Slow Cooker Cocoa Peanut Butter Oat Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

Chewy, crunchy and more-ish, these no bake slow cooker cookies are made with cocoa, peanut butter and whole rolled oats. They will have you reaching for just one more, until they are gone.

Despite my participation in the last Creative Cookie Exchange no-bake challenge in 2014 when I made Kashata Squares from Uganda, I am a neophyte at no bake cookie making.

This time I got my head in the game and hunted high and low with two recipe goals in mind. 1. It should be easy. Some weeks I’m close to in over my head and no bake could not mean complicated. 2. It should be tasty. I was hoping for something with peanut butter. I’m not much of a sweet eater but I do love the sweet and salty combination that peanut butter brings to a cookie.

This recipe on Moms With Crockpots fits both bills. Of course, my slow cooker is not an official Crockpot®, which is a registered trademark, so while changing up the method somewhat, I also changed the name.

These guys couldn’t be easier. Set your slow cooker on high and make a dent in your to-do list.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 350g sugar
4 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 cup or 120ml milk, warmed slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter – melted and cooled
3 cups or 300g old fashioned rolled oats (Mine are called Scottish jumbo!)
1/2 cup or 140g crunchy peanut butter

Method
In the base of your slow cooker, before you turn it on, mix together the sugar, cocoa, milk, butter and vanilla. I say to warm the milk first (just 20 -30 seconds in the microwave will do) because, in my experience, cold milk makes melted butter seize up again. We don't want that.

Pour oats on top of the chocolatey syrupy mixture. Spoon peanut butter in the middle on top of the oats. Don't mix them in!

Place the lid on your slow cooker and cook on high for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the cocoa mixture reaches a good boil around the edges. Resist opening it to look before your timer buzzes. Lifting the lid releases a lot of heat and it takes a while for your slow cooker to get back up to temperature. The peanut butter isn’t going to sink in (at least mine didn’t) but you do want it to soften in the heat.

You can see that it's bubbling!

Stir well. I mean, really well. You want the peanut butter mixed thoroughly throughout.

Use a cookie scoop to place your cookies on a clean heat resistant surface covered in baking parchment.

I don’t know if my 2-tablespoon scoop is smaller than the original recipe but I got 31 full scoops and one half scoop, way more that the two dozen promised.

Allow cookies to set for a few hours and then store in a sealed container, layers divided by parchment. (Cut up the pieces your cookies cooled on and reuse.) If it’s hot where you live, you might want to chill your cookies. Mine set perfectly but the bottoms were still a little sticky.

Many thanks to Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories and Renee of Magnolia Days for doing our behind-the-scenes organizing this month. It’s much appreciated!

Just in time for the heat of summer, another round of no bake cookies! Forget turning the oven on, we’ve got you covered.

• Coconut Apricot Slice from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Energy Bars from Baking in Pyjamas
• No Bake Almond Joy Bars from 2 Cookin Mamas
• No Bake Apricot Coconut Oatmeal Cookies from A Shaggy Dough Story
• No Bake Cookie Butter S'mores Bites from Live...Bake...Love
• No-Bake Fruit Balls from Magnolia Days
• No Bake Nutella Cookies from flours and frostings
• Slow Cooker Cocoa Peanut Butter Oat Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet and Salty Popcorn Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts at The Spiced Life). We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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Cinnamon Crown Bundt with Biscoff Pecan Filling #BundtBakers

This delicious Bundt is baked with what is essentially one vanilla butter cake batter and one filling made with spicy Biscoff cookie spread, pecans, oats and cinnamon. Here’s the twist: half of the filling is added to half of the batter, creating several layers of flavor.

Ah, cinnamon. It’s one of my favorite spices. It can be used in sweet recipes or even savory meat dishes, especially in this part of the world. As much as I enjoy the challenge of unusual ingredients for our Bundt Baker themes, I loved that our February host, Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook chose something so normal as cinnamon this month. Who doesn’t love cinnamon!

This cinnamon Bundt cake recipe is adapted from the cookbook Bundt Classics, which is published by Nordic Ware. The book was a gift from my sister when she came out to visit me here in Dubai and is full of fabulous recipes created especially for Bundt pans. I baked the Bundt in a beautiful new pan (Nordic Ware’s Blossom) that I received from friends for my birthday. So with the oven on in my chilly kitchen and the smell of cinnamon wafting through the air, I was feeling very cozy and pretty special.

