Social Kitchen

I entered a no-bake cookie contest.  At a state fair.  Not even my own state’s state fair!  Just a random no bake cookie contest at a random state fair.  And, people, I was positive that I was going to win.  Not only that, I just knew that I was going to get first place.  There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.

Well, I didn’t get first place.  Or second, or third.  In fact, I spotted my cookies on the fair secretary’s lunch plate while judging was still going on.

So, no, I’m not going to post the losing cookie recipe.  Even though it sure was tasty and should have been a winner.  What I didn’t enter (but should have) was this cookie right here.  A recipe that comes up about 4 million times (exaggeration) when you google “no bake cookie”.  It’s apparently very much the ultimate no bake cookie.  I tried this recipe before the contest to test it out, and thought it tasted way too gooey and sweet – more like candy instead of cookie.  Also, because it was so well known, I decided that there is no way that this recipe would win.  I needed something more cookie-like and unique.

Well, lo and behold, when I dropped off the cookies to the judging table, there were about 17 cookies that looked just like these.  Not too surprising.  But then, I find out that these won first place.  What?!  How does this even work?  How do cookies that show up 4 million times through google, and 17 times at one competition and don’t even taste like cookies win first place at a cookie contest?!  No answers.  None at all.  But at least I can say that I’m posting a winning recipe!

No Bake Chocolate Nut Cookies (adapted from many recipes found on the internet)

I sound bitter.  So here I am saying that these are quite tasty!  But like I said, these don’t really taste like cookies.  In fact, I was contemplating calling them “oatmeal chocolate nut fudge drops”, but that didn’t roll off the tongue as easily.  I did change the recipe a bit to add a crunch factor that is more reminiscent of cookies.  I also added salt, which was not in any of the recipes that I saw.  And let’s be honest, these are ridiculously easy, which ups their appeal factor.  These are best out of the refrigerator.

1/2 stick butter, salted

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

1/4 cup Nutella (or peanut butter, or any nut butter)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups quick cooking oats, toasted in a pan, over low heat, and cooled

1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped (or peanuts, or any complimenting nut)

1/2 tsp. salt

In a saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the butter, cocoa, milk and sugar.  Bring to a boil and let it boil for 1 minute.  Take it off the heat and add Nutella, and vanilla.  After it is all well mixed together, stir in oats, salt, and nuts.  Drop by tablespoon-fulls on baking sheets, lined with waxed paper.  Let it set and form into cookie like shapes.  Store in the refrigerator.

Do you have peanut butter?  An egg?  How about sugarbakingsodavanillaminichocolatechips??  I knew you would have these things on hand!  Because that’s all it takes to make the most delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies ever.  I’m not kidding, people.

Here’s the kicker, though.  I didn’t have all of those ingredients on hand.  Well, I did, but not nearly enough.  So I decided to trick the mind and make these cookies miniature instead.  Friends, a lesson: if you decide to make cookies in bite size so it actually looks like you’ve made more than you have (thinking that they will last you longer), you actually end up with having to make cookies sooner than expected because people eat them so fast!  Fact.  Seriously, people were so drawn to these little cookie-lets.  They flew out of my cookies jar, handfuls at a time, just because they were so small!  There is apparently no guilt factor when eating a miniature cookie…or, apparently, 30 of them.

But it wasn’t just their size – these cookies were so appealing because they were just so…cute.  That’s exactly the appeal of these cookies.  They’re cute, and they’re small, and most importantly, they represent “portion control”.  But they’re also soft and crumbly and my goodness, so yummy.   Make them for their ease, make them for their cuteness, but please just make them and go crazy.  Everyone around you sure will.