Peanutella Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made with crunchy peanut butter and somewhat subtle dollops of Nutella, which ultimately ballet on your tongue. 
They're THAT good.

I cannot tell you how much I adore peanut butter. I used to not like it once upon a time. In fact, I despised the very thing. Then came a time where anything found in a jar and could be consumed by a spoon was a huge hit as I started university. Spoonfuls of peanut butter whilst studying for my first year exams had become a ritual. That and having a packet of chocolate fingers to dip in a jar full. This is how we students do les examens!

Anyway, it's a known fact that peanut butter goes a bit too well with chocolate. I mean, forget yer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, s'all about pb and Nutella!

And when I realised I could put the two together in my absolute fave biscuit - the cookie - I felt like a kitchen goddess. *Halo appears*

Here's how they were put together:

Ingredients:
225g unsalted butter (softish)
200g caster sugar (you can play around if you want it less sweet)
200g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
240g crunchy peanut butter
40g nutella
340g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
85g dark chocolate chips (or chopped)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170C, Gas 3. Fan assisted ovens lower the temp by 10-20C and prepare baking trays with greaseproof/baking paper.
• Using an electric mixer with the paddle or a handheld electric whisk, mix the butter and sugars together until they transform into a wonderful light and fluffy mixture.
• One at a time, crack in the eggs and mix well. Be sure to scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl!
• Turn the mixer down to a slow speed and beat in the vanilla and peanut butter.
• Gradually add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix well until a smooth dough is formed. Then add the Nutella - this is actually optional and I only add a little to give it a subtle taste.
• Sprinkle in the chocolate chips - I aways find this the best bit, I don't know why!
• Scoop out equal amounts of the cookie dough on each tray using a tablespoon spoon or scooper. Make sure they're spread apart as they expand while baking.

• Bake for roughly 10 minutes, or until they're golden brown around the edges and quite flat. They will be super soft in the middle but that's what you want. They tend to harden later anyway.
• Cool  the cookies slightly on the trays before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies should be nicely soft and chewy and a teeny crunchy on the outside. Mmmmm.

Seriously these literally melt in your mouth when you eat them fresh. I was so pleased with these, I genuinely wanted to marry myself. Yup. I mean being able to bake super soft mouth melting cookies!?! You need magical hands. Oh and maybe this recipe….

So have a go and let me know how it turns out! :)

Dainty cook x

'Jannat' in a Jar: AKA Nutella.

In Arabic, 'Jannat' means heaven. And to me, that's exactly what Nutella is. Well any hazelnut spread really, but nothing beats good ol' Nutella. I just can't express my love for this chocolatey goodness. On hot toast in the mornings or as a midnight snack, with breadsticks, chappatis even. Anything! The best is, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, getting your fingers dirty and licking them off straight from the jar. It turns all of us into big kids.

When hazelnut meets chocolate, awesome chemistry is made. And at times I've wanted to sandwich macarons or other goodies with Nutella. But sometimes, the shop bought jar doesn't quite fit in with the homemade baked delights.

Recently, I ran out (shock horror) and thought I'd make my own. I read that it tastes better. I mean what could possibly be better than Nutella!? So I thought I'd finally give it a go.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients: 
230g hazelnuts
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 and 1/4 cup icing sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons any flavourless oil, hazelnut oil works better, if available.
1/4 teaspoon salt

HOW TO MAKE THIS GOD GIVEN GIFT:

• Get your hazelnuts and put it in a baking tray in the middle shelf of an oven to roast for around 15 minutes. Or until you get a hazelnutty aroma wafting in the kitchen, but then that could also signal that they're burnt so....errr just keep an eye on 'em.

•If they're blanched you've saved yourself a lot of time. It also shows you have common sense to buy blanched nuts so you don't have to take the skin off later. But if you're non-sensical, like myself, (is that even a word?!) then once roasted, place them in a bowl with another bowl the same size on top and shake, shake, shake them, 'till they're practically naked.

•Grind them in a food processor until it turns into a thick paste like consistency, make sure to get all the oil out of them.

•Dollop in your icing sugar, oil, vanilla extract and salt and blend away. 

•Now it could still be really thick, in that case add a bit more oil, if it's too smooth then you could add more icing sugar, or grind it for longer, some of us prefer it that way however. I know I do if I'm also gonna use it to fill stuff.

And voila, you have your own Nutella and though it's not quite the same, it tastes 100x more flavoursome then the real thing! Like heavennn *sings* And it couldn't be easier!

Kinda just added my own label, because I'm cool like that.

Also, I just discovered that Nutella is actually pronounced as 'Noo-tella'. I think I fell more into a fit of hysterics, rather than disappointment as I found this out. Seriously?! NOO-tella. With my pea-NOOT butter sandwich?! Ha! No. Just no.

Try not to sleep with the jar of this amazing stuff. Because that's weird. Not that I do that or anything...

The Dainty Cook x