My favorite No-Bake cookie recipe

This is an abnormal post for me.  Normally, I ramble on about what's been going on with us, or some other random thing.  But I've been wanting to post something on Pinterest for a while, and I believe it has to be in blog form to be "pinned".  So here goes.

This recipe is simple, but you have to follow it to the letter.  That's one thing I learned about it, if you don't, the cookies won't turn out correctly.    Also, it calls for quick-cooking oats, and says it's "essential" to the success of the recipe.  This depends on what kind of cookie you're looking for.  The last time I made them, I used quick-cooking oats, and they were too dry for me (quick-cooking oats are smaller than regular oats, making the cookies really dense).  Every other time, I've used regular oats and they turn out exactly like I want :)

Prep & Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa (I always add a little extra, for extra chocolate-y-ness)
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3 cups oats

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt and butter; mix well.  Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down the sides of the pan.  Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute*.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.  Add oats and mix well. 

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oats absorb the liquid. 

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto wax paper, or parchment lined baking sheets.  Let cool until you can touch; then reshape the cookies to make them more of a ball shape**.  Let cool completely and store at room temperature.  ENJOY!!

*If you do not let the mixture boil for the 1 minute, the mixture will be too sugary instead of creamy.
**If you have a small or medium Pampered Chef cookie scoop (an ice cream scoop would work too, if you want bigger cookies), you don't have to reshape the cookies.