Peppermint Oreo Dirtballs

The thing I miss most when I’m cooking outdoors is baking. Yes, you can bake in a dutch oven, but it’s nothing like baking in an oven at home. Baking is my favorite kind of cooking, and I think that’s not so much because it’s baking, but more that it’s not something I do every day. Lots of days cooking feels like it’s just for survival—I have to make dinner most days, but baking cookies or a pie is never a something I must do.

A great alternative to baking cookies outdoors is to make no-bake ones. Most no-bake cookies I’ve tried start with another kind of cookie as a base, something like crushed oreos or vanilla wafers. Then there’s something to add moisture (anything from cream cheese to peanut butter to booze) so that you can re-form the crushed cookies into new cookies. You can add in nuts or flavorings, or cover them in chocolate. The options are endless.

In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we’d introduce our favorite no-bake cookie. We call them Dirtballs, of course! If you’re camping with kids, make them put these together. They’ll love to get their hands dirty. And if you are camping for Christmas, you can still make Christmas cookies without the oven.

Peppermint Oreo Dirtballs

Yield

about 15 dirtballs

Prep Time / Cook Time

5 minutes / 0 minutes

Activity Guide

Bike Touring, Car Camping, Day Trip, Picnic

Ingredients

• 1 package Oreo cookies
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 6 candy canes

Tools

• 2 Large Zip Top Bags
• Rock (or similar heavy object)

Method

1. Place Oreos in a large zip top bag and seal. Finely crush the cookies with a big rock. Open the bag and mix in the cream cheese until well blended.
2. Roll cookie and cream cheese mixture into 1 inch balls and set aside.
3. In another zip top bag, crush the candy canes. Toss each dirtball into the bag of crushed candy canes, pressing the candy cane pieces so that they stick to the outside of the dirtballs.