Little Chef A came home from school recently and said at school for a party they had apples dipped in Nutella. Since the rest of us have not tried Nutella we decided to find a recipe, or a couple, using it. The first is Chocolate Nutella Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. Little Chef D was originally going to make this recipe, but the other Little Chefs couldn’t resist and had to join in! Little Chef D was gracious enough to let them help measure, whisk and taste from the beater! The ingredients were gathered, measured and set to take a picture. Little Chef A said, “I love how you put the vanilla on top of the butter!” 
Little Chef D measured out the flour. I tried teaching her to scoop it up then with a knife carefully scrape across the top to level. She ended up poking holes in the flour! She tried again, and again. Finally she got it and poured one cup into a bowl with a cloud of flour rising and falling! She still needed 1/4 cup more. I gave her the measuring cup and was distracted for a minute when I saw out of the corner of my eye something, not really sure what. I asked her if she poured more flour into the bowl. I think she was scared she did something wrong so she wouldn’t tell me. “That’s ok” I said “If you can’t tell me we will dump it all back in and start all over.” That is exactly what we did. In round two everything was measured out fine.
The vanilla was next. Luckily Little Chef A was dying to help. She put her finger on the line on the side of the measuring cup so Little Chef D knew when to stop. She was also helped by saying “a little more, a little more, oops too much!” That’s alright, that’s easy to fix.
The salt and baking powder were also measured out scraping across the top.
When the cocoa was measured out it was Little Chef C’s turn. She tried to dump in the cocoa when the measuring cup was only partially filled. I said “I see a hole, don’t dump it in yet.” I had to tell her a few times until it was completely filled. Afterward I realized we are almost out of cocoa and it was really hard for her to scoop it up into the measuring cup.
The brown sugar was measured out, making sure it was packed it well.
When it was time for the nutella they couldn’t decide if a spoon or a knife would be better getting it out. Little Chef D said “a spoon would be a lot better.” With the consistency we could have gone either way and have been fine. What were we going to do with the extra nutella on the spoon? Of course we had to let the Little Chefs try it! They each got some on a finger and tried it together! Little Chef A said, “It tastes like a chocolate fountain. Is it the stuff from the chocolate fountain?” No, sorry it isn’t.
Everything was measured out and it finally was time to start mixing. This is how our counter looks looks at this point…a little bit or a lot a bit of everything measured sitting on the counter.
The flour, cocoa powder and baking powder were dumped into a bowl and whisked by Little Chef A.
In the mixer the butter, sugar and brown sugar were added and blended.
Next the vanilla was added. (We could not find the hazelnut extract anywhere.) The directions say beat for 30 seconds. We decided to practice counting with Little Chef D and all counted to 30 out loud.
The nutella was then added.
The best part of this recipe came next. They were to add half the flour mixture to the mixer, then the milk and then the rest of the flour mixture, all while the mixer was running! I showed Little Chef D how to spoon a little in at a time. The first and second scoops were fine. She was ready to pour in the third scoop when the wire mixer touched the spoon enough to jerk the spoon and the flour mixture went sailing in one direction all over everything on the counter! The Little Chefs looked at me studying my face for any clue how I would react. I gave a little OOOOH! Then they all started laughing and retelling the story over and over again how the “flour EXPLODED all over the counter!” Little Chef D said, “I don’t want it to explode on the counter again.” “Let’s leave it there (the mess) and show Dad when he comes home.” When Little Chef Dad came home she told him the story, showed him the mess, then said, “You better clean it up!”
It took 60 minutes to measure everything out and to make the cookie dough. It was then put in the refrigerator as directed in the recipe. Of course there is the beater and spatula, someone had to lick them. See how well my Little Chefs share! There are two beaters of course.
After 15 minutes we took the dough out of the refrigerator and scooped one ball onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. Little Chef D took a glass and pressed the ball, following the directions. As she lifted the glass up, the cookie dough was stuck between the glass and the paper! I said what if we don’t smoosh the dough, what will happen? Little Chef A had a hypothesis,”If we don’t smoosh it out I think it will be really thick, the cookie would have bumps on the outside, I’m not sure about the inside. As I always say, maybe or not let’s find out.” After putting it in the fridge a little while longer. We tried again. One scoop was smooshed and the other was left alone as a ball.
The Little Chefs were done helping for the day and off playing well together. I scooped out the mix and baked all the cookies. They could smell the first batch and came running to test them out. We found out that no matter if they were smooshed or left alone they came out almost identical. (We do use the mini cookie scoop and therefore make small cookies.)
Little Chef Dad thought they taste like a brownie. He absolutely LOVES brownies! My Little Chefs thought they were amazing as well. They asked for more, two at a time, all day long! For my review, I didn’t expect the hazelnut to come through quite as strong without the extract. I was wrong, the hazelnut was very present. The Little Chefs had a very good time making these cookies! This will be one recipe they remember because of the process and the explosion!
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter) 2/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut extract (you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla if you can’t find or don’t like hazelnut extract) 1/3 cup Nutella 1/3 cup milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325° In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth. With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes (and as long as 2-3 days). When you’re ready to bake the cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between the dough balls.
Lightly press the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.