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Here’s a recipe that is perfect for those hot summer days when you don’t want to turn on the oven unless you absolutely have to.  It’s also a naturally gluten-free cookie, which means I don’t have to worry about whether my GF flour will work straight out of the container without any modifications.

My mom used to make these when I was a kid.  I always loved them, but the hardest part was waiting for them to set up; living in humid Houston, some days they never did set “right”.  I didn’t care, though – they were good whether they were firm or not!

No-Bake Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (can use chunky; cookies will be drier/crumblier) ***
• 2 teaspoons vanilla (optional)
• 3 -3 1/2 cups dry quick-cooking oats

*** For a tasty variation, substitute Nutella for peanut butter

Directions:

Add the first four ingredients into a 4-quart sauce pan.
Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 FULL minute.
Remove from heat.

Add peanut butter into the hot mixture and stir until melted.
Add in vanilla (optional).
Mix in the oats and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper (to make shaped cookies, spray cookie cutters with non-stick cooking spray and set on waxed paper. Drop cookie mixture into cookie cutter, ensure the mixture fills in all the gaps. Let cool until hardened and gently remove cookie cutter).

Let cool until set (if you are impatient or the cookies are too soft, chill in refrigerator till hardened).
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Even if you follow the recipe exactly, these may not always turn out just right; most of the time, though, the recipe works just fine.

Some people have found that it makes a difference if you use quick cooking oats or old fashioned.  It usually takes more old fashioned oats than quick cooking; it’s a matter of personal taste as to which one you will want to use. Also, chunky peanut butter tends to make these cookies more dry and crumbly.
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