BRUSH
Keeping It Clean

When I was a kid, my mom - a.k.a. the Cookie Lady - always "closed" her kitchen in the summertime, citing the heat. But if you, like my mother, feel the pressure to produce something homemade for snack time, even in the unforgiving heat of these apocalyptic summer days, then look no further than this easy no-bake cookie. Not only do you not have to heat up the kitchen to make this recipe, but it is braces and allergy friendly (with apologies to our one friend who is in fact allergic to sunflower seeds). These cookies contain no tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, or gluten. It can also be made dairy free with a few simple substitutions, if you so choose. And did you see the part where you don't have to heat up the kitchen? Genius.

Even though this recipe couldn't be simpler, as always, please make sure you read it in its entirety before you begin.

Combine the following ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat:

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar (light or dark, whatever you have in your pantry), packed
• ¼ c. cocoa
• ½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• ½ c. milk

Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium heat, whisking often.

Finish the batter and don't bake a thing

Once the mixture comes to a boil fold in:

• 1 Tbsp. good vanilla extract
• 1 c. sunflower seed butter
• 3 1/3 c. rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind)

Stir together all ingredients to ensure that they are well-distributed.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Do not spray the paper with nonstick spray as you might ordinarily do with a baked cookie recipe. Using a couple of soup spoons or a small muffin scoop, spoon three-bite mounds of batter onto the sheets. The cookies can be placed fairly close together, the batter does not really spread. Use your fingers or the spoons to shape the cookies so that they are uniform and round.

Chill the cookies for a few hours or until firm. If you can't wait a few hours and end up eating a spoon of the batter straight out of the bowl, well, we're not here to judge.

Serves: your kids, their friends, and a hungry orthodontist, with extra to spare for the hard-working chef.

Notes:

1. If you need a non-dairy version of this and can tolerate either soy or almond milk, either make a fine substitution for the milk, and margarine will work for the butter. Almond or peanut butter (the creamy kind only, please) will also work for your non-allergic friends.
2. Before you spoon your sunflower seed butter into the measuring cup, spray the cup with some nonstick spray so that you don't have to struggle with getting it back out.
3. These cookies are best on the first few days, and they also freeze well. They also make an excellent last minute bake sale contribution, not that your child (or mine) would ever forget to tell you about the bake sale until the night before, nope, not your kid (or mine).

A Chief Assistant Pastry Chef Recipe