Thanksgiving Countdown...Day 3 1/2

Ride em cowgirl!

Cowgirl Cookies that is!

 

My sister, aka as DumbBlondies, comes home from college for Thanksgiving break next week and I am so happy she's coming home to help me out with the baking!

 

She was a little mad at me this week because I didn't give her the credit she deserved for helping me last year, mom was traveling with her television series PressureCook at the time and wasn't around much before the big day.  And as you saw from my earlier post, we made an enormous amount.  So Brittney, this posts for you!

Come home soon,  cowgirl!

Ok, Brittney's not a cowgirl but a couple summers ago my sister went on a shoot with my mom to Wyoming and got to meet some real cowboys.  This is her with Jeremy Sparks, a real life bullfighter!

Mom had just gone on shoots to Iceland, Belize and Mexico and was planning a trip to Italy and the Czech Republic, but Wyoming was where she took Brittney...Now, my sister wasn't super thrilled to go on this location...after all what is in Wyoming anyway.

But she was pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was and...

she got to go to a real live rodeo,

 

 eat lots at a pancake breakfast...

 

 work on a ranch as a production assistant...

and film at cook-off on a chuck wagon.

What does this have to do with baking and thanksgiving...well, this months cookie recipe of the month in Martha Stewart's Living Magazine is the Cowboy Cookie and as soon as I saw it, I thought of my sister and her trip to Wyoming and how much she would love this recipe!

So these cookies are for you Britty, see you soon and 

hope you like the cookies I named after you;

The Cowgirl Cookie!

This is a shot of all the ingredients you will need, wow, it was a lot but well worth it.  These are a hearty, filling and satisfying cookies thatwill be perfect for her to take back to college!

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup pecans (3 ounces) ..If you are not a huge nut fan,  give these a rough chop so the nuts aren't so big, which is what I did.
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant or quick-cooking)--I only have quick cooking oats and decided to use them and it was delicious.
  
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks  ..Brittney loves, loves chocolate so I cut a 4 ounce bar of semi-sweet chocolate and 3 ounces of milk chocolate chips! 
  
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut--this was not too easy to find, ever store had sweetened, but finally, they were at shop right supermarket.
  
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

 

Spread pecans in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven, tossing occasionally, until darkened and fragrant, 10 to 13 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop. 

 

Into a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

  

 

With an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium-high speed, cream butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. 

 

 Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

 

 Beat in vanilla.

 

 With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats,

and chocolates,

pecans, and coconut until just combined.

Storage Notes:  Dough can be covered with plastic and refrigerated up to 3 days.   I baked some, but Brittney's not coming 'till next week, so I dropped them onto a cookie sheet, placed them in the freezer and when they were frozen, put them in a freezer bag...hope this works, fingers crossed.

Coat baking sheets with cooking spray; line with parchment, and spray parchment. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto prepared sheets, about 3 inches apart.

 

I made them very large, about 1/4 cup size and 6 to a baking sheet. 

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges of cookies begin to brown, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool 5 minutes.

I am planning on defrosting the cookies before baking them, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Hope you like your Cowgirl Cookies Brittney!

With love and cupcakes,
Cookteen