Sharla's Little Joes- A No-Bake Cookie - January

Sharla's Little Joes, A no-bake cookie

Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

½ cup milk – whole, 2%, 1%, whatever you prefer
2 cups sugar
½ cup butter
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
3 cups oats – regular or quick-cook will work
1 cup nuts of your choice (optional)

These Little Joes are one of my favorite easy treats to make when I'm craving something sweet without having to turn on the oven. They're chocolatey, peanut buttery, and wonderfully chewy. The best part is how quickly they come together! Just a few simple ingredients and a little patience while they set, and you'll have a delicious batch of no-bake cookies everyone will love.
Before you get started making the cookies, I suggest getting all of your ingredients ready and measuring them out. This will make the process go much smoother, and the quicker you get everything combined after the mixture has boiled, the better the cookies will turn out.

Then line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

Step-by-Step Recipe

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine milk, sugar, butter, and cocoa. Once the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a rolling boil and allow it to boil for one minute, stirring occasionally.

Now here's another important thing: Set a timer for exactly 60 seconds once the mixture comes to a rolling boil. In other words, the top is completely covered in bubbles. If you boil it too long, the no-bake cookies will turn out dry, and if you don't boil it long enough, they won't set properly. Timing is very important here!

Once the timer goes off, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter until it's nice and smooth. Add the quick-cooking oats and stir them in until all of the oats are coated with the mixture.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop the mixture and drop cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. I like to use the back of the cookie scoop or a spoon to flatten each one out a bit so they cool faster.

Refrigerate to set the cookies. The cookies will be very soft at first but will continue to set up more as they cool. Mine usually take about 20 to 30 minutes to fully set up, but they're delicious and gooey warm, too!