almond joy cookies

My friend Rose and I went out for a quick dinner the other night at Great Harvest, a local soup and sandwich kind of place. As part of our meals, we could pick a cookie. They were specialing a new cookie that they called an Almond Joy Cookie. We thought they were pretty scrumptious, and I thought I could easily duplicate the idea. So I did. And they were yummy. I took them to a work party, and they were quite a hit. Hooray! This recipe's a keeper.

It's basically just an oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips, almonds and coconut added in.  Any yummy oatmeal cookie recipe should work.  But for my own benefit and for future reference, this is the recipe I used. 

RECIPE: Almond Joy Cookies

Yield: 

3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, soft

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. water

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 c. uncooked oats

1 bag (2 c?) chocolate chips

1 c. slivered almonds

4 oz shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Beat together butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla until creamy. Add flour, salt and soda. Mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, almonds and coconut. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet/stone. Bake at 375F for 12-15 minutes. 

no-bake cookies

I LOVE no-bake cookies! They're so darn delicious, and super duper easy to make. I used to make them a ton as a kid {pre-teen/teenish}, so I associate them with that part of my life. For example.... in eigth grade, I was in a Speech and Drama class {which was awesome, by the way; thanks, Mrs. Shelton!} and did a "How-To" speech on How To Make No-Bake Cookies. I dropped my mom's nice saucepan in the process, so the memory is bittersweet {i.e. impending doom}, but the speech went great... and... um... yeah, that story really has no climax.

Anyway, a friend of mine {Brittney} made these the other day {which inspired- literally- a happy dance on my part}. That recipe was from her mother-in-law, and who knows where she got it. Perhaps it was an original. Perhaps it was from a box or book. Regardless of its origins, it was scrumptious. I tweaked it just a bit to be more fool proof, but mostly this is the same. Mmm... pour me a glass of milk, baby! We're havin' cookies tonight!

RECIPE: No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cube (1/2 c.) butter

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 1/2 c. quick oats

Directions:

Melt butter. Add sugar and milk. Bring to a boil. Add cocoa and boil for 1-2 min. Remove from heat and add vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Spoon onto foil and let cool. Then eat up!

Serves: 12

Calories: 130