My mother made no-bake cookies only one time when I was growing up. The occasion was our annual summer vacation and I was so young the only thing I remember about that vacation is the no-bake cookies. They were the standard cocoa powder/butter/sugar/peanut butter/oats concoction, but it was love at first bite. Sadly, she never made them again. I recall requesting them a couple of times since that vacation, but she had no memory of the cookies I had loved so much. They were lost in the Bermuda Triangle of family vacation memories.

Years later, a friend of mine happened to bring a batch into work. As I spotted them from across the room, I swear I heard the love theme from Romeo and Juliet swelling all around me. Could these be my long-lost mystery cookies? A few short minutes later, I discovered that the standard cocoa/oat no-bakes are as common as Rice Krispy Treats and just about as easy to make.

Now, I really do love no-bake cookies, but they are not the sort of thing one blogs about. The only way to lose respect faster would be if I blogged about the aforementioned Rice Krispy Treats. However, this no-bake kicks it up a half notch.

I found the basic recipe at Jedsmaple.com and modified it to balance the sweetness a bit.

And so I present it to you, unashamed, because I just think they are really tasty.

Maple No-Bake Bars

Special Equipment

Candy Thermometer
Double Boiler or an improvised double boiler consisting of a small sauce pan and a metal bowl large enough to completely cover the sauce pan
3 quart-ish sauce pan
wax paper or parchment paper

Ingredients

2 ½ cups Grade B Maple Syrup
1 stick of butter
3 cups quick oats
3 oz. good quality semi-sweet chocolate (I used Green & Black’s Maya Gold, which added a little bit of complexity to the flavor of the end product)
Sea salt

Instructions

1) Pour 3 cups oats into a large bowl.
2) In a 3 quart sauce pan heat maple syrup and butter to 235 °F.
3) Remove syrup from heat and let rest, undisturbed, for 1 minute.
4) Stir the syrup for about 20 seconds.
5) Pour the syrup over the oats and stir until just combined.
6) Press oat mixture into a greased 7″ x 11″ pan and let cool until firm. It may take up to a couple of hours for these to become firm.
7) Once the bars have cooled and firmed, cut into small pieces. Remove bars from pan and place on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper.
8) Salt the tops and bottoms of the bars with finely ground sea salt.
9) Fill bottom of double boiler with water and place on low heat.
10) Break chocolate into the top of double boiler and place over hot water. Do not cover.
11) Keep an eye on the chocolate, giving it an occasional stir. When the chocolate is almost completely melted, remove from hot water and continue to stir until the last bits melt.
12) Drizzle chocolate over bars and cool until hardened.

Once again, thanks to Nate Kauffman for the great pic.