Do you remember eating no-bake cookies as a kid? I sure do. My brothers and I routinely begged my mother to let us make cookies. She usually indulged us by agreeing to make no-bake cookies. No chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies—just no-bake cookies. She was busy raising three kids and running her own business, so I can’t blame her for wanting to minimize mess and baking time.
Granted, we were in for a treat every time we gathered around the stove to watch the cocoa, butter and peanut butter boil. Since childhood, I’ve tried various homemade versions and they tend to disappoint. They’re either too dry or bland for my more mature taste buds. I pulled out my favorite old recipe from The Muffin Lady
First off, I almost doubled the amount of cocoa powder so the cookies are sufficiently rich. I also wanted to add espresso powder to intensify the flavor of the chocolate, but I couldn’t find any at local stores. I had a packet of Starbucks VIA instant coffee, so I poured that in at the end. Eureka! I substituted turbinado sugar, a less refined sugar, for a more moist cookie with better flavor. And for texture, I chose extra thick rolled oats instead of the instant variety. End result? A grown-up, decadent no-bake cookie, ready to eat in less than twenty minutes flat.
- 2 cups turbinado sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 package Starbucks Columbia VIA
- Pour sugar, milk, cocoa and butter in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and quickly mix in the rest of the ingredients.
- Drop spoonfuls on wax paper or parchment paper.
- Adapted from The Muffin Lady
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- Yields 24-30 cookies.
How do you feel about no-bake cookies? What were your favorite cookies as a kid?
12 Comments
Ha! I’ve been thinking about making no-bake cookies for about a week now so clearly this is a sign that I need to stop thinking and start making!
I love the addition of the coffee- yum!
yes! i get so obsessed with these. oh and confession? i often mix them up and eat them straight out of the bowl. bad fat girl!
Yes!
Imagine… a big scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with warm no-bake cookie mix. Like WOAH.
I love no bake anything because I tend to mess up sweets once they go in the oven. I made some no bake chocolate peanut butter bars on my blog and they were so easy and delish. As a kid it was good ol chocolate chip (especially the dough). Yours look so pretty and that glass of milk really ties it all together!
I’ve never had no bake cookies but these look absolutely yummy (and I don’t even like peanut butter)! Perfect with a tall glass of milk! My favorite cookies growing up were these Chrusciki’s and Anise Biscotti my grandma would make around the holidays. Thanks for sharing Kate! These photos are beautiful :)
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omg, my mouth is seriously watering. those looks and sound so good. i loved eating cookie dough as a kid but never had real no-bake cookies…
http://adorablydeliciouslp.blogspot.com/
i’ve always wanted to try no-bake cookies… hmm with these looking so yummy – i may have to!
I love a good no-bake cookie! I love a big spoonful right when they’re done, so it’s all warm and practically melts in your mouth! Yummy. What a great idea adding espresso powder – I have never seen anyone do that in this type of cookie. Sounds great.
I replace the peanut butter with almond butter and
I replace half the butter with coconut oil.
Very Good
I just made these tonight for a dinner party. I feel that mine turned out much more chocolatey than pictured! Also, the coffee was a bit strong.
Great reception, though. I was crunched for time, so these were perfect.
Thanks Kate. : )
Thanks for the coffee idea. I actually searched “coffee no bakes” to make sure someone else had tried this, in case it was a no-go, LOL… I trusted your judgment, and they turned out to be delicious! :-)
Glad to hear it, Colin! Coffee and chocolate are always a good combination, if you ask me. :)
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