Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bakes

Ingredients:

1 cups graulated sugar
4 TBSP cocoa
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 TBSP vanilla extract (1/2 TBSP if using real vanilla)
3 cups quick oats (do not use regular oats)
Waxed paper

Directions:

1. In a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, cocoa, butter and milk to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 min.
2. Pull mixture off of heat and add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until blended.
3. Add hot mixture to oats. Blend well.
4. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Sit until cool and hardened.

Notes: Do NOT double. This recipe is very particular and doubling mostly leads to a failure to set properly. Also, high humidity can cause the cookies to fail to set.

Lemon Slice Cookies

photo by: Frances Janisch for Parents Magazine

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powered lemonade mix (pink)
1 egg
red food coloring
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp (pinch) salt
1/4 cup pink decorating sugar
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups powered sugar
2-3 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, and lemonade mix. Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy (about 3 mins). Add egg and 8 drops of food coloring; beat well. In a seperate bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually add flour/salt mixture to previous mixture, beat until dough begins to cling.

2. Gather dough into a ball and shape into a log about 7 x 2 1/2 inches. Wrap in wax paper. Chill no less than 3 hours until it's firm enough to slice.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place decorating sugar in a shallow bowl. Brush outside of log with corn syrup. Cut log crosswise into 1/8th inch thick slices. Lightly roll edges of slices in the decorating sugar. Place on cookie sheets approx. 1 inch apart. Cut some cookies in half, if desired. Score the top of cookies with the back of a small knife to make them resemble citrus segments.

4. Bake for 8 minutes, until edges are firm. Let cool on wire rack.

5. Mix powered sugar and lemon juice; place in a resealable plastic bag. Snip a small hole in one corner of bag. Pipe icing onto scored lines and add dots to resemble seeds. Let stand until icing is set.


Reactions:

Alvin(2) and Erin(6) both devoured these every chance they got. Emali(9) liked them, but she said she'd prefer chocholate chip.