This post is sponsored by Barlean's.  In exchange for writing this post, I received compensation and the products used to develop my recipe.  As always, all content and opinions are my own. 

Last Christmas season, I wrote a post about developing new holiday traditions.  This year, I'm focusing on a recipe that has held a place of honor on my family's cookie trays for decades: my Grandma Ruth's no-bake cookies.  They're my all-time favorite Christmas cookie, mostly because chocolate is involved but also because I love the crumbly oatmeal texture.  No-bakes have the added benefit of being incredibly simple to make, with no preheating of the oven, no rolling of dough, and minimal dish washing. 

In the past, I've made my no-bake cookies with butter, but this year I accepted Barlean's challenge to use their Butter Flavored Coconut Oil as a butter substitute.  I also made a couple of tweaks to my original recipe to make it vegan, since I wanted to have a vegan cookie option for a potluck.

How does the Butter Flavored Coconut Oil compare to butter?  It certainly smells like the real thing--when I opened the package I thought that I had walked into a movie theater.  Butter Flavored Coconut Oil can be substituted 1-to-1 for butter in baking, cooking, and frying under 375 degrees.  It should be stored at room temperature if it's being used in place of softened or melted butter, and stored in the refrigerator if it's being swapped for chilled butter.  In addition to being vegan, it's organic, non-GMO, free of trans fats, sustainably sourced, and flavored naturally with botanical extracts. 

The verdict?  The finished cookies were a success--I thought the Butter Flavored Coconut Oil added a nice little boost of buttery flavor.   The taste tester in chief (my husband Mike) couldn't detect a difference and thought the no-bakes were as delicious as usual.

In order to make the recipe vegan, I swapped in non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened soy milk) and gelatin-free, vegan marshmallows--look for them at your local co-op or Whole Foods.  I recommend using Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for its richer flavor, but regular cocoa powder will work just fine if that's what you have on hand.

These cookies freeze particularly well, so they're a good candidate for making ahead of the holiday rush.  They also taste fabulous straight from the freezer (not that I would know from personal experience...)

Adapted from my Grandma Ruth's No-Bake Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Barlean's Butter Flavored Coconut Oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 cups quick oats
• 1 cup vegan mini marshmallows
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Line two baking sheets or a large work surface with wax paper.

Combine sugar, coconut oil, soy milk, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Stir in oats, marshmallows, and vanilla.  Continue stirring until marshmallows are completely melted.  Allow to cool until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Using two spoons, drop mounds of the mixture onto the wax paper-lined baking sheets or work surface and allow to set. 

Store cookies tightly covered at room temperature.