No-Bake Cookies or Peanut Butter-Chocolate Truffles with Oats

I have been making these things for years. I mean, literally years and years and years. For so long that I remember at one time not being able to reach all the ingredients because I was too short. For so long that I believe the original recipe might be from an introduction to cooking for young children, a book with plastic covers and a ring binding that I completely covered in batter stains during my formative years...who knows where it is now.

Anyways, the recipe has changed over the years to become a bit healthier and its title has grown too. Originally called "Easy No-Bake Cookies", a colleague recently renamed them "Peanut Butter-Chocolate Truffles with Oatmeal"- a longer but far superior name that befits this delicious sweet. It helps that these have got to be one of the easiest and yummiest creations around. If you like chocolate (and who doesn't?) and if you like peanut butter (I love peanut butter) and if you like chocolate and peanut butter together in a raw oatmeal cookie-dough-truffle type extravaganza that can be made in half an hour, you will love these. Make them today!

Pictures will be forth-coming, but who needs pictures when you can make them now and see what they look like yourself?

Easy Peanut Butter-Chocolate Truffles with Oatmeal
(formerly no-bake cookies)

Makes about 32 small truffles, 135 calories each without optional add-ins.

1 cup peanut butter (you can use crunchy or creamy, your choice, but don't use one with added sugar, I promise that there will be enough as is!)

1 cup sugar (I use organic raw sugar, but white or brown will work)

1/2 cup skim milk

1/4 cup high quality cocoa powder (you can up this to 1/2 cup for a more chocolaty flavour)

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups instant oatmeal

Optional add-ins:

There are a lot of things you can add to these-you might want to try:

Procedure:

  1. Heat the peanut butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until everything is melted, stirring as needed. Stir all ingredients together until blended and take off the stove. (If you really want the easy way out you can even microwave this in a deep bowl for several minutes, stirring every minute, until melted and blended).
  2. Mix in the oatmeal and vanilla, stirring until ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Now is the time to dump in your add-ins if you have any. The dough will be stiff yet sticky. Put the saucepan in the fridge (or freezer for even faster results) and give it about 20-30 minutes to harden further.
  3. Using a small tablespoon, take spoonfuls of the mixture, roll into golf-ball sized spheres and place on a cookie sheet lined wax paper or a silpat. Keep cool in the refrigerator until serving. These are incredibly more-ish (a term coined by my family to describe anything you always want more of), so watch out!

My next plan for these is to dip them in melted chocolate to add an extra layer of yumminess-but frankly they are delicious as-is, which is why I haven't bothered so far.

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