The origins of "cowboy cookies" are unknown although they have been variously attributed to Texas or the Old West.

[1] The story that describes them in originating in the Old West claims that they were eaten by cowboys as a high energy snack that could be easily carried.

[4][5]Cowboy cookies were further popularized when First Lady Laura Bush baked "Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies" for the First Lady Bake-Off during her husband George W. Bush's campaign for the 2000 United States presidential election.

[6] As part of the competition, the recipe was printed in Family Circle, the publication which held the contest.

Burros also described Gore's cookies as superior, and stated that they only lost because they lacked chocolate and were not as "flashy".