s – only back then would they combine all these ingredients in one bowl! I have no idea where this recipe originated or what it was originally called but the name fits.

stack of cookies

Special ingredients that make the best cookies

I also like to call these “kitchen sink cookies” because seriously, when I read the ingredient list I was amazed at all the components. Here’s what’s on the ingredients list:

  • Like most cookies, this recipe has brown and granulated sugar and flour and egg. Unlike most cookie recipes, this one has butter AND oil.
  • For me, butter is essential in cookies. It provides not only flavor but that telltale chewy texture a good cookie has. But, as I discovered with my favorite shortbread cookie recipe, adding oil along with butter makes them chewy and soft at the same time. Weird, but true.
  • Oatmeal: adding oats to a cookie adds to the chewiness. These are by no means oatmeal cookies, but the oats add a good chew. If you don’t have quick cooking oats you can make your own by adding old-fashioned oats to a food processor or blender and pulsing a few times.
  • Cornflakes – bring on the 70s! Adding cereal to cookies isn’t knew to me (um, Fruity Pebbles Cookies, anyone?) and I love adding cereal for texture and crunch.
  • Coconut – you can skip if you don’t love it, but you don’t 100% taste it, it’s more for texture.
  • Nuts – use walnuts or pecans or your favorite nut. Great for flavor and texture. I used pecans, which is why I suspect I tasted Pecan Sandie in these cookies.
cookies stacked on a brown wood board

These cookies are soft and chewy, crunchy and gooey and SO FULL of delicious flavor. When I find recipes like this I wonder where they went, like, why aren’t these on bakery shelves and all over the internet? I’d choose these over chocolate chip cookies any day of the week!

Tips for making the best cookies recipe

  1. Make sure your butter is softened.
  2. Measure your flour the right way.
  3. These need chilling because the dough is loose, thanks to all that oil. I also think that chilling helps the flavors meld together.
  4. Don’t over bake these! Learn how to tell when your cookies are done baking.
World's best cookies step by step

You cream together the butter, oil and sugars and after that the dough is loose enough you don’t need a mixer anymore, but I still use mine. I also like how the mixer sort of crushes the cornflakes!

Now, there is no chocolate in these cookies and I don’t miss it one bit…but you can add 1 cup of chocolate chips if you want. That would make them the World’s Best x1000!!

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, depending on size. They freeze well too, so you can save them for later!

Let me know if you remember these cookies. I was too young back in the 70s…but I’d love to hear if they were really a thing!

stack of cookies showing top

The World’s Best Cookies

3.99 from 369 votes
These really are the WORLD’S BEST COOKIES! I couldn’t believe how good they were when I tried them!
Cook Time 12 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 12 minutes
Yield 4 dozen cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (200g) brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup (237ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup (80g) quick cooking oats
  • 3 ½ cups (434g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (60g) sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 cup (25g) lightly crushed cornflakes
  • ½ cup (63g) chopped pecans or walnuts
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Instructions

  • Note: this dough requires chilling.
  • Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream until light and fluffy. You can also use a hand mixer. Add oil and stir until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mix until smooth, then stir in the salt and baking soda.
  • Mix in oats and flour until just mixed. Stir in coconut, nuts, and cornflakes.
  • Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered in wax or parchment paper. No need to spread the balls out, you’re just going to chill them. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least one hour. (If you chill longer than 4 hours you may need to let them warm up a few minutes on the counter before baking.)
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats. Place cookies 2” apart on prepared cookie sheets. Lightly press down with the palm of your hand. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms just start to turn golden brown. Cool at least 5 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to rack to cool completely.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Recipe Video

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**

Last Updated on January 7, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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Recipe Rating




117 Comments

  1. Just wondered if I could use 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce for 1/2 cup of the oil? Thank you! Can’t wait to try these cookies!

  2. Please check the recipe for the cookies,, named Worlds Best Cookies it says 2+1/8 cup oil, I fallowed this , the cookies turned out flat and crumbly..The video says 1 cup oil.

  3. I love these cookies with coffee! I’ve made these cookies since I was a teenager. They’re a favorite with everyone that’s had them. Every year, I do goodie baskets for teachers and include these along with several other homemade goodies.

  4. The cookies were quite greasy. I packed them between layers of paper toweling overnight, which helped pull away some of the excess oil. With the oiliness, factor, can only give an average rating. I may try again, substituting peanut butter for some or most of the oil, perhaps add another egg with peanut butter & leave out the oil entirely. With peanut butter, I would then omit the chopped nuts.

  5. This was absolutely brilliant! My family & friends loved it!

    With chocolate chips, it tasted even better 😊

    1. I have never tried these with margarine and am not versed on how it bakes, so I recommend using real butter.

      1. My mama used margarine when she baked these, so margarine is fine to use. I’m partial to butter, but the recipe I have actually says “butter or margarine.”

  6. These cookies are excellent!
    I substituted vegetable oil for coconut so it added the extra delicious flavor of coconut on top of the flakes that are in the recipe.
    I also baked them chilled and un-chilled and both were delicious.

    Will definitely be making again. Thank you 🙂

  7. This recipe using cornflakes, oats, and just oil is very much like the old-fashioned dishpan cookies that I have made at Christmas-time to help fill my gift boxes of my candies that I make. Started making gifts like that shortly after my discharge from my beloved Marine Corps ( MOS ) cook, of course. 1965 schools of cooking before my time in Nam.

    1. Kenneth I want to thank you for your service and thank you for sharing. I just wish you would share your recipes. If you do please send me a copy.
      Your an awesome person. Thank you so much.
      TJ Breck

  8. I absolutely love these cookies. They are now one of my favorites. Unfortunately my family didn’t love them very much. That’s ok, I will still keep them as one of the best. Thank you for sharing.