Jennifer Garner and her mom share their cherished Cowboy Cookie recipe.The cookies feature pecans, candy-coated chocolates, oats and coconut.These large, colorful cookies would make a great addition to any holiday dessert spread.
We can’t get enough of Jennifer Garner’s #PretendCookingShow, a delightful segment the actor posts to her Instagram account that features her making some of her favorite recipes in real time. Garner’s mom, Patricia, often appears on her daughter’s social media, helping teach followers to make cherished Garner family recipes like Chicken Enchiladas and Strawberry Chiffon Pie.
It’s no surprise that Patricia has impressive baking skills during the holiday season. Recently, she appeared on Garner’s Instagram to share one of her family’s beloved cookie recipes, and it’s perfect for the holidays. “Mom cooked and baked everything and, around the holidays, [she] would make a certain kind of cookie,” Garner explains in the #PretendCookingShow clip.
“I called them Chock-Full Cookies,” adds Patricia. “Jennifer calls them Cowboy Cookies.”
Jen says she started using the cowboy moniker because of how absolutely jam-packed with flavor and goodies these cookies are. “Cowboys could have them out on the range,” explains Garner, “and have a whole meal out of one cookie.” That makes sense, especially since the ingredients list is full of hearty items like pecans, candy-coated chocolates and shredded coconut.
Want to try Cowboy Cookies in your own kitchen? Use the recipe from Simply Swanky, who Garner credits in her caption. You’ll need some classic baking ingredients, including unsalted butter, sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, old-fashioned oats, pecans, chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolates (like M&Ms) and some shredded coconut.
Preheat your oven to 350°F and beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and oats. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined, then fold in the “fun goodies” (the pecans, chocolate chips, candies and coconut). Scoop the dough by ¼ cup onto an ungreased baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, then let the cookies cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
Garner and her mom mix their cookies with a stand mixer, but they also note many differences between how they baked when she was growing up compared to now. Of note, Patricia never softened her butter before baking, used a hand mixer exclusively and scooped the cookie dough onto baking sheets using two spoons, not an ice cream scoop like her daughter.
However you mix and bake these gorgeous cookies, they’re perfect for the season. “They look great,” says Patricia as the first batch comes out of the oven. “They’re colorful, they look good for the holidays.”
Another highlight of this #PretendCookingShow episode is Garner’s sensible reason for keeping these sweet treats in your kitchen all holiday season long. “Now, it’s easy to have so many sweets at the holidays,” she says, “but if you have some Cowboy Cookies, that’ll give you a treat and something hearty.”
And since these cookies pack in lots of nuts and oats, she’s got a point. We’ll be adding these meal-in-a-cookie treats to our holiday baking lists right away.
Dining and Cooking