No Bake Cookies

No bake cookies don’t get enough respect.  Recipes for no bake cookies pop-up on Pinterest at Christmastime as a filler cookie because everyone is looking for an alternative cookie type to add to their trays.  Don’t get me wrong, I do the same thing at Christmas, but no bake cookies (or “no bakes” for short) have become a huge part of my regular routine for a few reasons:

1. You don’t have to bake them, which means no pre-heating the oven!  I’m on the go a lot and waiting for an oven to heat up, and then waiting for cookies to bake sometimes takes too long during the week.  Also, not turning on the oven in the warmer months is always a plus!

2. They are quick to make!  The total time to make these cookies from pulling the butter out from the fridge to eating the delicious treats is about 15 minutes – that’s not too bad for a homemade cookie.

3. They are made from household staples.  I really like these cookies because I don’t have to buy any weird ingredients only for these cookies.  We eat oatmeal for breakfast, always have sugar, vanilla and butter, and cocoa for our homemade Cincinnati Chili!  I don’t have to worry if I have an “odd” ingredient like cake flour in my cupboard!

I pack both my husband and my lunch’s every day and I started used no bakes as the dessert portion when I forgot to buy pre-packaged snacks one week.  Since we only go to the grocery store once a week and I knew that I had the ingredients for no bake cookies, I made a batch that Sunday night and had enough no bakes for the week (including few extra to munch on in the evening).  It was such a nice change, I now make no bake cookies each week!

If you have never made no bakes before, here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

½ cup milk

4 Tbs cocoa

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup peanut butter

2.5 cups oats

Mix butter, milk, cocoa and sugar in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes on high.  Stir and keep microwaving until melted and bubbly.  Microwave 3-5 more minutes, stir occasionally until lots of bubbles (roaring bubbles). 

Remove, quickly add peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. 

Stir completely.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. 

Let cool until set.  Enjoy!