Santa Clarita City Councilman Cameron Smyth said his family’s connection to the Ranger Cookies recipe goes back decades — his mother, Sue Smyth, picked it up from the L.A. Unified School District cookbook in`the ‘60s, he said.
“My mom was a teacher at the time,” Smyth recalled, and then, considering the source of the recipe a sign of the times, added “which again, if you think back, it’s a reminder of how different things were 60 years ago.”
And for the Smyths: “It’s been a staple ever since.”
The recipe is a fairly easy-to-learn one, he said, and part of the fun has been watching his 8-year-old daughter learn it with his grandmother.
“It’s fun to see my kids and my nephews have the same connection to those cookies that my brother and I did growing up,” he said, “So we know that that recipe will carry on for a couple more generations.”
The recipe
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup coconut
2 cups Rice Krispies
Cream margarine with the sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda (salt optional), and add to sugar mixture. Add oatmeal and coconut and lastly, the Rice Krispies. You can add 2-3 tbsp. of milk for a moister cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes.
