No-bake treats are the best thing for summer. They’re quick and easy so kids can make them on their own and they don’t heat up the house on warm days.
Summers seemed to be filled with frogs and toads when I was little. We’d find toads in the yard and as we traipsed through the woods, and we’d catch frogs and pollywogs down by the brook. Mom tells the story of the time my brothers left a bucket of water filled with frogs’ eggs on the back deck. They must have looked appealing to my toddler self because I scooped my hand in and was all set to slurp up the jelly before someone intervened.
Summers seemed to be filled with frogs and toads when I was little. We’d find toads in the yard and as we traipsed through the woods, and we’d catch frogs and pollywogs down by the brook. Mom tells the story of the time my brothers left a bucket of water filled with frogs’ eggs on the back deck. They must have looked appealing to my toddler self because I scooped my hand in and was all set to slurp up the jelly before someone intervened.
Summer was filled with other kinds of frogs too – chocolate oatmeal frog cookies.
Mom had a few different recipes for no –bake cereal squares but a variation for one I rediscovered recently was the recipe for what we called frogs. Made with rolled oats, sugar, cocoa, butter and not much else, they take about five minutes to mix up and offer the quickest route I know to a cookie when you have a craving for something sweet.
In this version I have reduced the sugar by half a cup and added flax for texture an a little extra nutrition. This is a gluten-free recipe.
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Frog Cookies
Ingredients:
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 ¾ cups quick oats*
- 2 Tbsp. ground flax
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup butter
- 1 Tbsp. honey or molasses
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions:
- In a large bowl combine cocoa powder, rolled oats and ground flax.
- Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment.
- In a medium pot, combine the sugar, milk, molasses and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for two and a half minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour over the rolled oats mixture. Stir to combine and quick drop by the spoonful (or a medium cookie scoop) onto prepared pan.
- Let cool then store in a covered container, between layers of waxed paper or parchment.
*Choose gluten-free oats if necessary.
