So apparently one of my students lives next door to me.
Forgive me if I don’t jump for joy.
Living next door to any of my students–as you can probably imagine–isn’t exactly my idea of a delightful development. I guess this means I’ll have to actually put on pants now when I open the windows.
Kidding. I’m totally kidding. (Except maybe on laundry day.)
Though this news has made me self-conscious enough to stop blasting Taylor Swift out the open window at odd hours of the day now, weirdly enough, my first reaction when s/he asked me if I lived in his/her building was to simply laugh.
Sometimes, in the midst of all this labeling and titling and instructing, we forget that our students are every bit as human as we are. We complain (rightly so) that our students think we live in our offices and have nothing to do but answer all their last-minute essay-related emails–but aren’t we teachers guilty of the same thing? I mean, it’s a bit unfair to assume that the only thing our students have going on in their lives is brainstorming, outlining, writing, and revising their 8-page paper on Stuart Little.
(Okay, so maybe that keg of beer they consumed while they were actually supposed to be writing was a bad idea…but seriously, it’s college. When else are they going to get the chance? Certainly not when they “get their act together” and “grow up,” which is what the world always seems so keen on rushing them–and us all!–to do.)
At the end of the day, I’m actually a bit glad life decided to Punk me with this bizarre, slightly awkward development. It’s a smart reminder that we’re all sort of in the same boat together, even if we’re not exactly operating on the same level. I’ve even decided to channel my moderate to advanced stress about the whole situation in a totally productive way: for four nights running, I’ve been baking and making snacks for my students and my whole office. Win, right?
As for what I’ve been making: When life throws you lemons, you should really, really chuck ’em back and make these No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies instead.
One of my coworkers described it as “taking a morsel of heaven and sinking your teeth into it”–the texture is a cross between a crispy exterior and a fluffy, slightly creamy inside filled with marshmallow bits and a full flavor of cookie butter mixed with white chocolate. It really is the perfect 5-minute solution to take the edge off of life–not to mention make peace offerings with what otherwise would be a really weird situation.
And yes, this is actually how I deal with all awkward situations. I make avalanche cookies.
(You should, too!)
No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies
The best 5-minute treat you'll ever make! A crispy rice cereal exterior hides a creamy, gooey marshmallow inside that's filled with white chocolate and cookie butter goodness. Wow your friends and your family with no effort at all!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup cookie butter or Biscoff spread
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cereal and marshmallows.
- Place white chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl. (The bowl must be completely dry, or your chocolate will seize!) Heat on high for 45 seconds, then add cookie butter and continue heating at 30-second intervals, stirring vigorously between each interval until chocolate is completely melted + smooth. Mix in cinnamon.
- Pour melted chocolate mixture into cereal mixture, stirring until cereal is completely coated. Using a tablespoon, scoop out balls of dough and drop them onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Allow cookies to set in refrigerator before serving.
I’d say that Avalanche Cookies are the perfect prescription for awkward situations. These looks terrific, and you’ve got some really fun photos. Good stuff! Thanks.
Thanks, John! I’m all for solving awkward situations with sweets 🙂
Aaaah I can see how that could be a little iffy! Remember, our teachers are never human, they live at school 😛
JOKES… well… I believe that a little still 😉
But yes, awkward situations definitely can be avoided by having avalanche cookies in tow to devour!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hehe ACTUALLY, I think I still believe that about our professors. Any time I run into them on the streets or something, I’m like OMG and try to jump into a bush. So I don’t blame ya 😀 guess we’re all in the same boat!
What an awkward situation! Cookies make everything better. Especially when they are easy to make and have stellar flavor. A scrumptious recipe Ala!
Haha, absolutely, Deb! I really have to stop myself from baking these about once a week. Cheers to that, and a happy Vday to you!
Ala, I was thinking of cookies but didn’t feel like baking since it’s raining outside. And this cookies came to a rescue. With biscoff, you can’t just take one bite…you need a whole tray for yourself. And having a student neighbor…hope you get to share some with them 🙂
Ooooh I hope you did/do try them, Linda! They’re seriously such a good fix for not wanting to bake. I just saw my student neighbor’s package on the common doorstep today….I guess that confirms the situation…eating more cookies to deal with it 😛
Oooh, I am all for cookie butter anything (cookie butter on a spoon? yep, that’s me!). Cookie butter no-bake cookies sound wonderful. Then again, so does the cookie butter spoon. 😛
Your situation has me cracking up because my housemate in college was on the other side of the coin. We lived across the way from her physics lecturer. He ended up becoming one of our closest friends! This is after she was no longer his student, of course. We still keep in touch to this day.
JOY, we are totally kindred cookie butter spirits here, no doubt about it! And OMG, that sounds like a crazy situation that managed to avoid total havoc! I totally wouldn’t mind seeing my students after the school year, I think–I even accept their friend requests most of the time, so it’s totally not a bad vibe thing 🙂 just kinda weird. Happy Vday, gal!!
I really enjoy having some sort of work/life disconnect so I can totally see why you were a bit disgruntled at discovering your student lives so close! And yes…wearing pants is probably a good idea. 😛
hahaha I think wearing pants is a good rule for life, Joanne. Probably should abide by it more often….
These cookies look amazing! And, given how easy they are to make, pretty dangerous, too.
These should really be classified as a Class-1 threat–we’ve been making them sooo many times, Beth! Ah, well. Happy Vday at least!
Yikes, what are the chances? Love that you made yummy cookies to share with your students though. I have a huge weakness for cookie butter and love that these are no-bake too!
hehe I know, we share that same weakness! But I would totally hoard these to cope with the situation, you know 😉 shouldn’t do that, I guess. Happy Vday, Kelly!!
Hi. Just found your page. Cookies look yummy. Just curious – what did you drizzle on them? It is not included in the recipe or your narrative (that I could find).