The best cookies ever (seriously!)

Sleep was eluding me tonight, so I decided to bake up a batch of my favorite cookies. These are my go-to cookies for just about everything. They’re the perfect gift for kids’ teachers on the last day of school or snack day for your kids’ sports teams, if you can keep your kids out of them long enough to pack them up. I cannot take credit for these, the recipe came from my dear, dear friend Jamie, who lives way too far away for my liking, and baking these cookies always takes me back to sitting on her uber-comfy couch, drinking a glass of wine (or three) and flip-flopping between giggly girl talk and heartfelt, insightful conversation about the state of the world. I’m not sure where the original recipe came from, but that person goes on my list of people to thank along with whoever invented pasta, wine and cheese.

Ranger cookies are nothing fancy, but they're just downright yummy! Another bonus is that you can mix and match ingredients to replace the chocolate and peanut butter chips. I've never had a combination that didn't turn out delicious. A few of my favorites:
Dried cranberries and white chocolate chips
Pecans and dark chocolate chips (German chocolate cake, anyone?)
Sea salt and caramel candies

A couple of years ago, when I had leftover Halloween candy, I even chopped up Twix, Kit-Kats, Snickers, Milky Ways, MnM's and Mounds bars and mixed them into the batter. The fact that I do not gain 50 pounds that week is due only to excellent genetics, and nothing to do with self-control.

Now, let's get down to cooking these babies. The bowl to my mixer was otherwise engaged, so I made them by hand tonight. I can't remember the last time I creamed butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, but like most culinary endeavors, it was therapeutic to skip the shortcuts and put some elbow grease into it.

The recipe is much like your basic cookie dough, don't ask me why they turn out as good as they do, but there's magic in there somewhere..
Butter and sugar, mmmmmm....

Cream until well combined. (I was so distracted by the yumminess, I forgot an "after" shot...

And of course...

 
You can use 1 egg for chewier cookies or 2 eggs for a cakier cookie - I go for the chewier version every time.
Once you've got your egg and vanilla in,  just dump in the rest. You could mix the dry ingredients separately like in most dough and batter recipes, but this one's rustic to begin with and turns out great either way...

 
It might seem a little dry at first, but if you keep working it, it comes together. Using a stand mixer helps bring it together quicker, but a couple minutes of good stirring does the trick too.

Spoon large spoonfuls (or 1 1/2 inch cookie scoops) onto sheet pans lined in parchment.

Bake at 375 for 8 - 10 minutes. I like them almost raw in the middle, so I always opt for 8 minutes exactly, but you can adjust the cooking time to fit your tastes.

 
Try not to eat all of the cookies yourself. Save some for the kids' teachers. They deserve them.

Aunt Jamie's Ranger Cookies

Makes about two dozen

1/2 c butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt (leave out if you used salted butter)
1 c old fashioned oats
1 1/3 c coconut
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
1/2 c peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1. Cream butter and sugars until well incorporated with a wooden spoon or in a mixer with paddle attachment.

2. Beat in egg and vanilla

3. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined

4. Spoon in heaping tablespoonfuls (I use a 1 1/2 in. ice cream scoop) onto ungreased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet.

5. Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges, but still gooey in the middle.