Have you ever eaten something and thought, “This deserves to have it’s picture taken”? I am not ashamed to say that I took so.many.pictures. of these darn cookies! I love food photography anyway but these cookies are so good they needed a portrait session. And you really need to make a batch. Seriously.
True story. Do you know how there are some desserts that are just sacred and only get enjoyed on the very specialist of occasions? When I ate the first one of these cookies that is exactly what came to my mind. This is a cookie that is so tasty, so delicious that they should only be made for the very best celebrations. I gave one to my beloved and he had barely swallowed the first bite when he proclaimed that I should only make these cookies ever and all the time. The difference between male and female brains, I guess.
A little backstory…back in 1992 Family Circle magazine started the Presidential Cookie Bake Off as a response to Hillary Clinton making a remark many took to be snide and demeaning toward housewives and how, rather than pursuing her own career, she could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas. The backlash was hot and swift so the magazine put forth the idea of each of the potential first ladies submitting a cookie recipe for the general public to vote on which would be the favorite.
That year the Clinton chocolate chip oatmeal cookie won but in 2000 Laura Bush redeemed the Bush name with the Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies by a landslide. And oh my goodness, I totally understand why it is one of Tastes of Home’s most popular recipes ever.
They are sweet. Almost too sweet.
But they’re delicious.
They’re big. Almost too big.
But they’re delicious.
And lest you misunderstand me when I say “big” I mean BIG. (Insert your own everything is bigger in Texas joke here.) The recipe literally calls for a 1/4 cup of dough in each cookie. I measured the first one out and just could not bring myself to make them all that size.
It calls for three sticks of butter and the cookie has a lot in it too…oatmeal, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans which I left out to suit my people’s preferences. You would think that all of those things would be fighting for dominance but instead they work together in a perfect symphony of sweetness.
Did I mention that they have a delicious crispy edge but a chewy center?
And isn’t it just a delightful looking treat?
How could I have not taken pictures of them?
It also makes a ton of cookies! I stopped counting around seventy two I think so they’re perfect for all the summer backyard pool parties and cookouts.
Because they do make for fairly large cookies even with the amount halved baking moves a bit slower because you cook fewer cookies at a time. They also take a little longer to bake than your average cookie so it is a simple recipe but it does take some time. In case you were curious exactly how big they would be if I had kept to the original recipe and used a 1/4 cup of cookie dough I can tell you it was practically the size of my hand.
But did I mention how good they are?
Delicious actually.
Scrumptious really.
Head over to She Feeds Her Family for the recipe and make yourself a batch. I haven’t posted a recipe there since November (!) but this cookie definitely deserves to be the one that breaks the dry spell.
Marty Hadding Photography 
We’ll definitely have to check these out, as they look delicious! Thanks for sharing.
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You will not regret making them!
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