No-bakes

Call them cookies, gorilla poops, or a waste of good ingredients (to each their own, Grandpa B!), these gooey messes of chocolate are near and dear to my heart. Around our little Hoyt household, we simply call them no-bakes, because, quite honestly, they never make it to the "cookie" stage. Pete and I have whittled the recipe down to a perfect 2 servings---1/4 pinch of salt and all---and we simply mix 'em up and sit on the couch eating them out of the pan, with spoons. I associate these cookies with Peter because I don't think I've eaten them alone since being married. They go great with with pajamas, either laughter or tears, and always good chats.

I once calculated the cals on these things, but I'll save you from that information. My advice: use low-fat milk and reduced fat peanut butter if you like, but don't lighten up anything else. I've found if you focus on the gobs of oats you dump in, rather than all the sugar and fat, you can almost convince yourself that these are heart-healthy. Goodluck :)

No-bakes for Two
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 pinch of salt (whatever that is)
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
3/4 cup oats

Mix first four ingredients over medium heat in saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. Mix in oats. Ingest. (Or you can drop them by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let them sit for a bit).