Ingredients
For the filling:
2/3 cup or 80g chopped pecans
2/3 cup or 70g jumbo oats
2/3 cup or 190g Biscoff Cookie Spread
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups or 315g or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
3/4 cup or 85g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

To serve: powdered or confectioner’s sugar.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C degrees. Prepare your 10-cup Bundt pan by generously greasing it with butter and coating with flour or use  nonstick spray meant for baking.

In a small bowl, thoroughly mix together all the ingredients for the filling. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt.

Mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer at medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Spoon half of the batter into your prepared pan.

Divide the filling in half and sprinkle one portion onto the batter in your baking pan.

Tip the other half of the filling into the big mixing bowl and beat for another minute or two, or until everything is well combined.

Spoon over filling in the pan.

Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden at the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.

Enjoy!

Check out all the cinnamon loveliness we have for you this month:

• Apple Cinnamon Bundt by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Carrot Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze by Kelly at Passion Kneaded
• Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake by Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Cinnamon Apple Jelly Donut Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious
• Cinnamon Bundt Coffee Cake by Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• Cinnamon Chocolate and Strawberry Cake by Deepti at Baking Yummies
• Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Cinnamon Crown Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Dolce Coffee Bundt Cake by Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs
• Cinnamon Espresso Bundt with Chocolate Ganache by Amanda at The Cinnamon Scrolls
• Cinnamon Pecan Streusel Bundt Cake by Lara at Tartacadabra
• Cinnamon Roll Bundt by Margaret at Tea and Scones
• Cinnamon Swirl Bundt by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bundt Cake by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Cinnamon Toast Bundt by Jane at Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Cinnamon Toast Bundts by Olivia at Liv for Cake
• Mexican Chocolate Bundt Cake by Mondo at I Bake He Shoots
• Monkey Bread Bundt by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Spice Toffee Bundt Cake by June at How to Philosophize with Cake
• Red Tea and Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Mary at Los Chatos Chefs
• Six Pound Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls Bundt by Priya at I Camp in My Kitchen
• Sweet Cinnamon Spice Tea Bundtlettes by Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Tea Chai Bundt Cake by Rocio at kidsandchic
• Tunnel of Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Walnut Schnecken Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest Board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

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Oatmeal Stout Loaf #BreadBakers

The dark brown sugar and rich oatmeal stout give this loaf more than a subtle sweetness, making it perfect for breakfast or slathered with butter for a mid-morning snack. It's delicious plain or toasted and is complemented both by jam or/and some sharp and salty cheese.

One of my favorite places to browse around in Houston is the main headquarters of an immense gourmet specialties and liquor store called Spec’s, sitting large on three blocks (with ample parking) in an area that is now called Midtown. When I was growing up, we’d have just said, it’s a little south of Downtown. Back then the neighborhood was all run-down wood framed houses, with peeling paint, sagging front porches and inhabitants whose equally downturned expressions reflected the hardship of life in a big hot, humid city where air conditioning was too expensive to run. And Spec’s was just a small neighborhood liquor store. The nearest grocery store was a Fiesta at least a mile and a half away at the squalid south edge, wedged almost under a freeway, between that end of south Downtown and the seedy north end of Montrose, what would later become part of the Museum District.

Now Midtown boasts shiny apartment buildings with faux balconies, grocery stores, trendy restaurants and fern-festooned wine bars and property values have soared accordingly. I don’t know if this was good or bad news for the original folks who lived there but it’s certainly a sign of prosperity and renewal for Houston’s inner city.

A number of years ago, Spec’s even started carrying a selection of deli meats and cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables along with fresh baked artisanal bread and some refrigerated items, along with the gourmet canned goods, liquor, wine and beer, so I guess, theoretically, you could do a lot of your shopping there, assuming your food budget would allow such expenditure. I understand they even serve a plate lunch come midday. Me, I go for the cheese and alcohol.

You are probably wondering at this point when, if ever, I’m going to get to the bread. Almost there now.

My libation of choice this summer was a cocktail, yet unnamed, consisting of the delicious combination of Texas’ own Deep Eddy Ruby Red vodka, a good squeeze of lime, club soda and just a capful of Campari over ice. And I can highly recommend it. But while I was at Spec’s buying those refreshing ingredients, I spied some bottles of oatmeal stout and my mind jumped ahead to this month’s Bread Bakers theme of oats. Unfortunately for that brand, it came only in six packs. A helpful Spec’s employee – they are everywhere and very knowledgeable – found this Texas-brewed one for me instead, saying it was actually much better than my first pick anyway. The Convict Hill oatmeal stout has overtones of chocolate and toasted barley, the bitterness softened by the addition of flakey oats. And I knew it would be a great addition to an oaty yeast loaf.

