Ranger Cookies

These cookies will knock your socks off with sweetness! Kids will love them with a glass of ice-cold milk; the more "mature" folks can enjoy them with a cup of hot coffee.

Ed Note: I’d heard rumors of "Ranger Cookies" for years, but never really paid enough attention to figure out what they were. Then recently, while idly flipping through the cards in my grandmother’s well-worn wooden recipe box, there they were: Ranger Cookies, carefully written out in her distinctive longhand. Wow, they must have been around longer than I thought! I checked some of my older cookbooks: There they were in the ’60s… in the ’50s… my search petered out after that, due to the dearth of older cookbooks in our library. Suffice it to say, Ranger Cookies have been a part of the American cookie landscape for probably half a century, at least. While many versions of this sweet cookie forego the chocolate chips, my grandmother added them to hers.
1 cup (6 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening or butter
1 cup (7 3/4 ounces) brown sugar, firmly packed, light or dark
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (3 ounces) rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) shredded coconut
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips
3 cups (2 3/8 ounces) crispy rice cereal or cornflakes
Beat together the shortening and sugars, vanilla and salt until fluffy; add the eggs and beat until smooth.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and beat until well blended. Stir in the oats, coconut, chips and cereal, mixing just until blended.

Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Yield: 60 (2- to 2 1/2- inch) cookies.
Nutrition information per serving (1 cookie, 22g): 101 cal, 5g fat, 1g protein, 5g complex carbohydrates, 8g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 7mg cholesterol, 79mg sodium, 41mg potassium, 9RE vitamin A, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 8mg calcium, 21mg phosphorus, 2mg caffeine
 




 
 

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