Cowboy Cookies

 A Pantry Special: Cowboy Cookies

It's titled that because almost all the ingredients were ones I had on hand, including my coveted 3 eggs left. 
Cowboy cookies are also called Ranger Cookies, Kitchen Sink Cookies, and Everything Cookies. When you include oats, chocolate chips, walnuts, cornflakes, M&M's, and coconut, you certainly do not lack flavor or texture with each and every bite. In fact, their size and heft make them perfect for satisfying cowboy-sized cravings! Fiber and nutrition are "partners" in these crunchy cookies.

I assume that the cowboy cookie recipe was probably originally found on a package of oatmeal or brown sugar. I couldn’t find proof of this, but a little digging did reveal that the recipe has probably been around for at least 60 years, as I read a document written in the early 1980s that said one woman's recipe had been in her family for over 40 years. And yes, it was the same one we all use today.

The recipe below comes from a cookbook collection straight from the Lone Star State, Texas: "Lone Star Eats," edited by Terry Thompson. It was supplied by New Braunfels, Texas Smokehouse Restaurant.

First Lady Laura Bush may have helped with this cookie's popularity when her Cowboy Cookie recipe won over Tipper Gore's Ginger Snap recipe in the "Family Circle's Magazine" Cookie Bake-off during the 2000 presidential campaign.

READER ALERT

Since we leave today and are heading back to Minnesota, I wanted you to know that Ever Ready for a week becomes a travelogue rather than a food blog. We have three destinations along the way at which to stop. Perhaps you can figure out just where we are headed.

Stop One  It's a city in Arizona with a population of 45,827. In 1864, it was designated as the capital of the Arizona Territory replacing the temporary capital of Fort Whipple. The territorial capital was moved to Tucson in 1867. It then became the territorial capital again in 1877, until Phoenix became the capital in 1889. The city has a rich history as a frontier gold and silver mining town.

Stop Two is a national park of the United States in northwestern Wyoming. The park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range and most of the valley's northern sections known as Jackson Hole. 
Stop Three 

On March 1, 1872, it became the first national park where everyone could enjoy its unique hydrothermal and geologic features. 

Cowboy Cookies

This recipe makes 32 large cookies, and I was able to use up a few of my cooking supplies.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 3/4 cup toasted coconut
• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups crushed cornflakes
• 1/2 cup mini M &M's (optional but oh so good)  

Directions:

• Mix oatmeal, chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut in a large bowl. Set aside.
• With a mixer, cream the butter and sugars.
• Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
• Next, add vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the creamed mixture. Mix well.
• Add the creamed mixture to the oatmeal mixture, and mix well.
• Add crushed cornflakes and stir well. If adding in M&M's fold-in at this step.
• Chill the cookie dough for one hour in the refrigerator.
• Flour hands and roll dough into 2-inch balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

So, my love of desert plants, particularly spring blooms, has certainly captivated me these past two months. Here is my last one recently discovered in my neighbour's yard. I love the composition of the plant surrounded by rocks. It's called Mexican Bird of Paradise.