Friday, October 10, 2008

I Want My Brain Back

I have had a craving for some of my childhood favorite no-bake cookies. When I decided to try and make a batch, I had no idea what kind of ordeal I was getting myself into. First I had to dig the recipe out of my old recipe box, which involved first finding my old recipe box, and then searching through 67 (yes, I counted) well used recipe cards from the dessert section of the box. Of course, I missed it the first time through the stack because while I refer to them as "no-bakes" the recipe card calls them "Chocolate Drop Cookies."





Ok. Recipe located. Now to gather ingredients. There's only seven of them so it should be simple enough. Margerine...check. Milk....got it. Cocoa...um...er...ok there it is. Vanilla...yep. Now sugar. Uh-oh, not enough in the canister. Better refill it. I drag out the big 5 gallon bucket that I keep my sugar in and refill my canister. Next on the ingredient list is peanut butter. Oops - used the rest of it to make my son's lunch this morning. No problem, I have more downstairs in my food storage. Last is the oats. Now I KNOW I have oats. They're here somewhere. I look through my pantry. Nope. Hm. Try downstairs again. I look and look. I move cans, jars, bottles, jugs, tubs - still cannot spot the oats. I come upstairs and look in the pantry again. At this point I wonder if I really do want these cookies. Yes, yes I do. So I go back downstairs, more determined than ever to find those oats. I decide to look again on the very bottom shelf. I move aside a few things then stand up - frustrated. As I stand there hands on hips, trying to remember where on earth I put the oats. I look in my left hand. Oh there they are. In my search for the stinkin' oats, I must have touched them at least 5 or 6 times. Where is my brain?




Chocolate Drop Cookies
(a.k.a. No-Bake Cookies or Gorilla Poop)

1/2 c. margarine
2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. quick oats

In a large sauce pan, bring margarine, sugar, milk & cocoa to a rolling boil. Boil for at least 2 minutes or the cookies will not set. For a drier, crumbly cookie boil for up to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter, vanilla and oats. Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper and let cool 1 hour.

8 comments:

Brielle said...

I hope they were worth it. Do you have to use margarine? We are strictly butter people--do you thin kthat would matter?

Andy said...

Oh man were they ever. My favorite part is licking the pot clean after scooping all of the cookies out.
I'm sure butter would be fine. I came across several similar recipes on allrecipes.com and some use butter.

Lee and Sharon said...

I think - I really think - this recipe is the one Cory got when he was in cub scouts. That's how really old it is Andy.

I love these too and you are making me really hungry. The real test is making sure you time these cookies "exactly" or they don't turn out. (speak from experience).

Cynthia said...

i make this recipe ALL the time in the summer with my kids. they can't burn the house down and our house stays nice and cool. mmm...

TerBear said...

Wow... these bring back good childhood memories. They served these yummy cookies every now and then at my elementary school. Hmmm.... that would be about 38 years ago not, that I'm actually counting! ;-)

Thanks for the recipe and the trip down memory lane!

Anonymous said...

We called these gorilla poop!

Andy said...

That's really funny, Eliza. I bet that's what they'll be called around here from now on. Ew.

Tina Butler said...

I am gonna try your recipe. I cant seem to get the one i have to work. The cookies dont set up. I a boiling the mixture for as long as it says. I will give this recipe a shot.