This recipe comes from my great aunt, Aunt Faye. I have wonderful memories of her from when I was little. She always smelled nice, she was so sweet and kind, and was a tiny little lady. But the main memory I have are these delicious treats that I grew up eating, knowing they were her recipe. There are so many no-bake treat recipes out there, but I have not found one I adore as much as these fudgy goodies. Her recipe makes a ton, but you can easily half it which is what I often do or I will just eat the entire humongous batch all myself! This was one of the first dessert recipes I knew I had in my back pocket when my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease. As horrible as it seemed at first, I knew we could at least eat these!!
Aunt Faye's Fudgy Favorites
Makes 4 dozen
4 cups sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
6 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
6 cups quick oats
2 cups shredded coconut (I use sweetened)
2 teaspoons vanilla
In a large saucepan, add the sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, and milk. Bring to a boil and stir while boiling for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the oats. Cover with a lid and let it steam for 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut and vanilla until combined. Scoop onto parchment paper (I use a cookie scoop) and allow to set up slightly before eating. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Step-by-step tutorial:
This tutorial is being brought to you by the help of my 13 year old son. He is one of my gluten free kiddos, and loves these treats! He also knows how to make them and is my best assistant.
Don't be alarmed by my gigantic container of cocoa powder. I inherited it from a house we bought in California many years back, and we laughed so hard at ever needing that much cocoa powder! But through the years, we have had a hard time keeping it full because it turns out we love all things chocolate (my husband used to tease the kids and tell them that's why his eyes are brown). So it's become part of the family.
Gather all of your ingredients. You can use coconut shreds or flakes. Old fashioned oats can work, but you will want to steam them longer, and they do have a different consistency. If you have quick oats, I would use those.
In this tutorial, I halved the recipe. To a large saucepan, add the sugar, butter, salt, and cocoa powder, then pour in the milk.
Heat over medium high heat until it comes to full rolling boil. Stir constantly and let boil for one minute, then remove from the heat.
Add the oats and stir to combine. It will seem fairly thin at this point. Cover the pan with a lid and let it steam the oats for 5 minutes.
After steaming, add the coconut and vanilla.
Stir until everything is combined. Using a cookie scoop or several tablespoons, scoop onto parchment paper to cool and set up.
Once slightly set, you can start to eat them while warm (my favorite) or wait until they are completely cooled. They are addictive either way. Store in an airtight container.
I hope you will give this old family recipe a try! They've been to many school classrooms for holidays and birthday treats, and the plate always comes home empty!
Recipe Source: Shanna's recipe box