I have a coffee meeting tomorrow morning and promised to bring a certain pastry from a certain bakery in my town.  However, since I got bonked in the noggin by my reading lamp this morning, I am decidedly not feeling like going out and standing in line somewhere.  So, I opened the pantry, leaned against the doorframe and stared inside, waiting for inspiration. 

 

This is just a variation of every other no-bake cookie recipe that ever existed, but it still turned out to be very tasty.

 

In a saucepan I heated:

1 cup milk

2 cups white sugar

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

 

While that was coming to a boil, I stirred it often and put the following in a large bowl:

1 bag of chocolate chips

1 bag of shredded coconut

3 cups of chocolate cereal, I used the rice kind

 

When the liquid mixture came to a boil, I turned the heat down a bit and let it get all foamy, stirring all the while.  I let it cool a bit and added a tablespoon of vanilla, and then poured it over the other ingredients.  It was goopy, so I added more cereal until it wasn't so loose, but wasn't stiff. 

 

I was planning on making drop cookies, but decided to press the mixture into a pan to make bars (it will be easier to transport).  I used two 8" square pans, covered them with foil and stuck them in the refrigerator.

 

Very chocolate-y, not too sweet and should be great with coffee tomorrow, if we don't eat them all tonight.  The next time I think I'll try sweetened condensed milk and maybe add some little marshmallows, slivered almonds or pecans, and less cereal.