Clumps of chocolate and oats
Boston has blessed us with a record 16 days of above 90-degree weather so far this summer. The window air conditioning unit in my bedroom can no longer overpower the heat. I wake up sweating and take a cold shower to wake up and cool down only to start sweating again immediately after stepping out of the shower. The only escape is going to work where the air conditioner is on so high that I can feel my blood thawing when I leave at the end of the day. My kitchen is a sauna, the oven is the hot rocks you’re not supposed to throw water on.
Last week the New York Times released an interactive map that allows you to see how much hotter your hometown is now compared to the year you were born. With some small tweaks, you can make this map show you the weather trends of any city in the United States since 1920. For Boston, their data only goes back until 1960, but that’s still enough to see that there is no stopping these skin-melting days.
In 1960, Boston had an average of six days per year that reached at least 90 degrees. By this interactive, Boston had a projected average of seven days at or above 90 this year - 9 days lower than our actual weather patterns. This number is projected to double by the end of the century with an estimated average summer of 14 above 90-degree days, but “the likely range is between 7 and 24 days.”
Scrolling past the ominous graphs, you’re faced with more grim data: these numbers were calculated with an assumption that countries will curb their emissions in line with the original Paris Agreement pledges, a pledge that the United States is withdrawing from and goals that most signatory countries are not on track to meet. To put things lightly, the skin-melting heat will not be ending anytime soon.
I never really understood the genius of no-bake desserts until I lived in an apartment without air conditioning during 16 days of 90+ degree weather. Before this, I considered such recipes to be the knock-off brand of actually good desserts. But, now that I’m faced with the nightly choice of heating up my sweltering kitchen more by turning on the oven or scrounging for whatever cheese, bread, and veggies I have in the fridge, I get it. Cooking in the summer takes mental toughness beyond following a recipe.
These no-bake cookies were the relief I didn’t know I needed. Each chewy, textured bite tasted better knowing that I didn’t completely dehydrate my body while making a few cookies. Though I’m not sure that these qualify as cookies…
In the recipe, Ruth mentions that these will be popular with children. Since I don’t know any children in Boston, I tested their worth with the next closest group of people I know, Gary and his roommates. I received the following review: “These are really good… but they are definitely NOT cookies. I’m not sure what to call them but cookies is not the right term.” I couldn’t argue. There’s no slightly crusty edges or soft middle, no gooey dough or cakey middle, there’s not even a teaspoon of flour in this recipe! I refuse to call any recipe without flour a cookie. These balls of chocolatey sugar are more like peanut butter chocolate fudge with oats or a trail mix bar that a toddler added a chocolate bar to and smashed into a ball in their hands. Still, they were delicious.
They reminded me of an episode of Paula’s Home Cooking I watched one afternoon in middle school. Paula Deen was in her heyday (before all of our suspicions of her being a racist were publicly confirmed) cooking up southern dishes with more than full-fat ingredients. This episode she was cooking her “famous peanut butter chocolate fudge” recipe during which she said, “I like this recipe because it has all three of my favorite ingredients: butter, peanut butter, and chocolate.” The line was said so earnestly I couldn’t tell if I was watching Food Network or SNL. While I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite ingredients, I can’t argue that they make great desserts. If you’re going to learn anything from Paula Deen, please let it be that. Adding butter to anything makes it tastes better, even the already perfect food combination of peanut butter and chocolate.
As your first foray into the holy trifecta, try this recipe. It's easy, fast, and you only have to turn on your stove for 5 minutes. Just make sure to put them in the fridge to cool - they’ll never set in your hellscape of a kitchen.
For the recipe, click here.