Growing up, rangers were my favorite drop cookie. They have a crunchy outside and tender inside with a nice coconut flavor. This updated recipe is dairy free, egg free and has less sugar than the original. The bulk of the cookie is a flake-y cereal and with the appropriate substitutions it should be possible to make these gluten free as well.
Before we moved overseas, I scanned a ton of recipes to “the cloud” and my favorite Ranger recipe was one of them. This was my mother’s recipe. It’s so old Crisco was an ingredient in the original.
When I started baking Rangers on my own, I used butter instead. I also preferred to use almond flavoring over vanilla. (Coconut and almond…yum!) Here’s a copy of the ingredient list I used:
Now, of course I wasn’t able to find Wheaties in Spain. However, I bought a good tasting wheat and rice flaked cereal. It’s not as bold tasting as the Wheaties but there were no complaints about the end result.
Here’s the part where I need to make a confession: I didn’t set out to make vegan rangers
It turns out that in all my running around to find the “right” cereal I forgot to purchase butter and didn’t realize my error until Sunday when all the stores are closed. *sad face*
No worries…there was coconut oil in the cabinet. Since the original recipe used Crisco I was fairly confident it would be a great substitute.
And since we use flaxseed meal in smoothies, I figured why not give a flax egg a try? I’ve used this substitution method before in recipes where the egg functions as a binder. (Vegan Baking dot net has a good discussion of flaxseed egg replacers if you’re interested).
So far my forays into vegan baking have been of this type, mostly cookies or bars with either a flax egg or banana as the binder. I’m happy to share the results with you.
The first batch turned out great, but it was too sweet. Due to the sweetness, for the second batch I used 1/3 cup each of brown and white sugar and increased the vanilla to a full teaspoon. The end result was still sweet, but not overly so, with a great coconut flavor.
As drop cookies, these guys aren’t going to win any beauty contests, that’s for sure, but they have all the personality you could want in a cookie.
Rangers are crunchy, not too sweet and loaded with coconutty flavor. The only people I know who don’t like them don’t care for coconut. Not to mention they’re not fussy to make, either. You’ll have 24 to 30 cookies cooling in about 40 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) OR 1 egg
- 8 tablespoons coconut oil (105 grams) OR 1 stick butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (73 grams) (I used light brown sugar)
- 1/3 cup white sugar (67 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (5 ml)
- 1 cup flour (125 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (1.25 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (2 grams)
- 2 cups flakey wheat cereal or similar type (50 grams)
- 1/2 cup grated coconut (46 grams) unsweetened if possible
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Prep two baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix the water and flax seed meal together and allow to stand while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
- Measure the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a small bowl and mix together.
- Measure the cereal and coconut into another bowl.
- Use a mixer or heavy spoon to cream the flax egg, sugars, vanilla and coconut oil until smooth.
- Beat in the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
- As you add the cereal crush it slightly with your hands.
- Stir in the coconut. At this point I use my hands to make sure everything is mixed well.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, leaving a little space between the cookies. Pat them into a round for a crisper cookie, leave in a mound for a more tender one.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Turn the sheet at the halfway mark if your oven heats unevenly.
- Remove the baking paper together with the cookies to cool. Cover and store.
- They’ll keep for up to a week and get harder as they get older.
Nutrition
Converting measurements when baking
For this recipe I took the time to convert the ingredient levels to metric measurements. I think it illustrates the difficulties of converting values directly.
Take the values for the butter, coconut oil and the grated coconut. The cereal weighs almost the same as the coconut at four times the volume. And while the volume for both the grated coconut and the oil is 1/2 cup, the oil weighs twice as much.
You need to keep these considerations in mind when converting recipes, especially in baking where the correct ratio is often critical. Google is your friend here. Use a search phrase like “1/2 cup grated coconut in grams” and you’ll get a more precise result.
Ranger recipes seem to have a load of variations. Have you tried any of them? Have you been able to convert a favorite recipe to reflect a different eating style? Which favorite holiday treats would be missed if you didn’t make them? Have you ever converted a recipe from one system to another? Tell me about it in the comments.
More vegan baking recipes:
Good to see this make a reappearance! Such a great, classic cookie. Thanks!
Ooh Lydia these look like the perfect summer holiday baking project for the kids and I. Easy and delicious, my fave!
Thanks for sharing!
They cook quickly, too so you won’t have to heat up your kitchen 🙂
i’ve never had Ranger cookies … but I’ve never met a cookie that i didn’t like! great tips on converting recipe measurements too.
i work with old recipes often and convert them to more modern tastes. I much prefer the butter option to Crisco
Those old church cookbooks are fun for that sort of thing.
I love finding old recipes we used when I was a kid – always makes me smile! These sound delicious!!
I’ve never heard of Rangers either, but they sound good, especially when made with coconut oil.
It’s not Christmas without them for our family. Now my daughter is making them, too. 🙂 Love it!
I’ve never heard of Rangers cookies — they look so tasty and fun! How smart of you to take an old favorite and update it 🙂
Thanks! We enjoy them every year 🙂
This is what I call an “old but goodie.” Love a family favorite and bonus that it has coconut in the recipe. One of my favorite ingredients.
Coconut is a favorite for me, too.
Time for me to try something new. Never made these before and they sound fantastic ! Gotta try it !
I am looking for more bakes to make with the kiddoes this xmas so will add these to the list.
These are a good choice for baking with children. Thanks!
I haven’t had a Ranger for years! Love this update. Havaen’t tried baking with coconut oil (yet) but really like the idea. Terrific cookie — thanks!
So far I haven’t noticed much difference from butter, but as mentioned in the post, I’ve only used coconut oil as a simple substitute in baking. Rick doesn’t care for the taste so I don’t use it much in regular cooking unless it’s a curry or something similar.
coconut cookies? a dozen for me, please! thanks for the lovely recipe!
Enjoy! 🙂
Wow, I can’t believe that I have never made Ranger Cookies, I am pinning this one for later! They look delicious!
Thanks for pinning, Sara. I hope you get a chance to make them. 🙂
I have never heard of a Rangers cookie but you had me at coconut! Yum! These sound so yummy with a hot cup of tea! On my to make list for sure!!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have, Nellie. Thanks!
I’ve never heard of Rangers before – maybe they’re called something else where I’m from, but they sure sounds tasty! I’m a South Paw, too! 😉
It wouldn’t surprise me if they had a different name, Tracy. Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Perfect! Absolutely perfect timing! We just found out my dearest has serious issues with cholesterol and heart disease, but unfortunately, he also has a sweet tooth. These cookies should satisfy his sweet tooth but also be good for him – especially if I use the coconut oil! His doctor wants his diet to be as close to plant-based as possible with low quantities of sugar. Thanks so much for this recipe! Merry Christmas!
Vickie, I highly recommend Dr Fuhrman’s Eat To Live approach. It’s not difficult to stick with once you get the hang of it and allows for small amounts of animal based foods. It’s really cool the doctor recommended a dietary approach. Best wished moving forward!