Amy W.'s favorite: Peanut butter no-bakes

I have enlisted the help of family and friends to complete the 25 Days of Cookies. The first is from my childhood friend Amy, who is probably my oldest friend whom I still stay in touch with today. We met in third grade, and my family lives within walking distance of her family's farm.

We have had a lot of culinary adventures together...sharing recipes in 4-H Club, making doughnuts from scratch (that was a project), collecting the buckets that held sap for maple syrup on her farm, and most recently, making some fabulous meals with our dearest girlfriends and families at her house in August 2008.

Here's a preface to her recipe, in her own words:

Not gourmet by any means, but a favorite at the Wyatt house. It is the only known instance where peanut butter trumps chocolate, as we like them way better than their better-known cocoa counterparts. I have heard no-bakes called “preacher cookies” before - you could see the preacher coming down the road for a visit and have them done before he got to your house. I’m thinking that probably refers to a preacher coming by horse. They are fast and easy, and around the holidays, a good one to have for the family so they don’t devour all the fancy labor-intensive cookies before they make it to a party or as gifts!

Peanut Butter No-Bakes
Boil and stir for 2 minutes:

2 c. sugar
½ c. margarine
½ c. milk

Remove from heat and add:

½ c. creamy peanut butter
1 t. vanilla
3 c. quick oats

Quickly drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper.

If mixture is boiled too long, the cookies will be dry and fall apart. Add a little milk to get them back to the right consistency before spooning them out.