No Bake: No Kidding!

I can make a pie. I have kneaded and shaped dozens of crescent rolls. I can get a meal on the table in 30 minutes or less, and, if you ask me to then pack it up and take it to the field, I can do that, too.

But I have had my issues with no-bake cookies. Yep. You read that right: No bake cookies. You know that traditional combination of sugar, cocoa, peanut butter and oats? They turn out too soft. Or they have the consistency of a rock.

Jill seems to have inherited my inability to make a consistent no bake cookie. (Sorry, Eric. I know you like them.) So when I saw the recipe for No Bake Pumpkin Cookies on someone's Facebook page, I was skeptical. They have similarities to the traditional chocolate no bakes: Throw some sugars and butter and milk into a saucepan on the stove and then add in some oats.

But the recipe also called for a box of pudding mix. And it gave a time frame for boiling the mixture. I have surmised that part of my issue with traditional no bake cookies is the lack of cooking time on many of the old recipes.

So, I tried them. And we liked them. They ended up turning out so well that they made it onto an assorted cookie tray for a PEO luncheon I served yesterday. (I wish I'd taken a photo of the cookie tray, but I didn't think of that until I woke up in the middle of the night and said to myself, "You should have taken a photo of that fall cookie tray." )

Oh well. Can't win 'em all. But you will win compliments with this easy recipe.

No Bake Pumpkin Cookies

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 box instant pumpkin spice pudding mix
3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Note:  If you can't find instant pumpkin spice pudding mix, use instant vanilla pudding and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. (I happened to find one lone box of pumpkin pudding mix on a shelf. It was like it was meant to be for me to try this recipe!)

In a saucepan, combine sugars, butter and milk. Bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the pudding mix, stirring to combine completely. Add in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and oats. Stir to combine and let stand for 5 minutes.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper, and allow to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Makes about 36.

Another note:  I used a cookie scoop to form my cookies, and I ended up with 33 cookies. I like the uniformity that a cookie scoop gives, and I think it's quicker, less messy and easier.

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Today, I'm linked to Wake Up Wednesdays. Click on the link for lots of other tested recipes.