Monday, November 04, 2013

It's the Inside that Matters

Good evening and thank you for joining me for another episode of  "Sydney's Kitchen Adventure." I'm your host, Sydney Schultz...

Kidding, but for cereal, welcome to my blog: if you've never been here, thank you for stopping by, if you've been here before, thanks for coming back!

Let me begin with an English lesson:

Nutella: [nuˈtɛlla]: Happiness in a jar.

Okay, that was the lesson. There will be a pop quiz, so make sure you understand.


Enough joking, here's the deal:  I made cookies a week or so ago...and the idea kind of really blew my mind. I mean cookies are good enough to start with but stuff a cookie with Nutella and it's practically like eating magic.

I was a bit confused by the instructions on the site I found the recipe on, so I adapted it to make more sense.... at least to me...

Nutella Sugar Cookies:
  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 7/8 cups butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • *Using a teaspoon, scoop out Nutella and place small drops on a lined cookie sheet. Put in the freezer until the dough is ready. (1)
    *Preheat the oven to 350*
    *In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
    *Use a mixer to beat together the butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar on medium until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
    *Turn the mixer to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined. 
    *Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl for later
     *Use about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, scoop dough onto cookie sheet. They spread quite a bit so leave an inch or so of room between each one. (2)
    *Using spatula, lift the mounds of Nutella from the baking sheet and press into the middle of each cookie. (3) If the Nutella starts getting soft, toss it back in the freezer for a few minutes.
    *Make sure the dough covers the mound of Nutella. (4)
    *Sprinkle the sugar you put aside previously over each cookie (5)
    *Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. The centers should till be soft and puffy.
    *Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.


    And because words are confusing, here's the picture version of those instructions!

    (1)
    (2)
    (3)
    (4)
    (5)

    I imagine you could use any sugar cookie recipe...and shove some Nutella inside.

    Also, I found that the mound of Nutella didn't really spread out like I would've liked it to. When scooping out the Nutella, I would suggest spreading it out into more of a disk than just a mound. 


    What nice looking sugar cookies.... BAM! Nutella filled!

    What a pleasant surprise!

    Well thanks again for stopping by, I'm going to go continue listening to Christmas music. Only 50 days, you know!

    xoxo
    Syd