Dad's No-Bakes

The kids often ask for these on Sundays. They're smart enough to skip Mom and go straight to Dad. He's the No-Bake-Cookie-Guy. This is a classic, but our recipe comes from a book my Dad gave me when I went to college, On Campus Cookbook For The Non-Kitchen Cook by Mollie Fitzgerald.

Chocolate/Peanut Butter No-Bakes

2 T. butter

1 1/2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1/4 C. milk

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. crunchy peanut butter

1 1/2 C. uncooked oatmeal

1 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

Line counter with wax paper.

Place the butter, cocoa, milk, and sugar in saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat.

Add the peanut butter, oatmeal, vanilla and salt to the chocolate mixture. Stir until everything is well combined.

Drop the mixture by spoonful onto the wax paper. As the mixture cools, it becomes hard, so you will have to work quickly.

Allow the cookies to set for 30 minutes before transfering them to a plate or to an airtight container for storage.

Makes 36 small cookies.

(16 cookies per batch makes a 3 WW point cookie. The whole recipe is 51 1/2 points, divided by however many cookies your batch makes equals points per cookie.)

Dad's Cookies Stolen From Mrs. Fields

Okay, there are a lot of cookies out there claiming to be the real Mrs. Fields cookies. These may or not be, but they're delicious. And our Dad likes to make them, especially on Sunday afternoons. Yum. I have no idea where we got this one originally, but I know we've had it since we were newlyweds. Thanks, whoever gave us this one. (Shannon Hickman, maybe?!!)

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 C. brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 pound butter

Cream together the first 5 ingredients.

6 C flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. soda

Mix the next three ingredients and add to the creamed mix.

Add 3 cups M&Ms, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or a mixture.

If you're not a Glover, add 2 cups nuts.

Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 16 to 18 minutes.

Nutrition information: Calorie Free if eaten while standing.