Nutella Brownies

This is one of two recipes that I had planned to make this summer. It seems like I often switch what recipe I make at the last minute, so I wrote these out in the form that I use when I work in the kitchen. I figured this week was the week to make these Nutella Brownies. While these cookies contain a lot of ingredients (nearly a pound of butter, 4 eggs, chocolate, etc.) I knew that I had everything on hand.

The one thing I didn’t quite have was Nutella, which is quite ironic! I did have some certified gluten-free chocolate hazelnut/almond butter, and that was almost the same. Since I used the chocolate hazelnut/almond butter, I ended up using chopped, sliced almonds instead of hazelnuts, as they are easier to chop. 

Why I ended up making these when the house was so warm I don’t know, but I don’t have much choice in the summer. Thankfully bars aren’t too bad, as you don’t make repeated batches, and I melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave. These brownies are substantial! They are great brownies, but the Nutella flavor is very subtle, perhaps because of the chocolate hazelnut/almond butter I used. The shortbread base occasionally wants to separate from the brownie, but other than that, these brownies are lovely!

Nutella Brownies
2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup butter, cut in pieces
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hazelnuts/almonds, chopped

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl (or food processor), combine the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add the pieces of butter and cut in (or pulse in the food processor) until the mixture is crumbly. Press the mixture into the base of the prepared pan.

Bake the base for 20 minutes. Continue preparing the rest of the brownies while baking.

Bake the brownies: in a medium saucepan or a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and chopped chocolate. Heat on medium, or microwave in 30-second intervals, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Allow the mixture to cool.

Once cool, transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixer bowl. Add the sugar to the mixer bowl and mix on medium until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for one minute between each addition. Stir in the Nutella and vanilla. Add the flour and salt and stir on low. Fold in the chopped nuts with a spatula. Pour the brownie batter over the partially-baked base.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a thin knife inserted in the brownies comes out clean. Allow the brownies to cool before removing them from the pan and cutting into bars. 

Recipe from Bake or Break

Almond Toffee Bars

I have a couple of different ingredients on hand that I keep searching for the right recipe to use. One of those items is a box of graham crackers. I was going to make those into a component for a different recipe, but I ended up going the traditional route. I found these and figured I had everything I needed. These started out their life as Caramel Heavenlies, but that name just didn’t seem quite right, so I have renamed them as Almond Toffee Bars.

I honestly didn’t change much but the name. I didn’t have mini marshmallows, but I had regular-sized ones and a quick search said that I would need 16-20 regular sized marshmallows. They needed to be cut up, and marshmallows are about the stickiest thing you could imagine, so that was a process. And required a lot of hand washing to calm the stickiness.

The toffee in these bars comes from a syrup you make on the stove of butter, brown sugar, and spices. It’s pure hot liquid when you pour it onto the bars, but after baking becomes a lovely caramel. These looked scary when they came out of the oven, the marshmallows puffed up in a crazy way, but they were fine when the bars cooled. I forgot to line the pan so getting them out to cut took a feat of strength, but then they cut with little problem. These are sticky, but the graham cracker, toffee, and almond topping is very compelling.

Almond Toffee Bars
12 full graham crackers 
2 cups mini marshmallows 
3/4 cup butter 
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup shredded coconut 
1 cup sliced almonds 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10” x 15” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Place the graham crackers in the base of the pan, making them fit as best you can. Top the graham crackers with mini marshmallows.

In a pan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the butter mixture over the graham crackers and marshmallows.

Sprinkle the top with shredded coconut and sliced almonds. 

Bake for about 14 minutes, until the almonds are toasted. Cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting into diamonds or other bar shape.

Recipe from Num’s the Word

Muesli Cookies

My husband and I were recently visiting a farmstand in a local agricultural area. All I really wanted was some home-grown, fresh off the vine tomatoes. Thankfully they had those, but they also had many other interesting items. We picked up some hazelnut muesli, as I often have granola at breakfast and this would be similar. Well, my husband had other ideas: to use the muesli in a cookie.

