Boiled Cookies

This actually worked. However, you might get a few "chewy" flakes that you wouldn't normally get if you used oatmeal.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar (do not skimp)
1/2 cup milk (I used Silk vanilla - don't use coconut)
4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup Fleishmann's unsalted margarine
3 cup poha flakes - do not soak before hand or you will end up with mushy cookies that are gooey.
1 cup peanut butter - don't use Adams Real. I used crunchy for better texture. Don't use natural peanut butter that has a lot of oil or it won't set.

Directions

In saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa, milk and butter.
Cook on low heat until boiling.
Boil one minute.
Add Poha Flakes and cook for another minute while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Add peanut butter.
Mix well.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.
Let stand a few minutes before eating.

Tips: you must have a full boil before removing from heat. The sugar has to "heat" enough so that the cookie will set as the sugar recrystalizes when the cookie cools. If you don't heat the sugar mixture enough, it will not recrystalize but just be a mush. Don't use oily peanut butter or coconut milk because oil will not allow the cookie to set.

The cookie will become "solid" as it cools. By the time it is completely cooled, your cookie should be hard like a candy bar. If it is hard like a hard candy- you overcooked and burned it and if it is mushy, you didn't cook it long enough.

The only difference between this and the regular boiled cookie recipe that I grew up with as a kid is that the oatmeal doesn't leave you with a few "chewy" pieces as you eat. The poha flakes don't absorb as well as oatmeal does. If your child is not sensitive to oatmeal then just sub oatmeal for poha. I found that adding the poha before the peanutbutter and cooking a minute longer helps prevent "hard" poha flakes. Do not try to soften the poha flakes with hot water before adding... I found that this did not work because then the poha flakes wouldn't absorb any liquid from the sugar mixture. I ended up with mushy cookies.

It is an easy recipe that should not take long and only messes up one pot. You should be able to make a batch, leave it to cool on the counter while you go pick up your child from school, and they can be cooled off and ready to eat as your child comes home. :)