Many thanks to our host this month, Rocío from kidsandchic. We have a record number of oaty breads for you this month – 28 in all – so make sure to scroll down and check them all out.

Ingredients
1/4 oz or 7g active rapid rise dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup firmly packed or 100g dark brown sugar
1 cup or 100g quick cook whole grain oats
1 1/4 cups or 295ml oatmeal stout, at room temperature
1/4 cup or 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for buttering pan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups or 310-375g unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

To finish:
2-3 tablespoons oatmeal stout
Healthy sprinkle quick cook whole grain oats

Method
In a small bowl, add your yeast with one tablespoon of the brown sugar and the two tablespoons of warm water. Stir gently then leave aside for about five minutes. We are checking to see that the yeast is still alive. It should bubble up and get foamy. If it doesn’t, buy some new yeast and start again.

Foamy and we are good to go!

To a very large mixing bowl, add the oatmeal and the oatmeal stout. Stir well and leave for about five minutes so the oatmeal can soften slightly.

Add in the rest of the brown sugar, the yeast mixture, melted butter and the salt and stir well to combine.

Add in your flour a few big spoons full at a time, mixing well in between. Keep adding and mixing until you have a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about five minutes, adding a sprinkle of flour as necessary.

Let rest, covered with an inverted bowl, about 15 minutes. If you aren’t using the rapid rise yeast, allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Butter your 9x5x3 in or 23x13x8cm loaf pan. Form dough into a loaf shape and transfer to pan. Brush surface of dough with oatmeal stout and sprinkle with oats.

Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake bread in middle of oven 45 to 50 minutes, or until browned and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. If it’s browning too quickly, cover with foil. I usually double check for doneness with a thermometer as well. Internal loaf temperature should be about 190°F or 88°C.

Turn loaf out onto rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

And here I give you our Bread Bakers' Ode to Oats, in 28 lines.

• Agave Oatmeal Sour Dough Bread from My Catholic Kitchen
• Applesauce Oatmeal Bread from Hostess at Heart
• Banana Oatmeal Loaf from Basic N Delicious
• Blueberry Currant Oatmeal Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Honey Oatmeal Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Honey Oatmeal Bread from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Honey-Oatmeal Muffins from A Baker's House
• Honey Oats Bread Loaf from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Honey Nut Oatmeal Waffles from Magnolia Days
• Honey Wheat Oat Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Irish Oat and Whole Wheat Bread from Cali's Cuisine
• Lemon Blueberry Oat Bread from Kids & Chic
• Multigrain Twist Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Oat Breadsticks from Passion Kneaded
• Oatmeal and Whole Wheat Rolls from Sneha's Recipe
• Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Oatmeal Porridge Sandwich Loaf from Bakers and Best
• Oatmeal Stout Loaf from Food Lust People Love
• Oat & Honey Bread from La Cocina de Aisha
• Oats and Millet Idli from Spice Roots
• Oats Bread with Maple and Walnut by Cook's Hideout
• Oats Garlic Kulcha from SimplyVeggies
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Scones from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Rolled Oat Sourdough Boule from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Savory Oats Scones from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Triple Seeded Oat Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread from Spill the Spices

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: No one has compensated me in any way to say nice things about Spec's. I just like the place.

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Trios (Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Oat) Bundt #BundtBakers

A tender Bundt cake recipe with oats, chocolate chips and peanut butter, made gluten-free, just like the new-this-year Trio Girl Scout cookies. 

I’ve had a long and happy relationship with the Girl Scouts for many, many years so I was delighted when this month’s Bundt Bakers host Kelly from Passion Kneaded suggested the theme of Girl Scout cookies, using either the actual cookies or the flavors for inspiration.

As I wrote here, joining a Girl Scout troop was one of the main reasons I solidified friendships and settled in at a new school, in a new country that was ostensibly my own. That supportive environment allowed me to grow and explore in a safe and creative way. I was a Girl Scout through elementary school and into high school and my fellow scouts have remained my lifelong friends.

My first real job after I graduated from university was at the Girl Scouts and I worked with a woman who taught me grace under pressure, how to cooperate with and motivate volunteers and how to comport and express myself articulately in meetings with financial backers. Among other valuable lessons. She gave me scary big responsibilities and made sure I had the support to fulfill them. She reminded me, in fact, very much of my former troop leader in that regard. 

