Nutella-Filled Nutella Cookies

Nutella-Filled Nutella Cookies - made dough July 22, 2020, modified from Will Cook for Smiles

I modified this recipe from Will Cook for Smiles as I had a certain vision I wanted to execute for them. The original recipe called for making a Nutella-based cookie, rolled in chopped hazelnuts. I didn't have hazelnuts and popping over to Trader Joe's on a whim to get one baking ingredient is so pre-Covid.

But I did have toffee bits so I decided to experiment and roll one taste test cookie in them. You can see from the picture above that the unbaked cookie dough ball rolled in toffee bits looks almost like a Ferrero Rocher. Cookie dough lovers might even prefer to eat it this way before it's baked.

But wait, there's more. I also decided to up the Nutella ante by stuffing a dollop of Nutella inside the Nutella cookie. I know, right? I wanted that flowy Nutella lava when you bite into the cookie. See first picture and judge success for yourself.

However, before I get too big for my baking britches, I have to confess that, like many of my baking visionary experiments, this was only partially successful.

For one thing, since I always freeze cookie dough before baking, it was hard to get the toffee bits to adhere to the frozen dough ball. In hindsight, I should have rolled them in the toffee bits right after shaping the cookie dough around the ball of Nutella then frozen them. Live and learn.

Interestingly, the cookie rolled in toffee bits spread more and turned out less uniformly round than the non-toffee one. Which probably isn't surprising since the toffee partially melts and takes the dough with it as it bakes.

Taste-wise, I thought they were a little too sweet for me. And this is where my vision went awry. Stuffing Nutella inside a cookie that's already flavored with Nutella sounds brilliantly decadent on paper. But in reality, instead of having Nutella as the superstar diva, it turned into two supporting actors who put in a good-but-could-be-better performance.

Think of it this way: if you wanted something to pop, you put it against a contrast. Want to show off a blazing red top? You wear white jeans. Not red ones, not pinky-red ones, not same shade red ones or - bless your heart - definitely not with orangey-red jeans.

I clearly did not stuff enough Nutella in this one

Before I go too far afield with that analogy and make my mind's eye cringe, let's stick with cookies. The whole Nutella-stuffing thing would've been better with a pure chocolate cookie, a chocolate chip cookie or a sugar cookie. Something that contrasts with the Nutella and offers a different flavor profile. Nutella-on-Nutella made it a little one-note for me. Now, Nutella lovers will probably give me the side-eye of "what's wrong with that??" so they might like it this way. And it is good but I think more of a flavor contrast would be better. Or you can make the cookie as Will Cook for Smiles intended with the Nutella swirled in the dough rather than as a filling and they'd be just fine too.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped or toffee bits (I used toffee bits)
Additional Nutella for filling, chilled

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and cream together until combined, about 2 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly after each addition. Beat in Nutella and vanilla extract, mixing until just combined. Scrape down sides of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
4. Add dry ingredients in two additions, on low speed, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Cover bowl and refrigerate cookie dough until firm. When firm enough to portion into dough balls, roll into golf-ball-size balls, flatten each ball into a disc and place a small scoop of chilled Nutella in the center. Form the dough around the Nutella, encasing completely and pinching the dough to seal with seams. Roll dough balls in toffee bits, pressing toffee into dough until each ball is completely covered. Cover and refrigerate or freeze for several hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space on baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges have set and middles no longer look raw. Do not overbake.

Lime-Cilantro Shrimp (keto and low carb)

Lime-Cilantro Shrimp - made July 15, 2020 from Keto Cooking Christian

My uncle is an avid fisherman and at many a family gathering, he would grill his freshly-caught catch for our barbecues. It was from him that I discovered the amazing and delicious combination of lime and cilantro. It was some years ago (add a decade to mark these past few Covid months) but to this day, I remember how he stuffed a huge trout with a lime cilantro stuffing that I have a Pavlovian response to whenever I think about it.

Since then, I make a point of using a lime-cilantro combination whenever I want some guaranteed deliciousness, especially with seafood and notably, with shrimp.

Technically, this is a keto and low carb recipe. At least until you do what I did and add ramen noodles. But you can omit the noodles and still enjoy a tasty shrimp dish.

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients except shrimp in a mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Place shrimp in a ziploc baggie and pour marinade ingredients over it, zipping bag tightly shut. Marinate for 20-30 minutes.
2. Heat saucepan over medium high heat with a light coating of nonstick cooking spray. When hot, add shrimp mixture including marinade. Stir fry until shrimp is pink. Serve warm.
3. If you don't want the keto or low carb version, serve with noodles.

Air Fryer KFC Copycat Fried Chicken

Air Fryer KFC Copycat Fried Chicken - made July 13, 2020 from Dine Dream Discover

From the pictures, you can easily see that this doesn't look much like a KFC copycat. And you would be right because I took some liberties with the recipe, thereby foiling the copycat aspirations.

For one thing I don't like dried mustard or mustard in any form so I left it out. And after dredging the chicken in flour and egg, I gave it a final coating of panko crumbs. I love the crunch from panko crumbs and since I wasn't deep frying these, I wanted to give it a fair chance that it would actually be crunchy, hence the assist from the panko crumbs.

While this didn't meet the KFC copycat status with any accuracy, as air fried chicken goes, it was pretty good. The outside did get somewhat crispy (thanks, panko crumbs) and, more importantly, the inside was moist. It's a great way to enjoy "fried" chicken.

