No Bake Cookies

Last week I headed home to spend some time with my folks. My mom and dad are retiring soon and will be moving to the Ohio area to be near the grandkids. No matter where my folks put down roots, it will always be home because that's where they are.

One of our 'homes' was in Louisiana. I moved my junior year of high school for Virginia. Before I digress, there were many experiences in Louisiana that still stand out in my mind. Between the food, the atmosphere, the music, and the friends, I can pick a pleasant memory anytime I want to take a trip down memory lane. Since this is blog is about food, I'll share a past time treasure with you.

A lady at our church, Ms. Barbara Blackwell, would make cookies for giving away. You could be having a rough day, been in an accident, had your heart broken, whatever, food always made it better. Ms. Barbara would give away brown lunch bags filled with her no bake cookies. Sometimes they would still be warm. These cookies were addicting. They wouldn't last the drive home in our family. When I think about Louisiana, these cookies come to mind.

Since I've been back from visiting my family last week, I'm cooking and baking foods that I remember eating or even turning my nose up at when I was younger. Most are Southern dinner dishes but I'm baking a few dessert dishes. I figured I would whip up a batch of no bake cookies because they are fast and easy to make and I can enjoy them with a glass of milk while I sit and enjoy the weather. I've played around with recipe to make Vegan no-bake cookies and even an gluten-free version. The sugar-free version is still being worked on.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane. Thank you Ms. Barbara for the recipe and for delicious bags of cookies when I needed them.

Ingredients:  1 stick butter (melted), .5 c cocoa powder, 3 c oats, .5 c peanut butter, 2 c sugar, .5 c milk, 1 tsp pure vanilla

Instructions:  (1) Melt butter in a medium sized cooking pan. Once melted, add cocoa sugar and milk and whisk til well-blended. Cook on the stove until bubbles form around the sides of the pan. (2) Remove from heat and add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla. Drop on to wax paper and let cool.

*I usually use a large ice cream scooper to drop uniform cookies on the paper and then will slightly press them down so the cookie doesn't cool raised.
*I've been known to also add coconut to my mixture for a chocolate coconut  cookie, which is quite delicious.