Sweet Surrender: The No-Bake Cookie

What do these pictures have in common?

The latest of my pregnancy cravings: oatmeal anything. I'll take the instant kind, or in the yummy granola I made a week or so ago, or my breakfast standby of steel-cut oats, or the oatmeal cookies that once filled my cookie jar -- as long as there are oats involved, I'm happy. It's a fairly healthy pregnancy craving (much better than my mad craving for Coca-Cola that I fought for months. Oh boy, why did I mention that? Mmmmm....Cherry Coke...), except when it comes to the recipe I made yesterday.

At my bridal shower years ago, my twin cousins gave me a cookbook that their elementary school had compiled for a fundraiser.  Those cousins have since graduated from high school and I'll admit, in all those years, I've only made one recipe out of that cookbook: no-bake cookies.

This recipe isn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination. To be honest, they don't even look that good. But I had to have them last night, so I figured I'd document the process and share the recipe with you. How does it fit on a frugal blog?  Ummmmm....you don't have to bake them. That saves energy, right? 

Okay then, on to the recipe!

No-Bake Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 cups oats

Mix sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly add peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.

It may look like glop, but it's tasty glop...

Spoon onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper or, better yet, a Silpat baking mat (they slide right off it when they're done). Let the cookies cool -- I usually stick them right into the fridge to expedite the process.

Once the cookies are firm, remove from the baking sheet and store in an airtight container. Like I said, they're not much to look at, but they're easy and tasty. A nice cure for a sweet tooth -- or a craving for oatmeal.