S'mores Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

So, I've been having a hankering for oatmeal no bake cookies lately. Those things are so addictive! With their butter, and their sugar, and their chocolate, and peanut butter!

Then there's the oatmeal, which makes your body think you're eating something healthy!

Quite the vicious combination!

So, in the past, I recall some trouble getting the recipe to work. I'd end up with a gelatinous mass, unwilling to solidify. I gave up on it for a while.

This time, when I could no longer resist the temptation, I went back to the recipe, word for word.

I have a tendency to tweak recipes.

Every. Single. Time.

I can't even remember what I did differently last time, but apparently I tweaked a bit too much, and then decided to give up.

So, this time, sticking directly to the recipe, I had success!

They turned out perfectly, and the family was oh so happy to eat them right up.

So, I made them again. The second time I doubled the recipe, and made them bigger. I also changed some of the ingredients (because I can't help myself).

With the usual ingredients, I used half white sugar, and half dark brown sugar, instead of all white.

I also added crushed graham crackers and Heath bits along with the oatmeal.

They had been s'moresified! They were amazing! Spectacular! Stupendous!

Majorly addicting!!!

So, of course, they went fast, and of course, I had to make them again. (With some more tweaks...which may not have worked as well...but still resulted in deliciousness.)

I thought I'd blog about my incredible discovery...

So, here it is...

S'mores Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

(Single recipe)

1 stick butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup dark brown, or brown sugar

4 tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups rolled oats (I use the 5 minute ones)

1/2 sleeve graham crackers, crushed lightly

1/2 package Heath Bar brickle bits

Melt the butter, sugars, cocoa and milk together in a saucepan on medium low heat.

Bring to a boil and let boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until well blended.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Drop by scoop or spoonful onto parchment paper.

The mix begins to set fairly quickly, so try to get them dropped in a timely manner. (You don't have to race, just don't waste time.)

Let cool and enjoy!

A Few of My Favorite Things: The Best Cobbler In the World

A few summers ago, probably more than a few, I made my first peach cobbler. I used a recipe I found in one of my favorite and trusted cookbooks. I went by the book, as I do every time I try a recipe for the first time. It turned out well, and was easier than I thought.

A while later, perhaps the next summer, someone had left some sugar cookie dough in the fridge at our cottage. My mother didn't know what to do with it, as she knew that no one who was there at the time would want to eat the cookies from a store bought dough (some of my fam are kind of baking snobs since I like to bake from scratch a lot). I thought a minute, and then came up with something kind of fun. I used it as a topping for a peach cobbler. (By now I was happy to adjust and tweak the recipe to my liking.) It was a hit! Even those who snub the store bought dough liked it!

So, I got to thinking...what other types of toppings could I use on a cobbler? And what else could I put in with peaches? At one point, I saw a recipe for blueberry/peach cobbler, and at some other point (they all have smooshed in my head at this time) I decided to use a recipe I received from my husband's grandmother for molasses cookies as a topping, and combined them into the most wonderful cobbler recipe in the world! I have been making it ever since, every time the peaches and blueberries are looking ever so beautiful in the markets!

Because I made this recipe up, I had to come up with approximate measurements for an actual recipe. Before that, I didn't really measure anything except for by sight. So, if anything sounds like it could use a little more, or a little less for your own liking, feel free to tweak it to your pleasure.

Here we go!

First I make the molasses cookie dough. You can use your favorite recipe here if you have one. This is mine from "Grandma B" (of course, I tweaked it a bit).

1 1/2 cups melted butter

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

Sift together:

4 tsp baking soda

4 cups flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Add sugar, molasses and eggs to melted butter, mix well. Add sifted ingredients to wet mixture, blending well. Chill for 1 hour (can be overnight as well).

These are perfectly delish on their own, and I use any extra dough I have to make cookies! Roll into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Bake @350 degrees for 10 mins. These never last past the day I make them!

Now onward to the cobbler!

I make this when the peaches and blueberries look like this! I can't resist! They are gorgeous! That's when I know it's time...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice 8 to 10 peaches (the ones in the picture were huge, so I used 8 of them). Wash up 2 pints of those little blue beauties, and put them in a large bowl with the peaches.

Add the following into the fruit:

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark, whatever you like)

1 tsp. cinnamon

2-3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp maple syrup

(I use both honey and syrup if they are on hand, otherwise use whichever one you have, and make it about 4-6 tbsp total.)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp flour (for thickening)

Butter the pans. Mix the fruit until all the ingredients are blended together. You'll know when the juices start to flow, as the sugar mixes into the fruit.

Pour the fruit into a 9" * 11" and about a 9" square pans. (So, yes, I make two pans for our large lake family.)

Next take the cookie dough from the fridge, and roll 2" balls. Flatten them into little patty shapes, and dip into sugar. Place each dough round on top of fruit, slightly overlapping each one on another.

Once covered completely with the dough, place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Keep an eye out for bubbly juices, that's when it's done. It may drip in your oven, this is good for the dish, meaning it's deliciously juicy, but you can place a tray or pan on a level under your dishes if this bothers you.

You can serve this dish warm or cold, but everyone in my family seems to prefer it warmed with ice cream and or whipped cream.

It's such a pretty dish, makes the whole house smell like a piece of heaven, and it's not going to break your calorie count, as it's mostly fruit, with a little cookie! (Of course, that's not counting what you might want to put on top of it!)

Every time I make this, I get compliments galore! I hope you do too! Of course, if this is too much for you, feel free to cut the recipe right in half, and enjoy it for a smaller gathering! We just never have that problem in the summer time!