That sounded great to me, and he sent a couple of different recipes. I chose this recipe, which gave you options. You could use muesli that you had on hand, or you could add typical muesli ingredients (oats, nuts, dried fruits) separately. I used the pre-made muesli but knew that the cookies would differ a lot based on which ingredients you chose to use.

These came together fast, and using the muesli I had there was less measuring. They don’t change shape much once baked, so some batches I flattened slightly and others I didn’t. They did come out of the oven looking a little plain, but they tasted really good. Not overly sweet, with great flavor from the hazelnut muesli. The only change I would make is that the pre-made muesli didn’t have as much dried fruit, so I would likely add some additional dried cranberries or cherries.

Muesli Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/8 cups muesli

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until well combined. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Finally, add the muesli and stir on low to evenly incorporate into the dough.

Shape the dough into 1 tablespoon balls. Place them on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand if desired.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies are set and the edges begin to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Luci's Morsels

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband and I watch some random stuff on YouTube, and one night we ended up watching this video about a bakery, housed in a picturesque baking in Sweden, in the snow. It was so lovely. My husband noticed they had a cookbook, which soon arrived at our home. I went through and there were many interesting recipes. Some ingredients are a little different, but I can adapt.

My husband always wants chocolate chip cookies, and this was the recipe he chose from the book. I have browned butter before, and it called for dark sugar beet sugar, or suggested molasses. I couldn’t get the lid off our molasses, so I used golden syrup. It was such a small amount, so I figured it was ok. The recipe also called for spelt flour, and thankfully my local organic market had spelt flour in the bulk section, so I was able to buy a very small amount. I made mine smaller, as the recipe had a yield of 12 cookies and I made 27.

I didn’t quite refrigerate these as I was supposed to. I read the recipe (ok, maybe I skimmed the recipe) and read to refrigerate the dough overnight. I did that but then realized that you chilled the dough for an hour and then shape the cookies and refrigerate those overnight. I figured I would be fine and it worked out with no issue. These cookies come out of the oven looking pretty perfect, and they are a wonderful combination of crispy but also gooey. My husband can’t stop saying how great these cookies are! I agree completely. 

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
160 grams butter
125 grams brown sugar
70 grams sugar
10 grams molasses/golden syrup
1 egg
180 grams flour
20 grams spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
150 grams dark chocolate, chopped

In a small bowl, heat the butter over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally. Cook the butter until it is lightly browned and smells nutty. Transfer the browned butter to a small dish and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the browned butter, brown sugar, sugar, and molasses. Beat on medium for a minute to combine. Add the egg and beat the mixture until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour in two portions, mixing until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chopped chocolate.

 
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape into 1-1/2” balls. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet and press down slightly (so that the dough balls stay in place).

Bake for 12-13 minutes, until golden along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe from Cookies & Crumbs by Kaja Hengstenberg

Take 5 Cookie Bars

I really love Take 5 candy bars, but I will admit that I almost never purchase them at the store. Sometimes, I will come across a little bar around Halloween, but that’s about it. My father would always make Take 5 bars in a fudge version, and honestly those were probably better than the actual candy bars. I don’t see that I have made and posted that recipe, so that will certainly need to be on my list for holiday baking.

Most of the ingredients used in these bars are things I have on hand. The different chips I usually have on hand, usually have pretzels, and sometimes have peanuts. My mom had a big container of peanuts, and she said I could take some, so that’s where my peanuts came from. Thanks Mom! Pretzels I had fancy seasoned ones (not good here) but also little packs of traditional twist pretzels. The small packs keep us from using/eating some of the pretzels and then letting the rest of the bag go stale.

