Summer is fast approaching, and when the weather gets warmer, it’s always fun to have a few recipes on hand that don’t require heating up the house with the oven – especially when those recipes are for dessert! One of my summer favorites is the no-bake haystack cookie, a deliciously gooey conglomeration of various ingredients that aren’t necessarily anything special on their own – but that work together beautifully in this recipe.

One of the best things about this recipe is the fact that you don’t have to do much of anything to the ingredients – you simply pour them into a bowl, mix, form into cookies, and let them set. There’s no chopping, no grating, no prep work at all except for a quick stint in the microwave to melt whatever binding agent you choose – chocolate or butterscotch, and peanut butter, usually. The haystack cookie takes disparate ingredients, like peanuts and chow mein noodles, and gets them to work together harmoniously to create something truly special.

Of course, being a bit of a finance fanatic, as I was making these cookies the other day, my thoughts turned to the similarities between them and our own budgeting software, True Sky. How on earth could a cookie and a business budgeting solution be similar, you ask? I’ve got the recipe right here:

Recipe for the Perfect Business Budget

Ingredients:

True Sky budgeting software
3 cups of financial data
2 cups of revenue information
½ cup of product planning data
1 ½ cups of compensation information
¾ cup capital expenditure data
Other custom data to taste

Directions:

1. First, prepare the data entry template for each different type of information you’ll be adding into your True Sky budget mixture. Be sure to butter the sides of the templates by adjusting the security settings to fit your unique specifications.
2. Next, measure out the ingredients by entering each piece of data into its template.
3. Then, merge all data together into one bowl.  True Sky is the melted binding agent that integrates it all. It allows you instant visibility into all consolidated data without any extra effort – no chopping, grating, or mincing required.
4. Review the data mixture by tasting the dough to make sure ingredients have been added in the right amounts.
5. Analyze whether the ingredient amounts and proportions need to be changed at all, and in what ways, to improve the budget batter.
6. Create a strategy for your ideal budget batter and implement it by making the budget cookies, and distributing them to your team. Congratulations! Your perfect True Sky budget is complete!

If you’d like to make your own perfect budget cookies, contact us here at True Sky today for more information. We can help you prepare a budget forecast that is sure to please even the pickiest of palates.

(And just for fun, here’s the real recipe for haystack cookies:
1 cup butterscotch, chocolate, or peanut butter chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup peanuts
2 cups chow mein noodles

Melt chips and peanut butter together in microwave, then mix in peanuts and chow mein noodles. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper, and chill until set. Enjoy!)