Chocolate beaver lodge recipe rediscovered

I had long since forgot about these awesome cookies my mother used to make for us until my son showed me a photo of cookies he wanted me to make for him.

My oldest son Matthew, 7, has been reading his latest Ranger Rick Jr. magazine, which just so happened to be about beavers, when he came across the recipe.

When he was done reading the story on the beavers, he went to the back of the book where there was a recipe for beaver lodges.

He brought the magazine over to me and asked "Can we make these mom?"

I took one look and recognized the photo immediately. I said, "Of course we can. When I was little my mom used to make these for me all the time."

I said we need to make sure we have all of the ingredients. I then told him we would make them on the weekend because this would give me some time to purchase any missing ingredients.

As I looked at the recipe, I had flashbacks to when I was a child and I recalled how excited I would get waiting for my own copy of Ranger Rick Jr. to arrive in the mailbox. I believe I would get this magazine once a month and I can recall running down to the mailbox day after day to see if my Ranger Rick Jr. had arrived.

Once I received the book, I would have the biggest smile on my face as I ran back up to the house with the mail. I would proceed to read the entire magazine as quickly as I could. I would then go back through it over and over, making sure I didn't miss anything.

I loved reading those magazines. They always had great, short stories about different animals that I could read myself.

It also included a recipe or craft project at the end of the book that I would ask my mom to do with me. Who knows. Maybe that's where my mom got the recipe for the cookies she made us.

As my son and I looked over this recipe, it sounded exactly like the one my mother made my sisters, brother and I growing up.

I hoped it was because I recall it being one of my favorites as a child. This recipe is not only super easy to make, but the kids can help too. In fact, it only took a few minutes to make them.

The hardest part was waiting 45 minutes for the chocolate mixture to set. If you are like me and have children who just can't wait 45 minutes to try them, you can pop them in the freezer to 10 minutes.

While the family was waiting for the lodges to harden, both of my boys proceeded to lick the bowl clean while I washed dishes. I took that as a good sign. This kept them out of the ones hardening in the freezer.

After the 10 minutes was up, we each took one and took a bit.

It tasted the same as the ones my mother used to make and all agreed that this is a recipe I should keep and make again.

Ingredients

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cups of crunchy chow mein noodles

Directions

Place chocolate and butterscotch chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about 2 minutes to melt the chips.

Add peanut butter and microwave another 30 seconds.

Stir the mixture until well blended, then add the chow mein noodles.

Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper or onto Silicone mat.

Let cool for about 45 minutes. If you can't wait that long, put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 20 little lodges.