They are also sometimes referred to as Ranger Cookies, but the origins of these cookies actually trace back to politics! There was a cookie cook-off challenge in a Family Circle magazine issue in the early 1990s between Laura Bush when she was still a Governor's wife and Tipper Gore, and her u0022Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookieu0022 was a favorite that beat out Tipper's Ginger Snap Cookies. A second theory on why they are called Cowboy or Ranger Cookies is just that with so many ingredients mixed into the cookies, they're heartier which is something cowboys who are out working would be able to appreciate.