Ranger Cookies

Recipe by Anna Iverson
97 Reviews 4.6 out of 5 stars

These cookies will knock your socks off with sweetness! Loaded with chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and crispy cereal, every bite promises a bounty of texture. Kids will love them with a glass of ice-cold milk; the more "mature" folks can enjoy them with a cup of hot coffee.

Prep
15 mins
Bake
10 to 12 mins
Total
27 mins
Yield
60 (2" to 2 1/2") cookies
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Ranger Cookies

Instructions

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  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment.

  2. Beat together the shortening, sugars, vanilla, and salt until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth.

  3. 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.

  4. Stir in the oats, coconut, chips and cereal, mixing just until blended.

  5. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets; a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here.

  6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown.

  7. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool right on the pan, or on a rack. Store completely cooled cookies, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to a week; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

  • Want to make these cookies into bars? Press the dough into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake the bars in a preheated 350°F oven for 28 to 32 minutes, until the batter is golden brown, lightly puffed, and appears set on top. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares or bars.
  • From recipe editor PJ Hamel: — 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 over 60 years, at least. While many versions of this sweet cookie forego the chocolate chips, my grandmother added them to hers.

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