Cheater No Bake Breakfast Cookies

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

Yesterday morning Mark stumbled into the kitchen dressed and ready to go to school, looked in the pantry, then turned to me and said, "I'm hungry." Oops. About those breakfast cookies I was planning to make the night before. I'd completely spaced it and we had no breakfast. It was 7:00. We need to leave to catch the bus no later than 7:20. Yeah, um, we're not one of those families that gives themselves a lot of time to get ready. I was standing there in my bathrobe and still had lunches to make. I consigned myself to the idea of having to take the kids to school. And then I remembered these. You mix it all up in the microwave. It takes maybe one minute. And then you add the oats. Yeah, you feel a little guilty throwing chocolate chips into your children's breakfast, but we were in a pinch (besides what do I think all the butter and cocoa is in my normal No Bake Breakfast Cookies--it's not broccoli'd sainthood, I tell you that).

It worked. My bars became blobs. The kids scarfed them down and we made the bus. Not only did we make the bus, but we made it at our stop. That might not sound like much of a feat to you morning-ready people, but we fairly routinely miss the bus at our own stop and have to hurry to the last stop in the neighborhood.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars/Cheater No Bake Breakfast Blobs, er, Cookies
Makes 9x13 pan or 8 long bars or 12 store-bought sized bars
Prep and cook time: 5 minutes (though to be fair, these do have to set up for about 10 minutes in the fridge)
Cost: $1.35 for 12 bars (that's .11 per bar)
(choc. chips: .45, PB: .45, milk: .08, oats: .27, and a few more Tbsp chocolate chips: .10)

Melt in microwave, stirring or whisking at 20 second intervals:

1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter
1/2 C milk (can be dairy or a non-dairy variety)

To this add and stir in :

1 splash of vanilla if you remember it (let's say 1/2 tsp)
1 Tbsp sugar (or agave or raw sugar or honey). You can skip the sugar if you wish. You can also add more if you want a sweeter bar.

To this add and stir in:

3 C oats (I use quick) or 2 C oats and 1 C coconut, flax seed, nuts, berries, etc)

You're going to have a thick "dough" that looks like no bake cookie "dough." It should start to ball together as you mix.

Blob it onto a plate or into an open mouth if one happens to come near you begging for food. They firm up really fast, but can be eaten easily even when they're not quite firm (that's how we had them).

PRINTABLE RECIPE