No Bake Chocolate Haystack Cookies

This easy recipe for no bake chocolate haystack cookies is a great project to make with the kiddos! Fun and scrumptious.

Well my friends, TODAY IS THE THE DAY. We are moving in to the Carolina Dream House with all our New Jersey stuff.

And then the kids are moving in a few days later with all their stuff.

And then our besties from Southern Studio are arriving with all the beautiful addition stuff we needed for our multigenerational house.

So first off, if you think I am posting recipes a little less frequently, you are absolutely correct, as I pretty much have no idea where anything is, including my recipe binder.

(I promise to get back on track as soon as my studio is unpacked!)

And secondly, I NEED A COOKIE.

A chocolate cookie. A chocolate cookie full of calming nostalgic memories.

And for me, that means No Bake Chocolate Haystack Cookies, and not just because they are full of chocolate deliciousness and require no baking.

I also love them because they remind me of one of my favorite people in the entire world, my Aunt Cathy.

There she is on the left with my mama and my dad, and my Uncle Jack is definitely somewhere right outside the picture having a marvelous time!

Doesn’t she have the best smile?

When I was a kid in Vermont, the only thing better than messing around on the hay wagons…

…was going to my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Jack’s house down the road and around the corner from my grandparent’s farm.

My cousins were (and still are) some of my best friends, and we spent endless hours playing in and around that great house.

And one of my best memories was making these chocolate oatmeal cookies with Aunt Cathy.

I have searched high and low for the recipe (and yes, asked everyone in the state of Vermont) and I was never able to lay my mitts on it.

So this recipe is pulled entirely from my little kid memory banks, but it tastes exactly how I remember them tasting in Aunt Cathy’s Vermont kitchen.

Here’s how you make no bake chocolate haystack cookies!

Line two cookie sheets with parchment or waxed paper. These babies are sticky in ALL the good ways!

Pop some butter, milk, some white and brown sugar and some cocoa powder in a medium pot over medium heat and stir it all up until the butter is melted.

Let this glorious concoction boil for one minute, stirring the whole time, and then remove it from the heat.

Stir in some vanilla and some instant oats until everything is well combined.

Here’s where the kiddos come in! Drop by tablespoon-fuls onto the cookie sheets (if you have a cookie scoop this is the perfect time to use this!).

Refrigerate for two hours, then remove from the cookie sheet.  

As I mentioned, these cookies are delicious but sticky, so store them in a single layer…if you have any left over!

(I immediately disobeyed my own directions to take this picture for you…

…but I promise I put them in a single layer for the Souther husband to eat one by one until they were gone.)

Last but one million percent not least, my Aunt Cathy’s birthday is this week, and Aunt Cathy? I hope you have a wonderful, chocolate-filled birthday – love you SO much!

And to all the rest of you wonderful readers…see you on the other side of our unpacking! Deep breath…

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