No Bake Cookies for Valentine's Day

Link: http://www.cookinonpatricklane.com/

I remember making these easy little no bake chocolate cookies a lot when I was a teenager. There's just one trick; you have to make sure that the sugar mixture boils hard for at least one minute, otherwise the cookies will be sugary instead of creamy. You can add other ingredients to this basic recipe. Substitute 1 cup of flaked coconut for 1 cup of the oatmeal. Add some chopped peanuts to the recipe for crunch. Or add some milk chocolate chips after the mixture has cooled slightly.

Follow up:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Cooling time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies
Ingredients:

* 2 cups sugar
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup cocoa
* pinch salt
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup peanut butter
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

Preparation:
In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down sides of pan. Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape. Let cool completely; store tightly covered at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.