Tuesday, March 11

No-Bake, No Good?

I love a bit of nostalgia. Although, by definition, it's a bittersweet feeling, and I've never really thought of it that way. I find it's usually happy and comforting. Like the No-Bake Cookie. For me, No-Bake Cookies mean melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey sugar and grade school classroom parties. Someone always brought them, right? (Maybe the bitter part of this nostalgia is being homesick for the no-big-worry lifestyle of a 3rd grader?) I remember really liking these cookies, but only eating them at parties or other peoples' houses.
When discussing this memory with my sister (after our world-affairs conversation, of course), I realized that for years we both harbored the same snooty secret about No-Bake Cookies. Since they are called No-Bake Cookies and our mom doesn't make them, they must be beneath us (at least when it comes to making them, but not necessarily when it comes to eating them). So, I never made this cookie until I married a man who liked them and came with his own hand-me-down recipe for them. (His recipe calls them Boiled Cookies, however, which for me conjures up really unappetizing images, so I stick to proclaiming what sounds like cookie 2nd-rated-ness with the title "No-Bake.")
Years later, I admit to having an appreciation for this cookie. It may be one of the fastest-making cookies ever, providing close to instant gratification. It has a fun sense of nostalgia. And it still has that distinct yumminess of chocolate-sugar. I do still wonder if it qualifies as a real cookie (are pastry chefs making these at home or sending them to school with their kids?), but feel more confident making them with my ever-so-slightly more healthy and contemporary ingredients: rolled oats and dark chocolate. That kicks things up a notch, right?
Anyway, I'm not ashamed to say I like them and I make them and, on top of that, I'm sharing the recipe.
(I apologize for my food-snobbery, which is completely unwarranted considering I have a very non-particular and undiscerning palate. Who knows where it comes from?)
Enjoy! And party like a 3rd-grader.

No-Bake Cookies
2 c sugar
1 stick margarine or butter
3 level Tbsp cocoa
1/2 c milk
3 Tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3/4 c coconut
2 c quick oats
3/4 c chopped pecans (optional)

Get all ingredients and wax paper ready before beginning.
Melt butter in large skillet. Take off heat and add sugar, cocoa, and milk. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly. When it reaches a full rolling boil, cook and stir for 1 and 1/2 minutes (do not overcook). Turn off heat. Add all at once-peanut butter, coconut, pecans, and oats. Mix thoroughly, making sure peanut butter is blended in. Spoon onto wax paper. Should firm up in 20-30 minutes.

7 comments:

  1. What a yummo recipe!!! I've never made no-bake biscuits before and am dying to give these ones a try... I just have one question... How much butter is in a stick of butter??? Is it 250grams??

    Jodie :)

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  2. I have never made no-bake cookies before. I think I suffer from the same food snobbery as you about cookies. But I will have to give these a try.

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  3. I think I have been the same way...my mom didn't make them either. So, I almost laugh when I do decide to make them...but I agree they are yummy for 3rd graders and non-3rd graders alike!! :-)

    And yes 1 stick of butter is about 250 grams or half a cup.

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  4. Thanks for checking out our fun recipes, even if they aren't gourmet!
    Jodie, 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup, or 8 Tbsp, or 113 grams.

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  5. We always called them fudge quickies... and they work well without the coconut and nuts too, just add more oats. Or change it all together and add raisins, pretzel bits, whatever. It's a really easy recipe. The next morning broken into pieces with milk over it becomes the BEST "oatmeal" to start your day. :-)

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  6. My family made the peanut butter variety, minus the chocolate and called them Peanut Butter no bakes. Growing up it seems as though only my brother made them (and he doesn't cook) and now, when my husband wants a treat and doesn't want to make me make something and there are no refrigerated cookie dough packs in the fridge, he whips up a batch of these. A friend makes your chocolate variety and calls them Gorilla Poop cookies... I can't bring myself to join in on that name. :)

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