When I was a kid, one of my favorite treats was chocolate oatmeal cookies. My dad was usually the cook when it came to desserts, but this recipe was easy enough for my mom to make.  Recently I looked through their 3-ring binder filled with delicious recipes. I made these no-bake cookies and they were every bit as tasty as I remembered.

While I was writing up this recipe, I googled chocolate oatmeal cookies and found lots of recipes with the same ingredients. Several of the recipes recommended quick oats instead of old-fashioned. Oops! I briefly wondered if quick oats had not been invented when I was a kid. Nope. Quaker Oats introduced Quick Oats in 1922, way before my time.  Not only had I used old-fashioned oatmeal, I used chunky peanut butter, another no-no. My conscience wouldn’t permit me to post this without trying it their way.  I made a special trip to the grocery store for quick oatmeal.

I’m happy to report that both had that wonderful chocolate-peanut-butter flavor I love, but I had a slight preference for the texture of old-fashioned oats. Maybe that’s because that’s the way my mom made them. Most of the people I shared them with also preferred the old-fashioned oats. (In the photo above, the ones made with old-fashioned oats are on the left.)

If aren’t making these to share with friends and family and you don’t need 44 cookies tempting you, this is a recipe than can easily be cut in half. You can also freeze any extras.

Active time:  20 minutes                 Total time:  50 minutes

Specialized One-Butt Kitchen Utensils

• Parchment Paper or Wax Paper
• 2 Cookie Sheets or enough space for the cookies to sit undisturbed on a countertop for 30 minutes.

Serves:  40 to 44 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups oats (old-fashioned or quick)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup milk (or almond milk)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Use two cookie sheets or lay out enough parchment paper or wax paper for about 40 cookies on a countertop.  The cookies will need to set undisturbed for about 30 minutes while they cool.

Set aside the measured oats in a bowl, put the peanut butter in a measuring cup, and have the vanilla ready to go.

Mix together sugar, cocoa, milk, salt, and butter in a saucepan.   Turn heat to medium-high and stir until dissolved. When it come to a rolling boil, let it cook for another minute, stirring often.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peanut butter until smooth, and then mix in the oatmeal.

(Work quickly at this point. Out of the five batches I made testing this recipe, one of them had a grainy texture. I think it was because I was too slow in getting the cookies out of the pan onto the paper. The cookies still tasted great, but they didn’t have the same look.)

Drop spoonfuls of the hot mixture on the prepared parchment or waxed paper. (I used teaspoons from my flatware. Use soup spoons if you want bigger cookies.) Let set at room temperature for about 30 minutes.