Volcano Cookies

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons cocoa
pinch salt (no baking, so I use Kosher salt--I just like the flavor better, but regular is fine)
3 cups uncooked oatmeal (I like quick oats)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (try to use natural peanut butter, but if it's on the runny side, the cookies will have better texture if you use regular peanut butter)

In a medium saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil, simmer 1 minute (if you simmer too long, the cookies will end up crumbly). Remove from heat.  Add oatmeal and stir well.  Let sit for ten minutes.  Add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well. Place spoonfuls onto wax paper. Shape into volcanoes. (Immediately. Don't think you can mix these up and let them sit for awhile before spooning the cookies out. They will set up pretty fast.)

Just an interesting aside--a version of this recipe is included in a book by Mario Batali! If I remember right, his Grandma made them every Christmas. So feel free to say you can cook just like Mario! :)

I saw the cutest little raspberries at the store, and volcano cookies were on Sarah's baptismal celebration menu. Could the raspberries make volcano cookies look more like live volcanoes with lava ready to blow out the top? Well, kinda. They were okay. But I really liked just placing a raspberry right in the middle. As the picture says, they were "cute as a button" and delicious too! To make sure they were secure in the cookie, right after scooping the batter onto wax paper and before they had set, I used the handle of a wooden spoon to make an indent in the cookie and dropped the raspberry right in! Loved it!

MM Recipe Card