10 chicken drumsticks or thighs
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/3 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried mustard (omitted)
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 teaspoons white pepper

1. Soak the chicken in buttermilk for up to 24 hours.
2. When ready to cook chicken, beat the eggs in one bowl and combine the flour and spices in another shallow bowl.
3. Preheat air fryer to 390 degrees F.
4. Place a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Remove the chicken one piece at a time from the buttermilk. Dredge each piece in the flour, then the eggs, then the flour once again (I dredged in panko crumbs for the final coating), placing on the wire rack as you complete each piece.
5. Lightly spray bottom of air fryer rack with nonstick cooking spray. Lay chicken in a single layer in air fryer basket. Air fry for 13 minutes. Flip over. Spritz with olive oil if any dry flour is showing. Air fry for another 13 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 degrees F and outside is crisp. Serve immediately.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Oatmeal Fudge Bars - made July 12, 2020 from Everything Chocolate by America's Test Kitchen

Another name for these could be Oatmeal Revel Bars. The mark of a revel bar is the same oatmeal-based dough is used for the base layer as well as clumps of it crumbled on top. The filling in between is typically chocolate.

Some recipes combine melted chocolate and sweetened condensed milk but this particular one uses butter and egg as the liquids. It also uses espresso powder which I added as coffee or espresso also seems to be popular flavors for military care packages.

This is a good bar to send in hot weather. It's sturdy and ships well. You could try substituting shortening for the butter as a further guard against the heat. I didn't with this batch since I was trying the recipe for the first time and wanted to see how it would turn out as America's Test Kitchen intended it to.

From the sliver I tried, this is another good bar cookie. The chocolate espresso filling is a perfect foil against the oatmeal layer and crumble which isn't too sweet.

Crust and Topping
1 cup (3 ounces) quick-cooking oats (I used old-fashioned)
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed (1 3/4 ounces) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Crust and Topping: whisk together oats, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter until combined. Reserve 3/4 cup oat mixture for the topping. Spread the remaining oat mixture into prepared pan and pat into an even layer. Bake until light golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let crust cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour.
3. Filling: whisk together flour, brown sugar, espresso powder and salt in bowl.
4. In the top half of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate chips and butter, stirring together until melted and combined. Cool slightly for several minutes. Whisk in egg until combined. Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated.
5. Pour filling in an even layer over cooled crust. Sprinkle evenly with reserved oat topping. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
6. Let bars cool completely in pan on wire rack before cutting and serving.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars - made July 12, 2020 from Averie Cooks

I'm back with another bar cookie recipe. Everything I bake is all going into military care packages, lest you think I'm eating an awful lot. Okay, sometimes I am, but it's typically not what I'm blogging. Unless it's something incredibly amazingly good, in which case, I'll flag it for you.

This is something I only tried a sliver of since I wanted to pack up most of it. Peanut butter and chocolate seems to be a popular combination with military service members (or anyone besides me) and Averie Cooks is always a great source for good recipes.

So this was a natural choice as I could be fairly confident it would turn out and equally confident I wasn't likely to eat a lot of it. For peanut butter lovers, this is a good bar cookie. For peanut butter chocolate lovers, this is a great bar cookie.

The (thick) batter is easy to mix up and you don't want a thick batter to make a dense bar which is the perfect texture for a bar cookie. You definitely don't want to overbake it or it can easily be dry. The toothpick test is a little tricky since you need to test the peanut butter part without running into a chocolate chip.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 heaping cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips + 2 tablespoons for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Whisk together melted butter and brown sugar until combined. Add peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract, mixing until combined and smooth. 
3. Add flour and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center (avoid the chocolate chips) comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter. Cool completely.

Basil Pesto from Just a Taste

Basil Pesto - made July 10, 2020 from Just a Taste

I love pasta with pesto. Pesto is one of the easier things to make and could potentially be one of the healthier things I eat, considering it's mostly comprised of basil leaves which are green and grow out of the earth. What? That's as close to "leafy greens" as I typically get.

One downside of pesto when I eat out at a restaurant (back in the good ol' days, before March 2020) sometimes though is it's too oily due to an abundance of olive oil used. I like making my own pesto to control the oiliness factor. Yes, olive oil is supposed to be better for you than most oils but I still don't like my pesto too oily.

The bad thing though is if you don't use enough oil or liquid, the pesto can be dry. Hard to imagine dry pesto but if it can be done, I can find a way. I skimped on the olive oil here but substituted a little chicken broth. I don't think I used enough but this still turned out fairly well.

I tossed the pesto with some linguine and shrimp to make shrimp pesto pasta, always a favorite. My mom's version is better but I'm not going to quibble.

If you don't have a basil plant to grow your own basil (which I've done in the past and it's surprisingly easy, even with my black thumb), Trader Joe's sells a package of basil that's pretty high quality and not too expensive. That's what I used here. I love Trader Joe's and it's one of the few places I've gone to (always masked) since the pandemic and staying at home became a thing.

2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, toasted pine nuts, salt and pepper. Pulse the ingredients together until well blended.
2. While the food processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil and continue blending, scraping down the sides as needed, until the pesto is pureed. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Store in refrigerator until needed.

Easy Oatmeal Cookies

Easy Oatmeal Cookies - made dough July 8, 2020 from Averie Cooks

I have a favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe already but I've tried many good recipes from Averie Cooks so I thought I'd try this one as well.

The advantages of this recipe is it's easy to mix by hand in a bowl and doesn't require chilling. So it's a good recipe for a novice or someone who doesn't bake that often. That would not be me so I didn't take advantage of the touted benefits. I mixed it in my kitchen aid and did my usual thing of portioning into dough balls and freezing before baking.

So I can't tell you how these would've turned out otherwise but they did turn out well. It's a standard oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It didn't topple my current favorite recipe but it was still good. And if you make it the easy way like Averie suggests, I'm sure it would still turn out well.

1 large egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-size bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract; mix briefly just to combine. 
3. Add oats, flour, baking soda and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Portion into dough balls and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove to wire rack and let cookies cool completely.