Tokyo Cookies (aka Boiled Cookies)

These cookies, which are almost a candy, have been my favorite comfort food since I was a little kid.  I've tried a few different versions - some with only oatmeal, some with the addition of peanut butter - but my favorite way to make them is with a combination of coconut and oats, but without the peanut butter.

The version I use (and alter to include coconut) is from Azaleas to Zucchini, East Texas Food, Festivals and Entertainment from A to Z (1995) by the Smith County Medical Society Alliance.  I'm not sure why the recipe contributor decided to call them Tokyo Cookies, but the name has grown on me over the years.  It sounds more intriguing than Boiled Cookies or No-Bake Cookies.  Plus, it always makes me sing the Godzilla song while they are boiling.  Wait, maybe that's not a good thing.

This cookbook was a gift from my mother-in-law.

You can see that I've forgotten to allow time to boil them a time or two.  Sometimes it is hard to read directions when one is having a chocolate emergency!

Mmmm, smell the chocolatey goodness!

The recipe optimistically claims to make 3 dozen cookies, but I usually get about 25 cookies out of it. Normally when that happens, it's because someone around here (*cough* me *cough*) likes to sample cookie dough, but boiling hot sugar syrup isn't great for sneaking samples, even if it is chocolate flavored.

They may not look like much, but they have amazing restorative powers!

Tokyo Cookies (Printable recipe)

adapted from Azaleas to Zucchini, East Texas Food, Festivals and Entertainment from A to Z (1995) by the Smith County Medical Society Alliance

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup milk

2 cups oats

1/2 cup coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Bring to a rolling boil the butter, sugar, cocoa and milk.  Boil over medium heat about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add oats, coconut and vanilla and immediately begin spooning out cookies on waxed paper.  Let harden.  Yield: 3 dozen