Kitchen Adventures: The no-bake cookie debacle

Hi, I’m Becca and I’m rubbish at making no-bake cookies.

Becca Owsley

The sticky result of an attempt at Rice Krispie Treats.

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Becca Owsley

Brittany Carl's Rice Krispie treats made for her daughter Sophia's birthday.

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Another attempt at no-bake cookies resulted in disaster.

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There should be a support group for this sort of thing. It’s frustrating and has been a lifelong dilemma with virtually no success.

But no-bake cookies, specifically those made by the late Eula Wright, are a favorite, and it’s worth it to keep trying.

Every year she not only made batches and batches of cookies for Vacation Bible School at her church, she also made buckets full to send with the youth to camp. I was a grateful recipient of those cookies in my younger days. Wright and her wonderful no-bake cookies will be missed.

One Saturday, I decided to conquer this cookie problem. Armed with a lot of oatmeal and three recipes, a quest began for no-bake deliciousness.

The results were sadly once again a failure.

The adventure started with a search for Wright’s recipe. It turned up in a stack of locally produced cookbooks. 

The recipe was followed to the letter, but it didn’t result in the mouth full of joy that should have come from her expert recipe. Instead, it was a pan full of chocolate and oatmeal that never set into a cookie. Disaster is an understatement.

After disappointing failure, two other recipes yielded similar results. One made a mess that only could be eaten with a spoon.

The first batch from Wright’s recipe went in the freezer in hopes of salvaging something from the day’s efforts. In the freezer, the cookies set up enough to be taken off the wax paper and served but still didn’t taste close to Wright’s cookies.

The no-bake cookies failure continues. Sadly, Rice Kristy treats often have the same result.

So many people can make the treats in perfect proportion. They turn out in perfectly cut squares or firm enough to cut with a cookie cutter to make a variety of themed shapes. A friend once made them with a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and dipped the ears in chocolate. She does have a secret to her success, but I’ll never tell.

This cook’s effort usually is a sticky, gooey mess.

I tried making this treat one more time using the stove top and microwave method. I went straight to the source and found a recipe on the Rice Krispie website.

Both, yet again, resulted in stickiness. They still were tasty but did not have an ideal consistency.

While the efforts were met with failure once again, failure should never stop you from trying. As in many recipes, you just have to keep trying until you find success.

One day, this failure will be rectified. One day, I will reach no-bake success. It just wasn’t that day.

Becca Owsley can be reached at (270) 505-1741 or bowsley@thenewsenterprise.com.

Eula Wright’s No-Bake Cookies:
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup coca
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cup oats 

Bring sugar, cocoa, evaporated milk and margarine to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. When it bubbles, boil for two minutes. Take off the heat and add peanut butter. Stir until it is dissolved. Add oats and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper.

Let cool thoroughly before removing.

From “Our Best Home Cooking” by the Cecilia Homemakers Club

The original Rice Krispie Treats:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 ounces or about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups of miniature marshmallows (1 7-ounce jar of marshmallow cream can be substituted for the marshmallows)
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Stove top directions:
In a large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir well until coated.

Using a buttered spatula or wax paper, evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan coated with cooking spray.

Cool and cut into 2-inch squares.

Best if served the same day.

Microwave directions:
In a microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on high for three minutes, stirring after two minutes. Stir until smooth

Follow steps two and three from above for the rest.

Microwave cooking times may vary.

From www.ricekrispies.com