No Bake Cookies and flashbacks to Elementary School

The boys' year round school tracks are starting up again.  Which means waking up at 5:30 to make sure all of us get out the door in time.  And it also means that mom gets a little more free time during the day.  So pluses and minuses all around.

Since Sawyer's now in school all day, it reminded me on when I was in the elementary school. Way back in the olden days, when I was in first grade, the school decided they'd create a cookbook as a fundraiser.  They asked all of the kids to bring in one of their favorite recipes.  Looking back, I would have expected a few families to participate, but the return rate was great.  The Twin Peaks cookbook they distributed had over 200 recipes with every type of recipe imaginable   Desserts, side dishes, appetizers, salads, main courses, ice cream, they were all in there.

My family adopted two for our own, a All Fools Chocolate Cake recipe and a basic no bake cookies recipe that mom would make with us all the time.  They were all sugar, chocolate and fat, so they're absolutely awesome.  I would have made them all the time, but the old cookbook disappeared a few years ago.  So now, I've had to reverse engineer the recipe to something I remember from 20+ years ago.

I think I've come pretty close to what they were, but even if they aren't identical, I can tell you these are absolutely delicious.  Once again, hard to go wrong with fat, sugar and chocolate.  But the entire cooking process takes about 10 minutes and the kids can do almost every step, as long as you watch them while they stir the pot.

I put oats and coconut in my version.  You could also add nuts if you'd like, or just use chunky peanut butter instead of creamy to add a little bit of crunch.

No Bake Cookies

1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups quick oats

In a large saucepan over medium heat, pour the milk and add the butter.  Allow the butter to completely melt.  Add the sugar and cocoa and stir until combined.  Allow it to cook until it boils.

Remove from the heat and add the peanut butter, vanilla and salt.  Mix it until all of the peanut butter melts.  Toss in the coconut and oats and stir until everything is coated with the chocolate mixture.

Lay out a couple of sheets of wax or parchment paper directly on your countertop.  Scoop out large spoonfuls onto the wax paper and flatten slightly.  Allow them to cool for 45 minutes to an hour so they solidify.