#31. No-Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

WHY IS IT STILL SO HOT OUTSIDE?!?

I have lived in Texas for 10 years and inevitably at some point during the seemingly interminable summer, I start to lose it.  This slow descent into humidity-induced madness is fortunately usually arrested by the arrival of a cold(ish) front right around my birthday (fingers crossed).

Until that point, my faculties become increasingly fuzzy and my relationship with my oven, fraught.  Sophisticated inner monologue: Oven, you make yummies. But when you do, you also make warmies.

At the end of last week, I had pumpkin puree to spare and wanted to use it in cookies but couldn't bear to turn on the oven. So, this is what happened and testimony to the fact that just because you can't stand the heat, you don't have to get out of the kitchen.

No-Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter

• ½ cup milk

• ½ cup pumpkin puree

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 cups rolled (not instant) oats

• scant handful leftover M&Ms

Directions

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar. 

3. Increase temperature slightly and keep stirring until mixture comes to a boil.

4. Remove from heat and add oats and M&Ms.

5. Shape into small scoops and place on cookie sheet. Cool in fridge about an hour before eating.

#16. (C)raisin Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

There's something I absolutely adore about the contrast between fibrous oats and the chewy dough in the classic oatmeal cookie.

But why must dried cranberries play second fiddle to raisins with respect to America's favorite variation? Equal opportunity extends to baking, yo, and this mindset prompted me to swap the latter for the former when making these (c)raisin* caramel oatmeal cookies.  Yes, the caramels were leftovers, but with an extra dash of salt to the mix, they shine like new. 

Finally, I prefer nutmeg over cinnamon in my oatmeal cookies for its subtle bite.

*This post not sponsored by Ocean Spray. YET.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 3 cups quick cooking oats

• I cup dried cranberries

• 1 cup chopped caramels

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using a hand-held mixer, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs, then add vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

4. Using a spatula, gradually add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredient mixture. 

5. Add in oats, stirring thoroughly. Then add in dried cranberries and chopped caramels. Batter will be thick and chunky.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely unless you enjoy burning your tongue on molten caramels.

#2. Hershey's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

When I posted on facebook requesting ideas of how to use my three-pound Hershey Bar, many people assumed I had received it as a gift. Because who in their right mind would purchase such a monstrosity? 

THIS GIRL!!!

Also save your breath if you're inclined to educate me on how inferior Hershey's chocolate is to every other type in the universe. I know there is better chocolate out there, but I was raised on Hershey's and it will always taste delicious to me.

I decided to incorporate a few blocks of these massive cocoa brick in a slightly tweaked recipe from my Hershey's Homemade cookbook, which I have had for over two decades. The pages are almost all stuck together due to my double-checking ingredient amounts with mid-baking sticky fingers. I will never get rid of it.

The oats in these cookies are more for texture than for taste, since the presence of cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks leave little room for anything but chocolate flavor. And that's just fine.

Tip: Do not overbake these cookies. Gooeyness is essential to appreciating the intense pockets of chocolate.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks) , softened

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup light brown sugar packed

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa

• 1/2 cup chunks chopped from the World's Largest Hershey Bar

• 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy; blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake 11 to 13 minutes. 

Make sure you have cold milk on hand.