cowboy cookies

Cowboy Cookies

'The Mother of all Cookies'
(printable recipe)

We love cookies around here. I probably make cookies every week, all year long. In the fall and winter, I freeze them in baggies so they are ready to drop into a sack lunch. They are also easy to grab for a quick after school snack. This is a recipe I return to often - they really are the Mother of all Cookies! This makes about 35-40, 4 inch cookies. It takes a long time to bake them, so don't start unless you have a few hours. Please remember to scoop them out in 1/4 C amount and only place 5 cookies on a sheet. They're huge.

Another hint - remove them with a metal spatula.

Here's what you need - it's a crazy amount of ingredients! So worth it though...

3 C flour

1T baking soda

1T baking powder

1T cinnamon

1t salt

3 sticks butter (I always use butter. I never substitute with anything else in all my baking.)

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1 1/2 C light brown sugar

3 eggs

1T vanilla

3C chocolate chips

3C old-fashioned oats

2C coconut

2C chopped pecans

I seriously recommend using a standing mixer - I can't imagine mixing all this by hand, but you could try it in batches.....

Here's what you do:

Cream butter and sugars.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture in small batches to butter mixture.

Keep using a spatula to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the mixer.

Mix all the 'add ins' (chips, coconut, oatmeal and nuts) and add them in small batches to the dough.

Be patient, they will eventually mix in. Keep using the spatula, a knife and your hands to keep it all under control.

Bake in 1/4 C amounts. I actually use a 1/4 C measure and scrape the dough out with a knife. Being accurate here is better than estimating.

Place only 5 cookies on an ungreased sheet.

Bake for about 17 minutes at 350 degrees. You have to watch them closely toward the end. I like to take the baking sheet out of the oven toward the end of the 17 minutes and bang it on the counter to help flatten the dough......

Makes about 35-40 - 4" cookies.

I jotted this recipe down while watching TV years ago.... Laura Bush was being interviewed and she said these were her husband's favorite cookie. They certainly are 'Texas' sized!