No-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 

No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. Sounds unassuming, right? Maybe even sounds a touch healthy. But these little gems just melt in your mouth and taste absolutely amazing. I'm not even sure where I got the recipe. Many moons ago, I got a similar recipe from my high school English teacher who had made something she called boiled cookies. It is a very similar recipe, but just slightly different. Here's the card I filled out at least 30 years ago... and this one has definitely survived the test of time. If you've never tried them, you'll want to hurry to the store for the ingredients, because they are so worth it!

2 cups sugar (400 grams)
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa
4 ounces evaporated milk (1/2 cup)
4 ounces unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (180 grams)

3 cups oatmeal

I rarely ever make a single batch of these cookies, so you will see that my measurements look rather large. I made a quadruple batch in these photos.

In a pot large enough for your ingredients, combine the sugar, cocoa, butter, and evaporated milk and turn heat to medium-high. 

While that begins to heat up, measure out the vanilla, peanut butter, and oats to ensure a smooth and swift mixing process. You will also want to lay out parchment paper on several baking sheets or your counter. I normally just use the kitchen counter.

Bring the cocoa mixture to a roiling boil, stirring frequently. Not a light bubbling boil, but you want the mixture twisting and turning and bubbling everywhere. 

Add the vanilla and peanut butter and stir until smooth and creamy and you no longer see ribbons of peanut butter.

Stir in the oats and ensure they are disbursed throughout the mixture evenly.

Use a cookie scoop to make your cookies consistent and evenly sized. The scoop also makes it easier to get through the mixture before it cools and hardens. And you will want to move quickly. Once the mixture cools, you're just going to get crumbs - not cookies.

Let the cookies cool at least 30 minutes before trying to move them. Once you're able to pick them up, store the cookies, minus what you eat while packing them, in a sealed container. These will last for a couple of weeks if stored properly.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

Chocolate cake with chocolate chips topped with chocolate icing... could this possibly ever be wrong??? No, it isn't, and I assure you, you're going to want to try this cake. It's so moist and chocolatey and delicious. It has oatmeal in it which is part of what keeps this cake so moist. And this icing is amazing. I've never made an icing like this, and it's definitely one to keep in the arsenal for future use. I found this recipe on Pinterest titled: The World's Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cake.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten with fork

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour or spray with baking spray a 9x13 pan. Put oats in large bowl and add boiling water. Add butter and let sit for 20 minutes until butter is melted. Stir until combined.

Add brown sugar and stir until blended.

Add sugar and stir until combined.

Add eggs and vanilla and stir until combined.

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Sift into other ingredients. Stir just until combined.

Stir in half the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips over cake.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the cake surface springs back lightly when touched. 

Icing

6 Tbsps butter
6 Tbsps cream
1½ cups sugar

1/2 tsp espresso powder
1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 to 3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Melt the butter, sugar and cream in a medium saucepan.

Add the espresso power and mix until combined.

Bring to a boil and boil for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low and add the chocolate and stir until melted.

Add the marshmallows and whisk until icing is smooth.

Pour icing over cooled cake.

Allow icing to cool and harden, and then enjoy!

Oatmeal Cake

What is oatmeal cake, you ask? One of the best desserts you will every try. It is moist and tender with this amazing flavor. I don't know who originally created the cake. My recipe came to me via my mother who got it from my paternal grandmother. The recipe is handwritten out in the old style of recipes. I love it. I don't have too many recipes from my grandmother. As a matter of fact, I think this is the only one. I also have two or three quilts that she made, but that's a different topic. Back to the cake...

This cake really is delicious. There's a little butter and oatmeal, and the usual cast of cake characters. But instead of icing, this cake is topped with butter, sugar, condensed milk, vanilla, pecans and coconut. You will love this cake; I promise. Check it out!

1 cup oats 
1 1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup self rising flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour or spray with baking spray a 9x13x2 baking pan. Boil water; in a large bowl combine oats and water. Add to this 1/2 cup (1 stick) of margarine cut into small pieces. Stir and let rest for 20 minutes.

Add sugar and brown sugar, and stir until combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, and combine after each addition.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Sift dry ingredients into wet, and stir until combined.

Pour into pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While cake is baking, gather ingredients for the icing and begin making it. I think the topping is one of the best parts of this cake, so I make  1 1/2 servings of it.

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans
1 cup angel coconut

To begin with, I really love this topping. I think it's much better using one and a half or twice the original recipe. That being said, whichever amount you decide to make, in a large enough pot to accommodate the ingredients, combine the margarine, sugar and condensed milk. Bring to a slow boil and allow to thicken.

Once mixture has thickened, remove from heat and vanilla, pecans and coconut. Pour over cake while the cake is still warm.

Broil the cake in the oven until the topping is lightly toasted and golden brown. Watch it carefully; it can go from not toasted to very toasted very quickly... ask me how I know this. lol

Allow the cake to cool, cut yourself a slice, and enjoy!!!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I have become a cranberry convert this past year. I love cranberries. I also love oatmeal in cookies - oatmeal raisin, no bake chocolate oatmeal, etc. I also love white chocolate, and I've been fascinated with using cinnamon chips. Soooo... why don't we combine all of that together into a cookie? Can there be anything wrong with that? Well, I'm here to tell you that there is in fact nothing at all wrong with that. These cookies are freaking awesome! I start them the same as the old Quaker Oatmeal Raisin recipe, and then I take a hard left. 

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, heaping
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups dried sweetened cranberries
12 ounces white chocolate chips
6 ounces cinnamon chips (half a bag)

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla extract, and blend until combined.

Add flour mixture, and blend until incorporated. Mix in the oatmeal, cranberries, white chocolate chips, and cinnamon chips.

Heap by rounded teaspoon full, or medium cookie scoop if you have one, onto parchment lined cookie baking sheet.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9-12 minutes until cookies begin to turn golden brown. Cookies will continue to cook and set after being removed from the oven, so do not overcook. Allow cookies to rest on the pan for 3-5 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to completely cool.