Thursday, June 13, 2013

Further adventures in no-bake

So I am sure most people are familiar with no-bake oatmeal "cookies".  They are usually misshapen lumps of chocolatey, peanut buttery, oatmeal yumminess.
I can remember gobbling them down at holiday parties and family reunions when I was a kid. Today I tried a variation on them - the oatmeal scotchie no-bake.
I found the recipe here at Shugary Sweets. I did make a slight change - I only had 3/4 cup of butterscotch chips, so I made up the other 1/4 cup with semisweet chocolate chips. The kids are scarfing them down, and while the recipe does call for a LOT of sugar, these things are also packed with fiber.
I am still looking for a way to make these healthy, and have yet to find it. I have tried subbing honey and agave syrup for the sugar - no good. They fell apart... although, it was pretty good on top of ice cream.
I have also tried subbing coconut oil for the butter, but it separated from the sugar and created a giant mess. So, if anyone knows a way to make these nuggets of awesomeness healthier, I am all ears.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

No-bake in the summertime

It's hot. It's June, in North Carolina, and it's hot. And it is only going to get hotter.
Just before school let out (yesterday) I got to work looking for some activities I could do with the girls. I decided that this could be No Bake Summer.
Making no-bake items like granola bars and such is a good kid activity - let the grown-up deal with the cooking and cutting parts, let the kids stir and squish.
I just finished making a batch of no-bake brownies. I did these by myself, the girls were worn out from the pool earlier. I started with this recipe that I found on Pinterest, and was originally posted at Domestic Rebel. I made a few changes to suit the troops. The Man isn't a huge fan of peanut butter in anything but a classic PBJ, so I  subbed peanut butter Oreos for the Nutter Butters. The rest of the recipe remained the same.
No-Bake PB Brownies
30 Peanut Butter Oreos
1 King Size Butterfinger
1 bag Peanut Butter Chips
1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Pulse cookies and candy bar in food processor to fine crumb.
Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil and mist lightly with cooking oil
Melt chips in a double boiler or microwave safe bowl.
Add the condensed milk to the melted chips, then begin folding in the cookie crumbs a bit at a time.
Press the dough into the baking pan and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes until set.

The original recipe said to store them for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
As previously mentioned, this is June, in the South, and we live in a 73 year old house with pretty hinky air flow. So I opted to store mine in the fridge. If you choose to do the same, do your teeth a favor and let them come up to room temp before you eat. :-)