NO-bake COOKies

What to do on a dreary day.....make cookies of course! Chocolate No Bake Drop cookies are quick and so easy my ten year old son can make them! The fact that oatmeal is on the ingredient list makes me feel like these are "healthy" cookies therefore I can partake of many. Unfortunately, because of my skewed sense of nutrition, my mid section looks like a no bake cookie these days only in the blond version. Now with that picture in your mind, I am sure your appetite is at it's peak to make cookies.....in the words of my eight year old "sow-wee".

No Bake Cookies

printable recipe

1 stick butter cut into cubes

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) or Nutella

3 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup chopped nuts optional

Add butter, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and milk to saucepan.

There's my boy, his wife is gonna thank me someday. Over medium heat bring ingredients to a boil, stirring continuously. Cook for one minute, making sure that all the butter is completely melted, and then remove from heat. Should be smooth and fudgy.

Now you need to choose sides....Nutella or Peanut Butter. Traditionally no-bake cookies are made with peanut butter, but because of this families unusual bent towards ALL things Nutella, I add Nutella on occasion. It makes them decadent and rich....oooh so good.

Pick your poison!

Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup Peanut Butter or Nutella using spatula stir until smooth. I've found that the Nutella needs a bit more elbow grease to get a smooth consistency, but it's worth it!

Add 3 cups of oatmeal. Any type of oatmeal will do (other than instant). I use old fashioned Quaker Oats.

Stir until chocolate has completely covered the oatmeal.

Drop by the spoonful onto waxed or parchment paper. Allow 30 minutes to cool and let cookies set up fully.

I wanted to show you two different scenarios. As you see the top pictured cookie is softer and is not as set up as the bottom pictured cookie. This comes from the initial cooking of the fudge, the second batch I cooked the fudge a bit longer and they set up faster. The taste wasn't any different, but the texture was not quite as creamy and soft as the first batch. They all were eaten just the same, apparently I was the only one that noted the difference. I just wanted to share it with you. However the second firmer batch did photograph better, so go figure!


NOTE: These cookies are EXTREMELY addicting. If you are able to wait the 30 minutes for them to set up and cool before you actually eat one,then well....I just don't know what to say other than.....that's odd.

I would tell you that these are great for your kiddos lunchboxes, but ours rarely ever last till the next day.

Enjoy!