I was sitting there in the kitchen, craving cookies. Nothing out of the norm . . . Suddenly the thought occurred to me, "what if I were to create a new kind of cookie? A trail mix cookie!". And so I did.
Sure, it's probably been done before. But not this good, I guarantee it . . . (not to brag . . . ). These cookies are fantastic! Ooey, gooey, chocolately, sweet and salty goodness all in one little cookie . . . or big cookie . . . depending on how serious you take your cookie eating. I take mine very, very seriously.
So why the "Texas" part? Well, I guess I can't take all the credit for these cookies. I played off of a good old Texan recipe from former First Lady Laura Bush, and added my own twist to the ingredients. Here's the original recipe if you'd like that. They are fabulous just like that, I assure you.
But they're not trail mix cookies, and that's what we're going for here.
Every year as a girl my family went up into the mountains of California to camp. Those are some of the best memories I have of my childhood. These cookies make me think of those sunny days and cold nights up in the mountains. Sleeping in the bed of the old orange pickup truck. The smell of pine that tantalizes your nose. The feel of needles and leaves and twigs crunching beneath your feet. The taste of the fire-cooked pancakes and bacon. Fresh coffee. Swimming in clear mountain spring pools. Climbing rugged mountain rocks to look out over beautiful views that will literally take your breath away. Long chats and scary stories around the campfire. Toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. And trail mix. You gotta have trail mix to go camping. That is just a must, in my opinion.
Or you could just take a big batch of these cookies along . . . that would do too.
All right already, just make some. :)
(Sorry, once again, a lack of pictures. I did take one, though!)
Texas Trail Mix Cookies
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups toasted coconut flakes (just toast them in the
skillet until they're a nice golden color)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cups dry roasted peanuts (I used plain, but honey roasted
would be good too)
1 cup raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup cran-raisins
**Makes about 3-5 dozen cookies, depending on how big you
like them
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whisk flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon together in a
bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, blend softened butter and
both sugars until light and creamy. Add eggs in one at a time, blending well.
Mix in vanilla. Add the flour mixture slowly until incorporated. Then add the
mix-ins (oats, chips, raisins, nuts, coconut) slowly, until just combined. You
never want to overmix cookies or they get kind of tough.
Scoop balls of the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie
sheet (I do about 1/4 cup in size. We like our cookies a little larger around
here . . . ).
Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like the cookie.
Cool and enjoy with a big glass of milk! g on how crispy you like the cookie.
Cool and enjoy with a big glass of
milk!
