The Best Combo Since PB & Chocolate

        My life has been nothing short of hectic lately. School's a killer, I tell you. I've been working on three major end-of-the-semester assignments, each due one after the other. They keep telling us students that we're supposed to have a maximum of one per week for the next few weeks, yet here I am somehow with three in one week. This kind of stress makes me want to scream into a pillow.
        Thankfully, I now have one of those three assignments out of the way… which means more time for a personal assignment. My own two-part assignment was as follows. Part 1: make cookies. Part 2: eat the cookies.

Malted Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

        Stop the presses. I have just made an amazingly mind-blowing discovery. Remember chocolate and peanut butter, arguably the best combo in the world of food? Well, I now firmly believe that malt + peanut butter gives said combo a run for its money. If you, like me, are a true worshipper of Choco/PB, then that sentence probably seems like total blasphemy. I understand, but you have to trust me on this. Malted Peanut Butter = Heaven.

        If you have no idea what malt tastes like in terms of sweets, think Maltesers candies. You may know them as Whoppers candies, and they are in fact chocolate malt candies. The malt is what gives them that distinctive flavor that stands apart from the chocolate.

        These cookies require no baking and are ready in almost no time at all, yet they're delicious enough to become an addiction from the first bite. I'm still a little hesitant to call them "cookies", however, as they are less like an oven-baked cookie and more like a sweeter and very tasty confection. With great texture, I might add. 

        Oh, geez, I just pictured myself making these cookies again. I also pictured myself polishing off a whole batch with no consequences whatsoever. The first part I can do. The second part is not so likely, but a girl can dream...

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Malted Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
(adapted from Baked Explorations)
Print this Recipe
Yield: approximately 36 cookies


Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup malt Ovaltine
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup natural* peanut butter, preferably chunky
A pinch of salt
3 1/3 cups rolled oats


Directions

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat,  stir together the milk, sugar, Ovaltine, and butter until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil and stop stirring; boil for 90 seconds.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, salt, and oats until combined.
3. With a spoon or an ice cream scoop, drop the cookies onto the baking sheet, leaving enough space between them as they will spread slightly. Let the cookies cool, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The no-bake cookies can be eaten straight from the refrigerator or at room-temperature. They can be stored between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

*if you opt to use commercial peanut butter, you may need to reduce the sugar slightly.