Baking adventures...

What do you get when you combine: Me + Lots of spare time?

Baked goods. That's what you get. :)

Today I created a recipe for cookies that might just be my best work yet.
They are made with Nutella, which used to be an indulgence from my childhood, but now is readily available in most grocery stores. Nutella has the same consistency as peanut butter, but is made with hazelnuts and milk chocolate instead of peanuts. It is as common as peanut butter in Europe, and because my mom is French, she used to bring it back or have it shipped to us by relatives in France. If you haven't tried it, it is a must-try.
Rich had never tried it before we met, but was an instant fan at first bite.

So today, I used Nutella to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  They are DELICIOUS!

For any bakers out there, here is the recipe, which I created by editing and adding to a few other cookie recipes:

Nutella Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Nutella (or other hazelnut chocolate spread)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans (but if I had hazelnuts, they would have been even better)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Cream together butter with both sugars until smooth.  Stir in the Nutella, vanilla and egg until well blended.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened.  Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, and nuts until evenly distributed.  Drop by tablespoonfuls on to cookie sheets.

3.  Bake for 9-10 minutes in preheated oven until done.  Makes 2 dozen.