These came together quickly, even though there are lots of ingredients. It makes sense as Take 5 bars combines all sorts of flavors! For the pretzels, I opened up a little bag at a time and stopped when it seemed like the cookie base was covered. (I think I used 2 little bags?) I used just 2 cups of chocolate chips for the topping, and I could have used a little more, but I didn’t want the chocolate to be too thick. These cut wonderfully, even in my kitchen which is on the warm side. Some others noted that the bar cookie separated from the chocolate/pretzel layer, but I didn’t have any issue. These are so good. Do I like the cookies bars or the fudge more? Hmm, I’m not sure…

Take 5 Cookie Bars
½ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup chopped peanuts
½ cup peanut butter chips
¾ cup caramel baking bits
2 cups broken pretzels
2-3 cups chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon shortening 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9”x13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and beat again on medium. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the dry ingredients until a soft dough forms. Stir in the peanuts, peanut butter chips, and caramel bits by hand. Spread the dough in the prepared pan. 

Bake for about 25 minutes, until browned along the edges. Cool completely.

When the bars are cool, melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds to prevent burning. Lay the broken pretzels on top of the cooled bars and spread the melted chocolate on top. Let it set at room temperature before cutting into bars with a hot knife.

Recipe from Inside BruCrew Life

Mediterranean Cookies

I came across this recipe and I was very interested. I don’t find too many recipes with dates, and this recipe combined dates, coconut, and nuts, which sounded amazing. I cut this recipe in half, since the quantities listed here made a lot of cookies. Even a half recipe made about 3 dozen cookies.

This recipe called for walnuts, which makes sense as that is what you’d find in the Mediterranean, but I prefer pecans. Just use what you have! Coconut also varies a lot, as there is sweetened and unsweetened, larger and smaller shreds. I use unsweetened coconut, that is shredded very small. This is what is found in the UK, and I find that since it is dry to start with, it lasts longer.

These came together easily and I was really happy with how they looked when they came out of the oven. I let them cool and ate one, and something was…off. Something tasted stale. The oats? The nuts? The dates? I am quite sure the dates were too old. I remade them with newer dates and that made all the difference! With the proper ingredients, these cookies were lovely, and I even forgot to top them with a dusting of powdered sugar!

Mediterranean Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts/pecans)
1 cup flaked coconut
8 ounces chopped dates
Powdered sugar

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until smooth. Add the vanilla, olive oil, and eggs and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and oats. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flout/oat mixture and stir until combined.

Switch to a spatula and fold in the chopped nuts, coconut, and chopped dates, stirring until the ingredients are incorporated evenly throughout the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Recipe from South Your Mouth

Aggression Cookies

I came across these cookies, and I had a good laugh. Aggression cookies? How interesting. With a little research, I discovered that the idea of aggression cookies came from humorist Erma Bombeck, and this and similar recipes have been circulating for quite some time. The idea is that you simply add all the ingredients in a bowl, and then mash them together with your hands, thus getting out all of your aggression. 

This cookie is an oat cookie flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. I have seen variations with added chocolate chips or dried fruit, but the base recipe is the same. I looked through the possible add-ins that I had in my kitchen, and I decided I would use crystallized ginger. Adding raisins or dried fruit can be troubling to some, and chocolate chips didn’t catch my fancy. Oats and ginger are a great combination anyway!

Unlike the advertised recipe, I didn’t use my hands to mix the dough as I made it in my mixer. I did find, however, that as I was shaping the cookies, I needed to knead the dough with my hands to keep it together, so the aggression idea works! These baked up well, spread just a little, which meant I shaped them as they came out of the oven. I baked the batches for slightly different times, and with these cookies it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I loved the ease of these cookies and will have them in mind when I have a particularly bad day.

Aggression Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup diced crystallized ginger

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a mixer or clean hands, mix/knead the dough until the dough comes together and no loose oats or flour remains.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly. Allow room between the cookies for the cookies to spread. 

Bake for about 10 minutes, until they are golden along the edges. The cookies will likely be misshapen; place a round cookie cutter around each cookie and swirl the cookie cutter around to shape the cookie. Allow the cookies to set on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes to allow them to set fully.

Recipe from Southern Recipes