30 April 2008

A tale of two cookies: part two

Where was I?

Oh yes, the second cookie...

So there I was baking
butterscotch pecan cookies for the workaversary when I was struck by a moment of brilliance...or insanity (it's sometimes difficult to differentiate between the two):

Why make just one kind when I can make two kinds of cookies?

OOOOH...

I don't know what made me more excited--the idea of offering my colleagues a choice of flavours or the possibility that I might have some left over for ME (the term "ravenous hordes" has been bandied about).

Okay, but what about the second flavour? I was baking at My Dear Little Mummy's as
Beelzebub hasn't yet learned to behave like a good little oven, so I was a bit short on options...except for the tub of Nutella I bought on the way over (along with the butter).

For those of you who haven't been enlightened: Nutella is a food of the gawds.

There, now you know. Pass it on.

So there I was, staring at the 400g pot of Nutella, wondering what to do, when it suddenly dawned on me: Nutella cookies.

It may have been the most brilliant thought I'd had all year.

A quick riffle through my Mum's cupboards procured a part packet of milk chocolate chips--she wouldn't mind--she's told me to use up as much of her food as possible while she's away...and I'm a good girl who always obeys her Mummy :)

The only thing was...I didn't have a recipe. Think think think. Nutella is sort of like peanut butter. It had been a while since I last made PB cookies, but I figured I could muddle my way through.

The cookies that emerged weren't cloying. Truthfully, I was worried that they'd take on the supersweetness brought by Nutella, but because I held back (a bit) on the sugar--totally omitted the brown sugar, and just stuck with brown--and added more salt than I'd normally put in a cookie. These weren't chewy as some pb cookies, but they aren't as crispy-dry-hearty as others. They were a nice cross between the two, with a little teeny cakeyness thrown in. I wound up with a chocolaty, slightly nutty-flavoured cookie that went really well with coffee. In that way they were reminiscent of
Dorie's World Peace Cookies.

I think they were a hit--I definitely like them. They were very popular in some circles, but others (those poor, deprived souls who weren't brought up with the joys of choco-hazelnut spread) did not go near them. A couple of people who'd never tried the spread ate a cookie...and then another...and then another (even my very young neighbour, who received some of my biscuitty bounty, came knocking on my door--several times--over the weekend wanting the recipe so she could make them with her mum).


Nutella Cookies
Yields about six dozen cookies, depending upon your cookie spoon.

170g very soft butter
200g granulated sugar

2 eggs
1 dsp vanilla extract

250ml Nutella
420g plain flour
1 dsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
250g milk chocolate chips (but I suppose you could use an entire packet of 270g)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C and prepare your cookie trays in the usual way.

Stir together the flour, bicarb and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and Nutella until smooth. Mix in the flour and then fold in the chocolate chips. You will get a fairly stiff batter.

Drop by teaspoonful onto the aforementioned prepared cookie trays. Press slightly and bake until done, about 12 minutes.

cheers!
jasmine


edit: Thanks Dana! I left out half the info on the sugar and texture...they're in now.

Related Post: A tale of two cookies: part one


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15 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

Okay, I'm confessing right now, I've never tasted Nutella. (Sigh, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to make it South Beach Diet friendly.)

K and S said...

I think I still have Nutella, will have to try this :)

Katerina said...

I love nutella! I didn't grow up on it but I have really good memories of eating it all over europe when we were backpacking. You can carry it and it doesn't go bad! I will definitely try these cookies.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Nutella used to be such an "exotic" product here in New England, but last week I saw it on the shelf at the small market in our town. Nutella has arrived!!

Anonymous said...

So were they very like a peanut butter cookie in texture? I think of nutella as a lot sweeter than peanut butter. Did you need to cut down on the sugar to make the recipe delish?

glamah16 said...

These sound great.I love nutella. I took a batch of buns to the office and met the same reaction. Some loved them and some backed off becaue their tatse haven't developed to our heightned levels:-). Dont know if I'll be knocking myself out again for that group anytime soon.

Deborah said...

Nutella cookies sound perfect! I would love some!

Y said...

Improvisation! Love it! I love peanut and peanut butter cookies. Nutella cookies are a great variation. Haven't eaten Nutella in awhile, now that I think about it. Used to eat it all the time, from the jar, back in university days. Now, can't for the life of me remember what the attaraction was. Still a sucker for the occasional square of Gianduja chocolate though.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Nutella anything is my kind of food and you know you might just have made my son a happy boy - he is nutella mad!

Gigi said...

don't tell anyone but i eat nutella by the spoonful! it's just so good. i'll have to try these cookies out very soon.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Repeated knocks on the door, what higher recommendation could you want! excellent idea with the nutella, I mean how could it miss. Now what if I added a few chopped hazelnuts . . .

Anonymous said...

My problem is that nutella out of the jar with a spoon is my comfort food and I can't control myself so I rarely buy it...I know that if I made these cookies, I'd probably devour at least half the batch in one sitting if I was given the chance!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Nutella is one true weakness of mine, Jasmine - these cookies are wonderful!

Gretchen Noelle said...

Delicious sounding cookies! Great idea. Good thing you listen to your mom!

jasmine said...

Hello all

Thanks for your comments. The recipe as as I poured things out, so hopefully it will work for you...

j