Recipes

[dancingwoman]

Today I tried a new recipe...DH said fantastic!!

Do a search for Taste of Home Laura Bush’s Cowboy Cookies...

It makes a lot of BIG cookies...I froze half...I was able to fit 6 per sheet pan...DW

[ID2]

Can you put the recipe here?

[Nightowlz]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like they are really huge cookies.

The ingredients are measured by weight not measuring cups etc.

Laura Bush’s Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups sweetened flake coconut
• 2 cups chopped pecans

At first glance, I could tell this was going to be a hefty cookie. First of all, it calls for 3 STICKS of butter. THREE! Second of all, there’s a total of 10 cups of mix-ins—chocolate chips, oats, coconut flakes and pecans. Holy smokes! I better go work with a cowboy for a day before eating one of these big guys. Good thing I have a hungry husband who loves my baking.

First things first, I got the butter out of the fridge so it had enough time to soften. This is a very important step, so don’t skip it! Here’s how to soften your butter quickly.

While the butter softened, I prepped all of my ingredients. In the cooking industry, this is called mise en place, and I highly recommend doing it. It’s more work upfront, but then it’s smooth sailing. I mixed the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Instead of using measuring cups, I measured by weight. This gives a more accurate measure of the ingredients. Here’s a handy conversion chart that I printed out and stuck on my fridge.

Once the butter was softened, I beat it for one minute. Then, I added the sugars, and beat for another two minutes. Next, I added the eggs, beating after each one, and then the vanilla. Once the wet ingredients were mixed, I gradually added the flour mixture. Finally, I mixed in the goodies—chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.

At this point, the upcoming task was a little daunting. There was a mound of dough in the bowl and each batch bakes for 17-20 minutes at 350º. That’s a lot longer than the standard 10-12 minutes! Plus, these are oversized cookies (1/4 cup of dough per cookie), so I could only baked 4 cookies on a pan.

Thank you, Mrs. Bush! I give these cookies a 10/10. I thought 10 cups was a lot of mix-ins, but it turned out to be the perfect amount. The cookies were humongous (because everything’s bigger in Texas, right?), and each bite had a little bit of everything. The crisp edges melted in your mouth, and the coconut and chocolate flavors paired well with the crunch of the pecans. As one of my co-workers who’s a self-proclaimed cookie critic said, “I have high standards for cookies, and I loved these!” The votes are in: Our staff loved Laura Bush’s Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies!

[Nightowlz]

@dancingwoman 

Did you use 1/4 dough per cookie to make the large cookies?

It says to cook 17-20 mins. Did it take that long?

How many cookies did you end up with?

Now I'm getting hungry. Need to eat breakfast or lunch. LOL!!!

[dancingwoman]

@Nightowlz Thanks...I was cleaning up the kitchen and was gonna post the recipe when I finished..Thanks for going through the trouble of posting it...😀

It makes a bunch...they are like a granola cookie...I bet you can make them smaller but you’d be baking all day...next time I may freeze half of the dough and not bake the whole recipe...DW

[ValuSkr]

I was okay until I got to the last three ingredients:  rolled oats, flaked coconut, and pecans.  I don't care for any of them, especially in cookies.

[dancingwoman]

@Nightowlz Yes to the 1/4 Cup and yes to time...I’ll have to count the cookies as I put some in the freezer and rest in the cookie jar...I’ll get back...DW

[Nightowlz]

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@dancingwoman wrote:

@Nightowlz Thanks...I was cleaning up the kitchen and was gonna post the recipe when I finished..Thanks for going through the trouble of posting it...😀

It makes a bunch...they are like a granola cookie...I bet you can make them smaller but you’d be baking all day...next time I may freeze half of the dough and not bake the whole recipe...DW

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@dancingwoman 

Your Welcome. I just had to see the recipe.

That's what I was wondering. How long are you in the kitchen baking ccokies for 17-20 mins per batch?

Did you use a scale to weigh your ingredients? I have a good one so not a problem for me.

[Kachina624]

• This is a very old recipe.  I remember seeing it long before I ever heard of Laura Bush.  Not inexpensive to make.

[dancingwoman]

@Nightowlz I was in the kitchen a long time...got up early to bake while it was cool out...I have a really good scale too but I just used measuring cups...

@Kachina624 I never have seen this recipe b4...was just cruising the internet for something different...and yes the ingredients are costly ...but..it makes a humongous amount...they should last DH a while..lol...DW