A Simple, Sweet Treat For Summer – With NO BAKING

I think I've made it clear a few times that..... I don't love summer.

Well, don't get me wrong. I don't mind summer events. Going to the pool or the lake, that's fun, in moderation. And it's always fun to go to an amusement park. I just... don't love the heat.

And I don't love the idea of using my oven during the summer, either. It just makes the whole kitchen hot, you smell that little hunk of crumbs left at the bottom of the oven that are burning... and it's just a lot of hullaballo. I'd much prefer a cool dinner or treat. Not that I want cold pizza or leftovers from the fridge. I just don't think it's healthy to eat ice cream every day, so, I've got a new idea.

Or, well, it's probably not new. I bet someone's done it before. But it's new to ME.

So, here's my idea for some treats you can make without having to turn on the oven. In fact, you might be able to get away with just using the microwave.  I'm basically not gonna do a traditional "recipe" thing, I'm just gonna talk you through it like your Grandma did.  You know she never really followed the recipe to the letter anyway.

In fact, this might be a good idea for the kids, if they're old enough to trust with ingredients and the microwave and all that.

Fruity Chocolate Oat Treats! That's not what I want to call them, but... that's kind of what they are.  You guys might be able to come up with a better name.

This one is a strawberry raspberry oatmeal with milk chocolate and pretzels.

This is a blueberry blackberry oatmeal with dark chocolate and almonds.

Don't panic.  They're super easy. You probably have the stuff to make it right now.

Here goes.

First, you gotta gather some ingredients.  Melt down about a stick of butter, however you want to do that.  You could do two sticks, if you're feeling bold.  Microwave I guess is fine.  Then I added a half cup of dark brown sugar -  it's just a little different than  the "Normal" stuff you have in the cabinet.  It's easy to find at the store.   But if you don't have that on hand, your regular brown sugar will work. You mix that in with the butter and a capful of vanilla extract.

Then, it's time for the secret ingredient - instant oatmeal.  You can use whatever kind you want, that's the beauty.  If you want a maple one, use those.  If you want an apple cinnamon, use that.  I just found these strawberry/raspberry and blackberry/blueberry instant packets at the store.  Huge shortcut! You're not chopping fruits or drying them out or adding extract, nothin'. Just put the packets in a bowl.  It depends on how much you want to make, but you can figure out how much you want to make based on just proportions.  I used six packets, or the whole box. So if you only have three packets, just do half of the other ingredients.  You dig.

via GIPHY

Then, you have to melt about a cup of chocolate.  This is another way you can change it up to whatever you like. If you like milk chocolate, use that.  Or if you want white chocolate, use that.  Maybe you want caramel instead? Might be messy, but... Go for it! You wanna try Nutella? Well. I wouldn't, that's kinda pricey to me.  But it might be tasty!

via GIPHY

You melt the chocolate, and then add in whatever nut butter you like, maybe a little less than a cup.  I used no added sugar extra crunchy peanut butter.  But you could use almond butter or cashew butter, or whatever you've got.  Put whatever you like in with the chocolate you like.  Let that do its thing.  You want it to melt down into a kind of spreadable paste or an easy to pour situation.

Next, in the bowl you have the butter and sugar and extract in, pour in your oatmeal. You just mix it up a bit til the oatmeal is covered in the gooey goodness.

Pick a baking sheet or a baking pan or a muffin tin, or again, whatever you have.  You're going to put the mix in it, so you can chill it all together and eat it later, you dig.  So if you're using a 9X9 cos that's what you've got and that will fit in the fridge, do that.  Just make sure you lube it up first. I tried using some wax paper but.... that just stuck to the oatmeal mixture.  So I would say just spray some Pam in there, you get it.

via GIPHY

Once the oatmeal is all combined, you put about half of it in your pan/sheet/whatever.  Then you press it down and around, kind of like you would a graham cracker pie crust. If you need a quick tip, here goes  - you can press this stuff with your fingers, and that's fine.  But if you want to use a spatula, spray it with cooking spray first, so it won't stick to the oatmeal.  You'll thank me later.

Get our free mobile app

Let it sit there and kind of cool (since the butter might still be warm) while you're meltin' the chocolate and nut butter together.  When it's ready, you put the chocolate on your oatmeal mix.  Add whatever you want at this point.  Nuts, candy, raisins, whatever, sprinkle it on top of the chocolate that you put on top of the oatmeal mix.  I crushed up some pretzels to put in one and some almonds to put in the other (again, because that's what I had on hand). But you don't have to add anything to the chocolate/nut butter, remember.  It's whatever you got, whatever you like.

Then, you put the rest of your oatmeal mixture on the top.  You can leave out a half a handful of what you filled it with (your pretzels, nuts, candy) and sprinkle it on top of the mixture if you want.  Or you could do a little dusting of powdered sugar.  But that's up to you - you'll have to cater it to how you like it.  If that's too sweet, you can skip it.

via GIPHY

After that, it's just letting it sit in the fridge.  I kept it in there overnight, and didn't touch it til I got off work.  It was super easy to cut them into little bars, and NJ and I nibbled on em all weekend.

Of course you can switch it up - if you are watching your sugar, there are a lot of sugar free or low fat alternatives you can use.

Let me know what you think - and if you try it!

Non-bakingly yours,
Behka