No Bake- Snow Day Cookies

So, due to the ice storm, we have been stuck up in the Perry House for over 2 days now..... and looking for activities. I was so desperate for activities, that I even let them play with play-dough for the first time. Actually, they had a blast and were really good about keeping it on the art table. So, I thought making cookies would be fun. I was looking for a recipe that did not require eggs (safe to lick the bowl), one that they could "roll" the dough like play-dough, and that only required ingredients that we already have in the house. Oh, and of course I would love to throw a few healthy ingredients for my picky trio.

So, I did a little web surfing and adapted this recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker.

No Bake Chocolate, Peanut-Butter- and Oats cookies-

½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats

1. Add the first four ingredients (through the cocoa powder) to a 4-quart saucepan

2. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.

5. Once this cools a bit and can be handled by toddlers drop by spoonful onto wax paper (we were out of wax paper, so I just put them on a cookie sheet).

6. Let toddlers lick the bowl. No eggs in here, so no worry about them eating it.

7. Last, let your cookies set. I explained to baby B that we needed to let the cookies rest before we can eat them. So, he waved to them and said nigh night cookies- so cute.
They should set in about an hour, but you can put them in the fridge if you NEED them sooner.

Enjoy.