Bonnie Donaldson’s Ranger Cookies

For the past week, I’ve been going through old issues of Gourmet and tearing out recipes with nice pictures. My collection of old Gourmet magazines spans six years, which makes me uncomfortable since I’m an anti-packrat. It’s time to say goodbye. Besides, I can pull the recipes off Epicurious.

I can’t pull the photos, though. And one of the first ones I ripped out was of a big, fat, oaty looking cookie called “Bonnie Donaldson’s Rangers“. The recipe is 6 years old and it appeared in the letters to Gourmet section. The letter Bonnie wrote is included on the link. I took it as being somewhat tongue-in-cheek and written with humor. Let’s hope it was meant that way. Wish I could say the same for all the reviews.

As for pictures, mine are similar to Bonnie’s, but a little browner and not quite as high. I didn’t make any of those major changes suggested by the reviewers (cutting sugar, for instance), but followed Bonnie’s directions, which one reviewer pointed out is the recipe on the bag of Durkee coconut. I did make some small changes. Bonnie’s recipe only calls for 1/2 teaspoon salt. Considering the proportions of salty to unsalty ingredients, I upped the salt to a generous 3/4 teaspoon. I also added about a cup of chopped, toasted pecans and used a chopped up 3.5 oz dark chocolate Lindt Excellence bar instead of milk chocolate chips. I should have used more chocolate. The cookies were good, but not the best ranger type cookies ever. The texture was great — crunchy edges, tender inside, but the flavor was a little lacking, even with the added salt. Again, more chocolate…..or maybe coconut that’s been toasted??

The other Ranger recipe on Epicurious is Nancy Baggett’s (whose recipe I love). I’m definitely going to try that one next.