Cheep Eats & Sweets: Mom's No Bake Cookies

As a newborn photographer, I work on commission. And as such, I occasionally get paychecks that aren't quite what I'd like them to be. We always get by okay, but as my checks pay primarily for groceries, there are times when I need to get a little creative in meal planning to stretch the budget. I also tend to procrastinate going to the grocery store as long as possible, waiting until most of our basics (milk, eggs, bread, etc.) are gone. The one problem with this is that, considering I'm 8 months pregnant, the cravings for sugar and chocolate just do not go away. So last week I was looking for a recipe that would satisfy this baby's sweet tooth and not require eggs. Yes, I know I can substitute applesauce for eggs in many recipes but it always tastes "diet" to me, and these cravings aren't going to be touched by anything diet-y.

I had no-bake cookies on my mind. My sister loves these, and I figured they'd give me my chocolate fix. Since they're no-bake, I assumed they'd not require eggs. The last time I made these the recipe wasn't so great, so I tried a new one. This recipe comes from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook, which is a line of cookbooks with home-cooked type meals. Simple, hearty food that mom would make. The recipe is so simple and takes only a few minutes, plus cooling time.

In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, margarine, and milk on medium heat. The recipe says stir constantly until sugar is melted by I snuck away quickly here and there to grab the next ingredients. I turned the heat off just as the mixture started to bubble.

Stir in your vanilla and peanut butter. The residual heat will melt the peanut butter quite nicely. By the way, I never measured the peanut butter. I just plopped it in till it seemed about 1/4 c.

And stir in your oatmeal. The recipe calls for quick-cooking, I had the old fashioned kind. Overall it didn't seem to matter. Next time I buy oats I'll try the quick cooking and see if that improves anything but bottom line is, use what you have on hand. It's definitely not a thick batter. Use your cookie scoop to drop onto parchment paper. You'll get 15 cookies with a scoop, 16 if you don't help yourself to a spoonful. Or two.

Then pop these babies into your fridge till they are cooled. They will harden a bit and be delicious little morsels of chocolatey goodness. My husband commented that they were the best no-bake cookies he'd ever had. And the baby was just happy to have a little chocolate in her!!

Here's the recipe, modified a bit.

Mom's No Bake Cookies

1 c. sugar

2 T. baking cocoa

1/4 c. margarine

1/4 c. milk

1 t. vanilla

1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

1 3/4 c. oatmeal, uncooked

(or 1 1/2 c. oatmeal and 1/4 c. wheat germ)

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cocoa, margarine, and milk; stir frequently until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add vanilla and peanut butter; stir until peanut butter is melted. Add oatmeal; combine until oatmeal is well coated. Use a cookie scoop to drop onto parchment paper and cool in fridge. Makes 15-16 cookies.