Tasty Tuesday Treats from Teeka

Cowboy Cookies

Posted by Elise Bauer on December 6, 2012

Back in the election year of 2000, Family Circle magazine had a cookie bake-off between Tipper Gore and Laura Bush. While I'm sure Tipper's gingersnaps were admirable, Laura's big… more

• Prep: 20 minutes
• Cook: 20 minutes

The bigger the cookie, the more chewy it can be. So if you like chewy cookies, make them big.  If you want a chewy cookie, cook them until the edges are browned, but not the whole cookie. If you cook the cookie until it is all nicely browned, it will be more crisp.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks butter (6 ounces, 12 Tbsp), at room temperature
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 large eggs*, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (we used shredded)
• 1 cup chopped pecans

*This recipe is a half recipe of the original, which calls for 3 eggs. To get half of 3 eggs, you can either just use only one egg, or beat two eggs and remove about 2 Tbsp.

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower third. Line two large baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
2 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3 Place butter in a standing electric mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth and light, about 1 minute. Slowly add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and beat to combine, about 2 more minutes.  Add half the eggs, beat, and then add the other half and beat again. Add the vanilla extract and beat again.
4 Lower the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture, until just combined. Add the chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans, mixing until just combined.
5 If you want large cookies, drop about 1/4 cup lumps of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, separated by 3 inches to allow for enough room for the cookies to spread as they cook. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, then rotate the cookie sheets front to back and top to bottom, and bake for an additional 7 to 9 minutes. For smaller cookies, use about 2 Tbsp of the cookie dough per cookie and cook for 13 to 16 minutes, rotating half way.
Note that if you are using a dark baking sheet, it will absorb more heat, and you won't need as much baking time. Also, the top rack will bake more quickly because heat rises. 
6 Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.  Then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
You'll likely need to work in batches, depending on the size of your oven and your baking sheets.

Yield: Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

NOTE!!! you need to keep a close eye on these. they go from "almost done" to "OMG I'M BURNING!!!" in the space of a few heartbeats.