As a child, when it came to Holiday Baking my Mom reigned supreme in the kitchen. She rarely asked for help or gave out jobs to her four little girls; baking and candy-making were a “solo jobs”. And now that I have a passel of kids myself . . . I get it.
Time in the kitchen with little helpers can be fun … but time without those same little helpers can be glorious. Time alone just to breathe and concentrate on nothing but the measuring of flour and the ticking clock as you wait for cookies to bake.
When you get that kind of creative alone time … it’s nice.
Now I understand. I get why she shooed us out of the kitchen and spent time creating and kneading and baking alone. Peace.
(Of course, it’s peace that only lasts until a Kidlet comes stomping into your domain, demanding justice for some unseen slight or demanding a glass of milk or permission to eat batter …. despite your numerous dark warning of the lurking dangers of salmonella. Sigh.)
These Ranger Cookies were an annual staple in her repertoire of holiday cookies. One of my Dad’s favorites, Mom would make batches and batches of these cookies, each laden with brown sugar, butter and cereal.
I tweaked her recipe this year, only slightly, adding cranberries and using Corn Flakes instead of Rice Krispies.
(I’m a rebel like that.)
The additions were GOOD. Even with the twist, these cookies were still good ol’ fashioned Ranger Cookies. Deceptively rich and filling, chewy and crispy with each bite . . . and just begging and clamoring for you to pour a glass of ice-cold milk as you nosh.
(seriously — the milk is a requirement with these cookies)
- 1 cup unsalted, room-temperature butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups All-Purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups of "Rice Krispies" or Corn Flakes
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Using your mixer, cream the butter and sugars together.
- Add the two eggs and combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then, add them, slowly, to your mixing bowl as it incorporates the ingredients into the wet mixture.
- Next, stir in (by hand as the dough will begin to get stiff) the cereal, oats, coconut and cranberries till fully combined.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough into 1 inch balls and lay each on the parchment.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges just begin to become golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool briefly before transferring the cookies to a wire rack.
- Once fully cooled, store in an air-tight container.
These were the cookies I sent three other food bloggers for the “Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap” of 2012. Albeit a bit stressful trying to get cookies shipped out (fyi, do NOT send cookies FedEx… oy. I’m pretty sure my cookies were rock hard by the time they reached their recipients. Sigh….), it was a blast both making my cookies and packaging three lovely boxes for my food blogger recipients.
Have you participated in a cookie swap (virtual or otherwise) this year? What did you make?
