Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

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Utah has been a wonderful experience for me. It has been just what I needed. And, if I can swing it, I would like to move out here. But, that’s stuff to think through later as I begin negotiations. :) In the meantime, those of us in the house here are on a mission to eat well, live well. Part of this eating well (for me) has been omitting caffeine. No Diet Coke, no Coffee. Phew! That has been a challenge.

Eating-wise, this next one isn’t an issue for me because I don’t eat a lot of bread. Baking-wise? Ugh! What am I talking about? Butter. There is not a stick of butter in this house. Since my home kitchen is more of a baker’s kitchen than a family “use to cook meals” kitchen, I have 5 lbs. of unsalted butter in my refrigerator at any given time. The only evidence of something like butter in the Utah house is I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter spray. (I think I just heard Paula Deen shriek!)

Nonetheless, you can take the girl out of the kitchen, but you can’t take the kitchen out of the girl. I have been dying because my baking has virtually come to a halt over the last two weeks. I am living vicariously by checking blogs and with Just Baking. I did manage to sneak in Vegan cupcakes for Father’s Day, but that’s it. I had to get in there again. Thank goodness for Adam’s girls and for Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies.

“Adam? Can I make the girls cookies?”
“Sure, but I will have to taste test them.”

Woohoo! No problem. I was off to market. I was going to buy butter!

There I was…walking down the aisle in Draper’s Walmart’s Neighborhood Market when I noticed….wait…didn’t notice my typical Land O’ Lakes boxes. Butter. Where’s the butter? There was Smart Balance, there was I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter, and there was Country Crock. WTF, people? Further proof, other than the zillion cyclists, runners, gym crowds, that this area is filled with health conscious people. So, I caved. I bought the I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter Light tub.

I had my doubts. But, I must admit that there wasn’t too much of a difference with the end product. There is the part where I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter is salted, whereas the recipe called for unsalted. No biggy, though. And, the Natural Peanut butter worked well, too! Next time, I may dunk the whole cube in chocolate and pretend they're peanut butter cups.

Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
a (slightly adapted) Martha Stewart Recipe
Makes 40

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup Adam’s Creamy Natural Peanut Butter
1 ½ cups nonfat dry milk
4 tablespoons I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup (about 2 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread oatmeal in an ungreased baking pan, and toast until it is lightly browned, about 11 minutes, shaking once. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter and nonfat dry milk. Stir in toasted oatmeal, and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in honey. Pour the butter mixture over the peanut-butter mixture, and stir until well combined. Allow to cool slightly.

Shape into about forty logs, each about 2 1/2 inches long. Place the logs onto a wire rack or a parchment-lined baking sheet, and set aside.

Place chocolate morsels in a small heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler, and set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir occasionally until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer melted chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain round tip. Pipe chocolate onto the cookie logs. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 1 week.