Officially named The Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookie, these are chewy, Texas-sized oatmeal cookies stuffed with nuts, coconut and chocolate chips, enhanced with a hint of cinnamon.
This is the recipe submitted by Laura Bush when Family Circle magazine ran a bake-off between the wives of the 2000 presidential nominees. The competition that year was Tipper Gore’s Ginger Snaps. Although that is also a fine recipe, Mrs. Bush was declared the national winner with the following:
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 large 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
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl. In 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool.
For 6 dozen (72) smaller cookies, use 2 tablespoons dough for each. Bake at 350 F for 15 to 18 minutes.
This makes a huge recipe, and some complaints have been that it doesn’t all fit in your typical home stand mixer. If that is the case, try making 2/3 of the recipe. Here are the measurements for a batch that your typical stand mixer can handle:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1-1/3 cup sweetened flake coconut
1-1/3 cups chopped pecans
Notes
- Photo by Rex Roof under Creative Commons license.
- Here is a great article on the history of the First Lady (now, First Spouse) cookie poll. Sadly, the tradition ended with the closing of Family Circle magazine at the end of 2019, so we don’t have any First Spouse cookie recipes since the 2016 election.
