Chocolate No Bake Cookies
Grandma's Fickelscherer's sister, Great Aunt Freda's hand written cookbook contains a recipe for No-Bake Cookies that is almost exactly the same as the recipes below. Her recipe calls for boiling the chocolate mixture for 15 minutes in a double boiler, though, before adding the peanut butter and oatmeal. Her recipe also omits the coconut in the ingredient list, but says you might like to add nuts, coconut, or raisins along with the oatmeal.
For a Nutella No-Bake, see Jane's recipe below.
Mom's No-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup evaporated milk
4 Tbsp. cocoa
2 cups pure cane sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut
Bring the margarine, evaporated milk, cocoa and sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan; it needs to be a boil that you cannot stir down. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly [temperature should be 230º F]. Quickly, stir in the peanut butter, then the oatmeal and coconut [off heat].
Immediately drop by teaspoon on waxed paper to harden.
Note: We have had trouble with the cookies hardening in the past and Susan noticed that "cheap sugar" tends to be especially problematic. Christel says to use pure cane sugar. If you use beet sugar, the cookies will not harden. "Cheap sugar" is often made from beets.
+Jane's Chocolate No Bake Cookies
Nutella No-Bakes: I found a recipe that is exactly like Jane's, that uses Nutella, a hazelnut flavored chocolate spread, in place of the peanut butter - same measurement.
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
5 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Put margarine, sugar, and milk in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil
for 1 minute, while stirring. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop
by teaspoon onto waxed paper. Let cool.
*Note: 1/2 cup coconut may also be added with the oatmeal and peanut butter.
