No-Bake Cocoa Oat Drops
Boiled sugar, cocoa, and quick oats pressed into bars at the picnic table. No oven, no bake time.
- calories
- 230
- weight
- 2 oz
- cal / oz
- 115
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 80 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Quick oats | 3 cups | certified gluten-free if that matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 2 cups | |
| Cocoa powder | 4 tbsp | unsweetened |
| Butter | 1/2 cup | one stick; keeps a day or two out of a cooler in cool weather |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | reconstituted with 80 ml water, replaces the 1/2 cup fresh milk |
| Shredded coconut | 1 cup | optional |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | optional, carried in a dropper bottle |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- At home, combine the oats, cocoa, coconut, and salt in one bag. Carry the sugar and milk powder in a second bag.
- In camp, whisk the milk powder into 80 ml of water in the pot. Add the sugar and butter.
- Heat over the stove or a low fire, stirring, until it comes to a full rolling boil. Hold it there one minute, no longer, then pull it off the heat.
- Stir in the vanilla, then dump in the dry bag. Mix hard and fast, the syrup sets as it cools.
- Spread the mass in a foil-lined lid or press spoonfuls onto foil. Leave it 20 minutes somewhere cool until firm.
This is a cooked-sugar candy that happens to contain oats. The one-minute boil is the whole recipe: it drives off enough water that the syrup sets firm as it cools. Boil less and you get sludge. Boil more and the drops turn dry and crumbly.
The original uses fresh milk, which is a problem away from a fridge. Powdered whole milk and 80 ml of water do the same job and ride in a bag. Butter still needs to be reasonably cool, so this is a car-camping and basecamp dessert unless you swap in coconut oil. Everything sets faster in cold air, so give it a shaded rock rather than a sunny table.
Packing
Two bags: dry mix in one, sugar plus milk powder in the other. Butter goes in a screw-top tub. Carry a square of foil for setting the drops.
Variations
- Coconut oil instead of butter and coconut milk powder instead of dairy makes it vegan and dairy-free.
- Skip the coconut and stir in 1/2 cup of raisins after the pot comes off the heat.
- Press the whole batch into a foil-lined pan and cut bars once cold. Fewer pieces, less handling.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/no-bake-cookies