These Crispy Ranger Cookies with White Chocolate are a dream come true. Sweet and tender with the crunch you get from the crispy rice cereal, you will have a hard time resisting these beauties!
I discovered Ranger Cookies when I was in my 20s and working at a bank. One of our branches was in a grocery store, directly above the bakery. You guessed it, we all were drooling at the incredible aromas wafting up to us. I’m sure their sales went up considerably thanks to our purchases, LOL.
One of my favorites that the bakery made were their crispy ranger cookies and I’ve been dreaming of them ever since. Today I am fulfilling this dream and enjoying every single bite!
Ranger cookies get their crunch from crispy rice cereal, but before you reach for Rice Krispies, know that they are not gluten-free. If you are gluten-free you will need to find a safe version. I like Nature’s Path Crispy Rice cereal or 365 Brown Rice Crisps (from Whole Foods)**.
Another ingredient you may not be used to using is desiccated coconut which is unsweetened coconut that is typically dried and ground. It is the perfect way to help manage the sweetness and moisture content of your baked goods. Do not substitute regular sweetened coconut if the recipe calls for desiccated!
It seems that the original recipe for crispy ranger cookies was first published in Better Homes and Gardens in 1934. But other tales suggest they originated in the American West during the years after the Civil War. We will probably never know for sure, but we are grateful to whomever came up with the combination and shared it with all of us!
Today I added white chocolate chips to the cookie dough. They add a little creaminess and their unique sweet flavor. I love them but you can leave them out if you prefer. If you can’t find mini white chocolate chips (Whole Foods carries them), you can use regular size chips which weigh 170 grams per cup.
Other alterations you can make is to add dried fruits or chopped nuts. You really can customize these cookies to suit your personal tastes and preferences. It is a very forgiving recipe.
I love using a cookie scoop to portion out the dough. It keeps my hands clean and give me evenly sized balls that bake at the same rate. Plus it is really quick! IMHO they are worth the small investment and I have several sizes for different projects. For this recipe I used a #60, about 2 teaspoons of dough which gives you perfect 2-inch cookies.
Give these Crispy Ranger Cookies with White Chocolate a try and they will become a family favorite. Your littles will love them and you can pass down another tradition to the next generation!
If you try this recipe, let me know! Please leave a star rating in the recipe card, comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it @theheritagecook on Instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day and I love hearing from you!
Ingredients needed for Crispy Ranger Cookies with White Chocolate:
- Butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, flour/GF flour blend*,
- baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, mini white chocolate
- chips, crispy rice cereal**, old-fashioned oats, coconut
PRO Tip:
Using a cookie scoop speeds up the process of portioning the dough. It keeps your hands clean, gives you equally-sized balls of dough, and helps the cookies all bake at the same rate. They aren’t expensive and I have them in several sizes depending on the project I am working on. Today I used a #60 scoop for these cookies.
How to make Crispy Ranger Cookies with White Chocolate:
- Cream the butter with both sugars in a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add the eggs and mix until blended lightly.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add these dry ingredients plus the vanilla to the creamed butter and sugars, mixing until well blended. Mix in the white chocolate chips, rice cereal, oatmeal, and coconut until evenly distributed.
- Refrigerate the covered dough for 30 minutes.
- Drop dough onto parchment or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet pans. Bake in a preheated 375°F (191°C) oven for 8 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the pans for a minute before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.
PRO Tip:
Using mini white chocolate chips helps them melt a little in the cookies while they bake and adds creaminess and their unique flavor to the final product. If you can’t find mini chips, you can use regular size white chocolate chips (170g per cup).
Recommended Tools (affiliate links; no extra cost to you):
- Kitchen scale
- Baking sheet pans
- Parchment or Silicone baking mats
- Stand mixer (strongly recommend using this equipment)
- Cookie scoop
Gluten-Free Tips:
*You can adjust any baking recipe to gluten-free by using 120 grams per cup of my favorite gluten-free flour blend. If you are using another brand of gluten-free flour, whisk the mix, spoon it lightly into a measuring cup until mounded, level off the top with the back of a knife, and weigh the flour left in the cup. Use that weight as your standard per cup of that specific flour. Do this for each flour blend you use. Commercial blends such as Pamela’s All-Purpose Artisan Blend, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, or King Arthur Measure for Measure are all good choices.
** Be sure to use a gluten-free cereal in these cookies. Standard Rice Krispies contain gluten and are not gluten-free! I like Whole Food’s 395 brand or Nature’s Path Crispy Rice Cereal as alternatives.
***Another potential “got-cha” is the oatmeal. Be sure it is certified gluten-free. Bob’s Red Mill sells GF oats online and in grocery stores.
You will get the best results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients, especially when you are baking.
All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.
Crispy Ranger Cookies with White Chocolate (GF)
These Crispy White Chocolate Ranger Cookies are a dream come true. Sweet and tender with the crunch you get from the crispy rice cereal, you will have a hard time resisting these beauties!
Ingredients
- 13 tbsp (1/2 cup + 1/3 cup; 189g) butter, softened to cool room temperature (or you can use 5 tbsp vegetable shortening and 8 tbsp butter)
- 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (213g) firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs (100g)
- 2-1/2 cups (300g*) gluten-free 1-for-1 flour blend*, or all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 cup (177g) mini white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (28g) crispy rice cereal** (such as Nature’s Path for gluten-free)
- 1 cup (89g) gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats***
- 1/2 cup (43g) desiccated (unsweetened) coconut
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together until combined and smooth. Add the eggs and beat until creamy.
- Whisk together the flour*, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients plus the vanilla to the creamed mixture, slowly mixing until well blended. Mix in the white chocolate chips, rice cereal, oatmeal, and coconut until evenly distributed.
- Refrigerate the covered dough for about 30 minutes to give it time to fully absorb the liquids. This is especially important if you are using gluten-free flour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
- Drop by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared pans, at least 1-1/2 inches (4 cm) apart. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes. Let them rest on the pans 1 minute before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling.
Recipe found at www.theheritagecook.com
Notes
*You can adjust any recipe to gluten-free by using 120 grams per cup of my favorite gluten-free flour blend. If you are using another brand of gluten-free flour, whisk the mix, spoon it lightly into a measuring cup without a spout until mounded, level off the top with the back of a knife, and weigh the flour left in the cup. Use that weight as your standard per cup of that specific flour. Do this for each flour blend you use. Commercial blends such as Pamela's, Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1, or King Arthur Measure for Measure are all good choices.
** If you are gluten-free, be sure to use a gluten-free cereal in these cookies. Standard Rice Krispies contain gluten and are not safe. I like Nature’s Path Crispy Rice Cereal as an alternative.
***Another potential “gotcha” is the oatmeal. Be sure it is certified gluten-free. Bob’s Red Mill sells GF oats online and in grocery stores.
You will get the best results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients, especially when you are baking.
All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to
consume.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
60Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 34Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 56mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
The nutritional information for recipes on this site is calculated by online tools and is merely an estimate. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.
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