Ranger Cookies "baked" in a pan on the stove
Our apartment gets so hot during the summer, that I have to think long and hard before I decide to turn on the oven and make it worse. If I decide to use the oven, I organize myself days in advance so that I’m baking 2 or 3 dishes at once.
Recently, I had an idea. What if I “baked” cookies in my cast-iron frying pan, on the stove? I wouldn’t have to turn on the oven!
I was so excited that I tried the experiment right away, and it worked!!! It worked so well, I was shocked. First, I made up some Ranger Cookie batter using this recipe (although almost any cookie recipe would work)…
Ranger Cookies
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted (or half butter, half yogurt or applesauce)
1 cup sugar (I really like rapadura or sucanat, or you can use brown sugar)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (or whole wheat spelt flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried, shredded coconut
1 cup nuts/raisins/dried fruit/chocolate chips — your choice, or a combo!
In a large, shallow pan (I used my cast-iron frying pan), melt a pat of butter and spread around the bottom so that the cookies won’t stick.
Coat the pan with butter
Turn your burner on low heat. (My burner goes up to 10, so I turned it to about 2, or a little less.) While the pan is heating, mix butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine both mixtures, and then stir in oats, coconut, and [nuts].
Spoon some batter into the pan, and cover.
Spoon cookie batter into the pan
Cover the pan
Cook for approx. 4 to 5 minutes, before flipping them over with a spatula. You’ll know when it’s time to turn the cookies over when they start smelling good, little bubbles appear on the surface (like pancakes), when you can slide your spatula underneath without them breaking apart, and when the bottoms are golden brown.
Flip the cookies over with a spatula
Cover the pan again, and cook the cookies for another 4 to 5 minutes (approx.) on the other side, until that side is also golden brown.
These cookies have been flipped, and are cooking on the other side
Voila! Pan cookies! When they’re done to your liking, transfer the cookies to a plate or cooling rack, and spoon more batter into the pan. (There’s no need to re-butter the pan.)
What a GREAT idea! I want to try it today, which is a hot one, and I think I’ll use a cup of zucchini in place of the coconut, to work on using up my 5-lb. zucchini. Thanks for that good idea!
I LOVE the idea of using zucchini in place of the coconut! Now that’s the spirit! 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!
They turned out DELICIOUS!! I will definitely make them again. And I liked the stovetop method better than the cookie-sheets-in-the-oven method. Thanks for that new idea!
Thanks for this recipe. I’m preparing for the hurricane…..anticipate losing power but will probably be able to cook on my gas stove top. These will be something fun to make with the kids. 🙂
Hi Cyndie,
I hope the hurricane gives your home a miss!!
Best of luck to you, & enjoy the pan cookies!
Lindsey
This could be perfect for me at my little railway caboose on the coast of Newfoundland (google “Caboose at the Cape”)! Space is at a premium and I have limited solar power, so I have no oven, but my young cabin neighbours love cookies! I’m going to try it for sure – many thanks!
Lindsey
I have just found this site, I LOVE IT. But I noticed that no one has posted since May 20,2012. Is there a reason? Well maybe I can get things moving, I am going to try many of the things here. We live on a very limited income and I am going try these things to help save us money. Thank You again.
Thank you.I have wanted to try this but was afraid of ruining the ingredients.I am working with little extra money and the thought of losing that much butter sugar was too much.Now that I see it can be successfully done I will cook some myself.