It may be a bold gamble, but I’d be willing to wager that no traveler has ever carried an oven as part of their perpetual travel rig. Simply put, an oven has no place in a rucksack, the art of baking is truly a rare extravagance for the world traveler. What is more is that ovens [...]
Published on May 24, 2012
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It may be a bold gamble, but I’d be willing to wager that no traveler has ever carried an oven as part of their perpetual travel rig.
Simply put, an oven has no place in a rucksack, the art of baking is truly a rare extravagance for the world traveler. What is more is that ovens themselves are not standard kitchen appliances in much of the world, and even finding a hostel or an apartment that has one is an uncommon event. It’s a good thing that cookies can also be made on a stove top.
This is a recipe to make no bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies, one of the top desserts of the Vagabond Cookbook.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter
- If available, quick cooking oats (2 to 3 minute kind). If not available, standard oats will do.
- Sugar
- Butter
- Milk
- Vanilla
Ingredients for no bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies
Supplies
- A pot
- A spoon
- Something to place the cookies on (wax paper, tin foil, a baking sheet, a large plate, a clean table top)
- A cooking source, such as a gas or electric standard stove, a portable burner, or a camp stove.
How to make
- Take a stick of butter, two cups of sugar, half a cup of milk, and two teaspoons of vanilla and toss it all into pot. Put it on your heating source and bring it to a roaring boil. Keep it boiling for exactly 90 seconds (important!).
- Turn off the heat.
- Then add in a half cup of peanut. Stir like a mutha.
- When it’s all mixed up put in 3 and a half cups of oats. Again, stir like a mutha.
- Now plop out spoon fulls of this gruel onto wax paper (or whatever you’re using to let it cool on).
- Wait for the cookies to cook and set before eating.
Conclusion
Just because I’m a traveler does not mean that I should deny myself home made cookies. No-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies are easy and cheap to make, and can be done up in just about any country where peanut butter and oats are available. Though I must admit that these cookies are probably better made in a kitchen than a camp. So when you come off the tramp head into a hostel kitchen and make up a batch of vagabond no-bake cookies.
This recipe is part of the Vagabond Cookbook.
Filed under:
Food
About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3692 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
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2 comments… add one
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May 25, 2012, 7:32 am
LinkGreat cookies, I’ve been making them for years, they are easy to cook. Back before I started dieting, they were a mainstay. I add cocoa to mine, never tried them without cocoa so this might be something I need to experiment with.
I tried making them in tropical areas and without a refrigerator or a/c they just wouldn’t set up properly. Just be prepared for that one. If the weather is hot, let them set up in a ref or turn on the a/c.
Comment about vanilla: I make my own vanilla. It’s cheap. I buy vanilla beans and put them in alcohol. When I came to China, I came with like 12 vanilla beans. When I got here, I bought some cheap Baiju, 200 ml bottles, and put one vanilla bean in each one. Gave a couple of them to other foreign teachers here. After about a month, they are ready to be used and can be refreshed with fresh Baiju(or vodka) from time to time. Vanilla really perks up a lot of cooking and when you make your own, it’s dirt cheap. Vanilla extract, when you can find it in Asian countries, is quite expensive.
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May 25, 2012, 8:58 pm
LinkRight on, you’ve been there. The oven less road calls for drastic measures haha.
True about the coco. We sometimes make them like this but did not include it in the above recipe because it’s sometimes a challenge to find coco powder in some places. Good note about the need to refrigerate them in warmer climates. If you don’t you’re left with plops of mush.
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