Off White Living

My research center has an impeccable dietician.  His  job is to do whatever it takes to ensure that research participants comply with our diet regulations for whatever study they are in.  Research diets are …well…RIGID.  Every morsel of food is accounted for, as is every calorie and nutrient.

So, because of this rigidity the dietician got an inspiration to make a simple, no-bake 100 calorie cookie that he could tack onto a research diet in order to add a treat (factoring the calories in, of course), or if a diet template needs to be bumped up by 100 calories.  One taste of these cookies and I was SOLD.  They are delicious and very decadent, and taste a lot richer than I would have expected.  So naturally I  came home to replicate them.  I’ve already gone through a batch – I brought them to my teach assistant group meeting and they were a huge hit!

I will say this.  I am not impeccable in my measuring techniques.  These are not intended for research purposes, and I know they are smaller in size than those created at the research center, yet they are delicious nonetheless.    Thus, I can’t make a 100 calorie promise.  They take all of 10 minutes to prepare and the texture is fantastic, especially right out of the freezer.  They do tweak the off-white rules a little b/c I used a low sugar hot chocolate mix, but you could simply use cocoa powder and unrefined sugar.

1.5 cubes of real butter
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or 1/2 cup at least if you are using plain cocoa powder only)
2 packets of hot cocoa mix (not more than 15g sugar/packet)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
about 2 cups of quick oats (they absorb moisture better than whole)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter on med heat, all the way.  Add the sugar and stir continuously until the  two are mixed in.  Add the hot cocoa mix and cocoa powder.  Mix thoroughly – all still on low to med heat.  Add the peanut butter and ensure it is evenly mixed in.  Slowly add the oats, stirring continuously, and stop when you feel the mix is saturated (it will get crumbly if you add too much ).  Don’t add the oats too quickly.

Spoon onto a cookie sheet and freeze.  This recipe makes about 34 small cookies.  If anybody wants to do the calorie math, be my guest!

Update: Okay, I did the math, using Spark People.  The total recipe has 2841 Kcal.  This means there are 83 calories per cookie.  Nice!