I am so bad.

You know - one of those people who bakes crispy, sweet, semi-gooey nummies then refuses to eat them herself, and pawns them off on her friends and neighbors.  Sure - she saves her arteries, but is that truly friendship?  So far, no one is complaining.  In my own defense, I am at an age where the old adage: "Over the lips and onto the hips" is painfully true.  And it ain't as easy to get those saddlebags under control.

I tried out two new cookie recipes on the barn crew - a pretty safe bet, as they will consume anything that contains sugar.  The more, the better.  The first recipe is for a chocolaty, fudgy, non-baked confection that is way more like fudge - with fiber.  They are from Taste of Home Magazine.  (I am going from memory here, so brace yourself.)

No Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies

2 cups sugar (I did cut it down to a cup and a half)
1/2 cup fat-free milk (I used raw, skimmed)
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I only had crunchy and it was better than fine)
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Put sugar, milk, butter and cocoa in a heavy bottomed, large saucepan and heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until well blended.  Stir in oats and coconut.  Put rounded tablespoonfuls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets.  (Right here is where they give you the icing.  I think that would be like gilding the lily, myself, but here's the icing recipe:  1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1 tsp shortening - put in microwave proof bowl and heat until chips are melted.  Stir together and drizzle over top of cookies).  Put cookies in the refrigerator to set.  Store leftovers (hahahaha) in an airtight container.  Makes about 3-1/2 dozen.

Next off the baking sheets was a recipe I picked up off a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats.  These babies were so sweet, they made my teeth hurt.  (Why, yes, I ate one.  You don't think I'd send them off without making sure they were safe, do you?  What kind of a friend do you think I am??)

Gluten Free Oatmeal Toffee Cookies
from Bob's Red Mill
(Obviously, if you do not have to follow a GF diet, use regular flour and delete the xanthan gum)

1 cup Toffee Baking Bits
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I would suggest 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar (ditto)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
2 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup all-purpose GF baking flour
1-1/2 cups GF rolled oats

Whisk together dry ingredients except oats and toffee and set aside. Cream shortening and sugars together. Add egg, vanilla and water and mix until well blended. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in oatmeal and toffee bits.

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and place rounded balls (small walnuts) of dough about 3 inches apart on the sheet. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from sheet.

Quite surprisingly, I do not have a photograph of the chocolaty-fudgy-buttery cookies.  They seem to have disappeared before I could get my camera out - disappeared down the road, that is.  Those babies were not staying in the house!