An old favorite

I am posting my first recipe! This is quite a monumental event for me, so consider yourself covered in virtual confetti and kisses.

I've decided to share my recipe for Cinnamon-Chocolate No-Bake Cookies. These are a staple in our house, and have been since I was a newlywed. They're easy, quick, delicious, semi-healthy as far as cookies go, and the best part: they don't heat up your kitchen!

My recipe was adapted from one that was in our YW's cookbook, compiled when I was about 14-years old. Ahhhh, nothing truly compares to a ward cookbook from the 80's. I don't think some of the dishes are even legal anymore, what with all the trans fats et al! heh heh I'm sure that ward cookbooks compiled within the last 15 years or so are quite different, since many of the recipes would come from Baby Boomers rather than their predecessors. However, I digress.... I tweaked the measurements and added the cinnamon, which I think enhances the chocolate and oatmeal very nicely.

Onward with my recipe. I have followed each quantity with my own preparation tips. In other words, you don't have to get all technical and obsessive about the ingredients. Just relax and throw them together, and you can't go wrong. That's the beauty of this cookie - the less effort, the better the result.

Cinnamon-Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
In a pot, melt the following:

1/4 c butter (half a stick)
1 3/4 c sugar (two not-quite-full cups)
1/4 c cocoa (three heaping wooden spoonfuls)
1/8 t cinnamon (two good shakes from the bottle)
1/2 milk (pour and count, "1-2")

Bring to a low boil (bubbles around the edges, while the middle looks like the mud pots in Rotorua). Immediately add

1 t vanilla extract (pour straight from the bottle and say, "Blop!")
1/2 c peanut butter (2 swoops around the pb jar with a wooden spoon)

Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until the pb has melted. It will look very glossy. Finally, add

~2 c WHOLE oats (pour in two or three amounts to be sure that you don't have too much or too little. Too much = dry, flaky cookies. Too little = cookies that won't hold their shape.

Drop the hot mixture onto wax paper or foil. One of our family's favorite features about this cookie is its characteristic oval shape - made from being dropped by a wooden spoon.

Cool and enjoy! (Best when consumed with very cold milk.)