Sometimes you just want cookies. Sometimes you want to make those cookies without having to use your oven at all. Well, you’re in luck! The answer to your cookies vs. oven dilemma is only a short read away. It’s time to get familiar with your microwave and waiting around for long periods of time.
To begin this recipe, you should find yourself a medium- to large-sized bowl. It’s not terribly difficult; if you don’t already have one, someone else probably does. There’s always the store, too. Actually, if you are going to continue to cook, you should probably have a stock of bowls that range from small to large. Anyway, you should combine your dry ingredients in this bowl. That includes your sugar and cocoa powder first. Stir this around, then go ahead and add your milk.
Got that under control? Great! You’re a champion. Now add the butter or margarine and corn syrup. It doesn’t really matter whether you use actual butter or margarine; you’re going to be fine either way. Frankly, this mixture is going to taste a lot more like chocolate and peanut butter with a heavy dose of added sugar than anything else. But that’s sort of what we are going for with cookies, isn’t it? Something sweet and probably really, really bad for you. But also something that will most likely win you a lot of friends if you are willing to share.
Wait, where were we? Oh, right, you added the corn syrup and margarine OR butter. (Your choice. Do what you feel is right.) Next you should casually stir the mixture, then pop it in the microwave, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes on high. If you can’t figure out what high is, it is pretty safe to assume that your microwave is automatically set to high. Heat it until it is boiling rapidly. When it is done, stir it once. Things should be pretty much melted by then. After that, you are going to want to put it back in, still uncovered, for another 3 minutes or so.
So now you’ve microwaved the heck out of your cookie mixture. That’s fantastic; that is exactly what you were supposed to do! But don’t get carried away. You’re not done. Now you have to stir in your peanut butter and oats. You guessed it: After this it is back into your microwave for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until it is boiling again. You can do it; it’s just the microwave, nothing crazy like the oven or anything. I promise this is the last time.
When that is done, remove the mixture and let it stand for 20 minutes. That means that you set the bowl aside and DO NOT TOUCH IT for 20 whole minutes. This will help with the thickening process, and you cannot really form cookies until your mixture is good and thick. Another thing that will help is beating the mixture for 3 to 5 minutes after you have let it stand for 20. It’s going to bring air in and help it cook, making the mixture finally thick enough to drop onto a sheet of wax paper or something equivalent so that it can form into cookies.
Make the cookies as big as you want them to be. That is totally up to you. Make sure that you allow them to rest until they are fully formed and hard enough to peel away from the paper and eat. And hey, look at that! You have some pretty awesome cookies that didn’t have to go anywhere too near an oven. This is a classic recipe and one that you can easily double, so if you are having a lot of guests or feeling particularly hungry for all of the cookies you can hoard, don’t be afraid to just multiply the ingredients by two. Use the same microwave times, however, or you are going to end up with some seriously messed up cookies.
