You Asked For It: Cowboy Cookies

By Ellen Folkman, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Ellen Folkman | Special to the Times

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I would like some recipes for after-school treats. Thank you.

Beverly Powell, Odessa

Crystal Beach resident Sarah Stork shares a recipe for cowboy cookies that are delicious with an ice-cold glass of milk. They pack a texture explosion with the chewiness of oatmeal and coconut and the crunch of nuts and chocolate chunks. After combining all the ingredients, Sarah says you can refrigerate the dough up to 3 days.

I used a 2-inch scoop to gather the dough for the baking sheet and it worked just fine, even though Sarah's recipe calls for a smaller utensil. If you use the smaller scoop you will get more cookies. I did bake them for the maximum time. These are large cookies and they spread a bit so don't put them too close on the baking sheet. For the chocolate chunks, I used the packaged Nestle chunks rather than cutting up chocolate. I'd recommend coarsely chopping the nuts, too, for better distribution. Pecan halves are large, which means some cookies have many, and some have few. I liked the big cookies because you need a lot of dough to hold all the add-ins, especially with the size of the chocolate chunks. Store them for three to four days covered tightly . . . if they last that long.

Recipe request

Bob Runge of Safety Harbor would like to know how Carrabba's makes its iced tea. He's wondering if it is brewed or a mix. Any Carrabba's folks willing to shed some light?

Recipes tested by Times correspondent Ellen Folkman unless otherwise noted. Send requests to You Asked For It, P.O. Box 1159, Crystal Beach, FL 34681 or e-mail youaskedforit@ tampabay.rr.com. Include your name, city and phone number.

>>MODERATE

Cowboy Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

6 ounces semisweet chunks, cut into ¼-inch chunks or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

¾ cups pecan halves, roughly chopped

½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats, chocolate, pecans and coconut until combined.

Using a 1 ½-inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart.

Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown and center is set, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Source: Sarah Stork, Crystal Beach

[Last modified: Jan 17, 2012 03:30 AM]