Our volunteers and area coordinators came from every race, every socio-economic group, every religion. What they had in common was a staunch belief in the innate ability of girls to succeed, to grow, to become responsible, contributing members of society - a society that would be made greater by the educated and creative influence those girls would have, as the strong and capable women they would become, through participation in the Girl Scout program.

Years passed and I was blessed with girls of my own. At the first opportunity, I made sure they were able join Girl Scout troops and took turns being troop leader for one of the other throughout the years they were involved in scouting. I saw them learn resilience and perseverance, both leadership skills and how to be a supportive team member, and I saw their natural curiosity and creativity enriched by being part of the Girl Scouts.

Girl Scout cookies come in some wonderful flavor combinations, many new since I was involved with the program. My absolute favorite is the Thin Mint, closely followed by the peanut butter cookies, called either Do-Si-Do or Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, depending on the bakery and region, but I decided, in the spirit of a true Girl Scout, to explore the new and base my cookie on the latest addition, called the Trio.

It tickled me to bake my Trio Bundt in a Nordic Ware Duet pan (<Amazon affiliate link) which has a 5-cup capacity but you can use a six-cup pan if you prefer. Or even full size pan but the Bundt will just be shorter.

Ingredients
3/4 cup or 70g five-minute oats (These are the step between quick cooked and rolled oats.)

1 1/4 cups or 125g gluten-free bread flour mix (I like this one from Dove Farm. <Amazon affiliate link)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 140g creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup 100g packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
3/4 cup or 150g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Optional for serving: A good sprinkling of powdered sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease and flour your Bundt pans or pan or use a gluten-free baking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.

In large bowl, beat the brown sugar and peanut butter with your electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and the two eggs.

Beat in flour mixture and then pour in the milk as it mixes till well blended, scraping the bowl occasionally.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter evenly in your prepared pans or pan and smooth out the top.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Leave the Bundts to cool for about 10 minutes and then turn them out on a wire rack to cool
completely.

Sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving, if desired. Of course, Trio cookies don’t have icing sugar but I’m taking poetic license here because it looks pretty.

Enjoy!

Were you a Scout growing up? What's your favorite cookie? Perhaps it's been recreated as a Bundt cake in this fabulous list of Girl Scout Cookie inspired Bundts! Many thanks to Kelly from Passion Kneaded, our host this month's Bundt Bakers for this great theme.

• Brown Sugar Coconut Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache from Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
• Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Mini Bundt Cakes from Renee at Magnolia Days
• Chocolate Mint Bundt Cake from Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Coconut Caramel Samoas Bundt Cake from Anshie at Spice Roots
• Cranberry Lemon Bundt Cake from Jelena at A Kingdom for a Cake
• Do Si Do Mini Bundts from Anne at From My Sweet Heart
• Double Glazed Peanut Butter & Chocolate Fudge Bundt from Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Golden Nut Bundt (Juliettes Bundt) from Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemonade Frosting from Anna at Media Racion Doble, Por Favor
• Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake with Limoncello Glaze from Pam at Sidewalk Shoes
• Lemonade Bundt from Jane at Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Lemonade Bundt Cake from Esti at Mummy & Cute
• Marbled Samoa Bundt Cake from Patricia at Patty's Cake
• Mini Samoa Bundt Cakes from Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food
• Mini Vanilla Bundt Cakes with Lemon Drizzle from Kathya at Basic N Delicious
• Mint Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake from Sarah at The Chef Next Door
• Mint Filled Coconut Vanilla Bundt from Shilpi at Simply Veggies
• Peanut Butter Tagalong Bundt Cake from Mary Ellen at That's My Home
• Peppermint & Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake from Lara at Tartacadabra
• Samoa Bundt Cake from Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Samoa Bundt Cake from Jana at Jenny and Sweets
• Samoas Bundt Cake from Aisha at La Cocina de Aisha
• "Savannah Smiles" Lemony Bundt Cake from Samantha at Un Mordisco Un Pecado
• Spiked Lemonade Bundt from Kelly at Passion Kneaded
• Tagalong Bundt Cake from Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tagalong Cookie Core Bundt from Julie at Eat, Drink, Be Mighty
• Thin Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake from Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Toffee-tastic Bundt Cake from Linda at Brunch with Joy
• Trios (Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Oat) Bundt from Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Whole Grain Oats Bundt {Rah-Rah Raisins} from Rocío at KidsandChic

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.