Ranger Cookies

I jumped on the mirrorless camera bandwagon almost 3 years ago and I finally decided it was time to take it off of auto mode and see what my camera could do.  It's not that I was unhappy about my photos - I was just super hesitant about turning the dial away from the little green rectangle.  Quite honestly, I have more faith in my camera to adjust all of my settings more than I do myself.  (After all, my camera doesn't need progressive lenses to properly focus.)  My camera can set the best white balance, shutter speed and aperture is less than a second - it takes me at least 4 minutes to accomplish the very same settings. 

My camera is very intuitive and it does a great job of picking just the right settings for each picture.   So why in the world would I ever want to override it and rely on  my own limited knowledge?  Honestly, most of the time I trust my camera more than myself, but there are a few times when I want to take my camera off of auto mode and choose my own settings.  It's taken me 3 years but I'm finally moving my camera off of auto mode - for brief periods of time. 

I'm still most comfortable letting my camera chose the best settings but after 10 hours of hands-on camera instruction, I apprehensively put myself in the drivers seat.  Let's face it, I'm not trying to be a professional photographer but I do want to take be able to capture really great pictures.  

The two waterfall pictures above were taken in the exact same spot but I adjusted the settings to create different effects.  I'm going to need a lot more practice to really master my camera but I'm having fun learning.  (Thank goodness we don't use film camera's anymore.)   Waterfalls, sunsets and indoor portraits - these are all things that I'm trying to get better at photographing. 

When I get frustrated, I go back to shooting what I know best --- food.  It never moves, I can put it in the lighting that I want and it never squints in the sun.  These ranger cookies are a photographers dream.  Capturing the dark brown chips, the flecks of coconut, the golden oats and the bits of cereal is easy compared to getting a natural smile from a 5 year old boy.    

Ranger Cookies
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
8 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rice crispy cereal
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, oats, coconut, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add egg and vanilla and beat. 

Add flour mixture until just combined. 

Add cereal and chocolate chips. 

Roll dough into 12 equal sized balls.  Flatten into disks and place on silpat lined baking sheet. 

Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.  

Allow to cool 5 minutes on silpat before removing.  

This cookie has all of my favorite things... oats, coconut, crispy rice and chocolate.  I just can't imagine a better combination.  I should rename these Amy's Cookies because they perfectly represent everything that I love in a cookie.  

Ciao!

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