OK - so I obviously wasn't too sure what to call these cookies, but they sure were good. I have ended up with lots of free hot cocoa recently, so for some reason I have decided that I need to figure out a way to put the hot cocoa into cookies. I have no idea why I wanted to do this, but after my first attempt failed miserably, I was more determined than ever to make cookies with hot cocoa. This is probably silly, but I really hate to fail at something, especially cookies. And trust me, the first batch was so bad I actually through them out. (I have never thrown cookies away!) They looked like really bad fruit roll ups gone bad.
All that to say, after many recipe attempts, I have now come up with apparently the BEST COOKIES EVER!! according to my expert 12, 3 and 1 year old. The baby doesn't count, but I am sure that he will love them in a few years as well. OK, I don't know that they are the BEST EVER!!, but they are at least 1,000 times better than my first attempt. So, if you have tons of free hot cocoa, and have always wanted to put it in cookies (surely there is someone else out there like me... Right???), then this is the recipe for you. Hope you enjoy!!!
Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Recipe Type: dessert
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 12 mins
Total time: 27 mins
Ingredients
3 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (You can use white, I just always try to use whole wheat.)
1 packet vanilla hot cocoa (I figured this one is a little less sweet than others. You might want to cut back a little on the sugar if you use a regular hot cocoa packet. Also, I don't think I would use a packet with marshmallows because I would think they would become hard & crunchy - I learned that on batch 3 or 4 or my attempts.)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups peanuts chopped
2 cups M&M's (Originally, I probably would have used chocolate chips, but like I said, I've tried TONS of recipes, and I am now out of chocolate chips.)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the oats, flour, hot cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
In a separate bowl mix sugar, butter and peanut butter.
Add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix. Add the vanilla, continuing to mix.
Then add the oat mixture slowly and continue mixing.
Stir in the peanuts and M&M's.
Bake these cookies for about 13 minutes and enjoy!
What is your favorite cookie to make? I know that I have tons of favorites. We actually have 4 more recipes that we will be making tomorrow, and then it is off to friends, relatives, neighbors and anyone else that we happen to come across with cookies!
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