No-bake cookies are my childhood in one recipe. Every Sunday afternoon, I would walk over to our neighbor’s house and make this classic recipe. Loaded with oats, chocolate and peanut butter, they are pretty much a candy but we love them!
As a momma to six kiddos, every Tuesday I am sharing my tips, recipes and anecdotes related to bringing out every kid’s culinary potential.
See all the posts in this series: Kids in the Kitchen
The first cookie recipe my older kids ever learned to make were the classic no-bake cookie….which really isn’t even a cookie at all but a great chocolate and peanut butter candy that has some whole oats mixed in 🙂
Last week when my 10 year old was learning to make a batch of these classic gems, she forgot to add the second cup of sugar. They turned out…..interesting. The texture was so chewy, but not in a good way. She kept apologizing for messing it up, but I pointed out to her that by the next day, they were still all gone. Not much stands between us and a sweet treat of some type.
This week, my cute girl gave this classic recipe another try and had wonderful success…which left her feeling so proud and ready for the next recipe challenge!
Kids in the Kitchen Secret #9 – Even recipe failures can be learning and teaching opportunities as your kids learn to cook.
When your kids mess up, and they will, just use that recipe mistake as a way to help them plan out how to fix it next time! Don’t let them become discouraged because they may not want to try their hand at cooking or baking again. Have some good laughs and move on!
PrintClassic No Bake Cookies
- Yield: 40 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 2 C sugar
- 1/2 C milk
- 2 T baking cocoa
- 1/2 C butter
- 1/2 C peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2 C oats
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, mix and bring to a boil the sugar, milk, cocoa and butter. Once the mixture has come to a full boil across the whole surface, reduce the heat to medium high and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Mix to combine. Add the oats and mix well so all the oats are evenly coated in the mixture. Scoop by heaping tablespoon onto some wax or parchment paper. Cool completely before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 184
- Sugar: 21g
- Sodium: 22mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 12mg
Misty Rogers says
I put the sugar, cocoa, salt in a quart size zip lock baggie and have some on hand for quick mixing. I mix them up with just a little air get all clumps out, then I let the air out, great for storage. Great for last minute snacks.
Love that idea Misty! Thanks so much for sharing with me -Carole
Nahla says
Thank you for this recipe. It looks simple yet delicious. I have one question, my kids are allergic to peanuts, so what can we substitute the peanut butter with? I really would like to try this one for school snack. Thanks again.
Hey Nahla! I would suggest any other nut butter that your kids don’t have a problem with. It will work find.
Nahla says
Umm, this is the problem. We are allergic to nuts, eggs and dairy products, so I have limited options. Thanks again 🙂
Cathy Frederick says
Nahla, in our house we do not use peanut butter at all, just cocoa. It works great and my kids and grandkids have always loved them. We just use 1/2 cup cocoa and then no peanut butter. We also just use 3 cups of oats. I hope this helps.