Family Favorites #2 - No Bake Chocolate Cookies

The first time I tried this recipe I was a very little girl and remember making these with my great grandpa Anglin. As a child, I found something special about dropping them on wax paper and waiting for them to harden up. This recipe makes your kitchen smell like chocolate and peanut butter. Is there any better combination???

The Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup peanut butter
6 Tbsp cocoa (dutch process is best, but Hershey's is fine, too)

Step 1: Get the dry ingredients ready to roll. Measure out the oatmeal, cocoa, and peanut butter and set aside, because as soon as you finish step 2, you will need to add these in quickly.

Step 2: Bring sugar, butter, milk, & vanilla to a boil in a large pot and set the timer to make sure it boils wildly for at least one full minute. I usually have to turn the stove almost all the way up to High! Careful, this mixture climbs up the pot (similar to liquid helium for you chemistry/physics buffs...like in this You Tube video here for you non-chemistry types: Video)...easy to overboil. Be sure to constantly stir, you don't want the sugar to burn.

This is the "wild boil" that I refer to:

Step 3: Turn off the heat. Add the peanut butter first to make sure it has enough heat to melt down...kitchen is smelling really good about now, yum! Add the oats & cocoa...stir.

It should look like this:

Step 4: Lay out wax paper on the counter and drop the cookies by the spoonful. Let them sit for a few hours. You will know when they are done, because you will be able to pick them up without them falling apart. Be sure to try the hot batter...it almost tastes better than the cookies!!!

Quick & easy peasy...great fun to make with kids...can't wait to make these with Addison :-)
Yum-O!