Oat and Nutella Cookies

Gluten Free Oat and Nutella Cookies

I am jealous of adorable well behaved kids. My house seems to play by another set of rules, or at least my two boys seem to think it does. While I love my kids to no end, they can be the kids that other parents dread. You know the kids, the ones that fight at the store, touch everything they see, talk non-stop (really I don't think they breath in-between sentences), and think that having a MMA fight in the middle of the store is something that should happen. I have those kids. They are adorable, but since they travel in a pack it's like trying to tame wild hyenas. Then every once in a  while I run into another parent with multiple boys, and we share a moment. In a glance, a smile, or a joke we have instantly bonded over having all boys. The world seems a little less crazy, and then I realize my boys are currently on the floor trying to tackle each other. My word realigns back to normal and I realize I don't have perfect kids, but I love them just the same. Hopefully they will one day turn into the adorable well behaved kids that other parents seem to have, in the meantime they are still my off center version of perfect and that's just fine with me.

I have a slight Nutella obsession. I can't keep full jars in the house or I will eat them (normally with a spoon straight out of the jar - is there any other way..). So in order to avoid my waistline from becoming non-existent I only buy Nutella for recipes or as a very seldom treat. My Nutella obsession happens to work perfectly with my cookies obsession, they are a match made in heaven. Today I tried a new recipe for Oat and Nutella Cookies from the May 2014 issue of Food and Wine Magazine. Here is the recipe with changes.

Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine. 

Oat and Nutella Cookies

Recipe Type: Dessert

Summary:

A delicious combination of Nutella and oats that makes for a great snack or dessert.

Cooking Time: 0h, 10m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: 60 Cookies

Oat and Nutella Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 13 ounces Nutella (one jar)
• 2 cups quick cook oats

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix.
3. Using a mixer, cream the shortening and sugars until creamy (2-3 minutes on medium).
4. Add the eggs one a time and then add Nutella.
5. Beat the mixture until smooth (another 1-2 minutes on medium).
6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll the cookies into balls (1 tablespoon for each ball).
8. Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake these cookies. They should be just barely set, if you bake them too long they will be way too crunchy. 

The original recipe has a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I made the cookies as written in the magazine and I found that the cinnamon flavor was a little much. Now, that may just be my tastes, if you love cinnamon go for it. My husband thought that the cinnamon was the best part of the cookie, so you might love the cinnamon like he did. I also reduced the amount of salt. I found a full teaspoon to be too much for my tastes, so I reduced it to 3/4 of a teaspoon. However, I under salt everything so I'm a little strange. If you aren't a fan of vegetable shortening I would assume that coconut oil (you might need to reduce the total amount), butter, or another fat would work just as well. The version I made I used gluten free all purpose flour that had xanthan gum already added. If you use another type of gluten free flour I would suggest adding xanthan gum to the mixture (about a tablespoon).

Savory Rosemary Sage Bread

I have a habit of buying clearanced appliances.. Most of the time I use them, the ones I don't I give as gifts, a few sit for a few years before I get around to using them. Then there are the appliances that I get from someone else. About 5 years ago my mother-in-law gave me a bread maker. It sat on the shelf for a couple of months and then I used it non-stop for a year. Later it broke and I made bread from scratch for years. Until I found a bread maker marked down to 15 dollars (from 80!), so of course I had to buy it. Honestly, this summer it has been my best friend. It has kept my house cool when the weather is 95 and humid, which is seems to be frequently this year. My herb garden has also been crazy so I have been trying to combine my love of making fresh bread with the over abundance of fresh herbs I have in my garden. I discovered a recipe for Rosemary Sage Bread a couple of weeks back and I love it! The recipe is as follows.

Adapted from Recipe 4 Living
Rosemary Sage Bread

A savory bread that is a great way to use garden herbs. Works well made in both the bread maker and in the oven.

Yield: 2 loaves 16 slices each

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons finely diced fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons finely diced fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 3 cups bread flour

Cooking Directions

1. If making in the bread maker add ingredients in order suggested by the manufacturer of your bread maker.
2. If you are making the bread from scratch use the following instructions.
3. In the one cup of warm water dissolve the sugar and then mix in the yeast.
4. After 5 minutes (when the yeast is foamy) add the butter, sage, and rosemary.
5. In a separate bowl combine the bread flour and salt.
6. Add the wet mixture and then knead by hand for 10-12 minutes (alternately you may use a mixer for this step).
7. Rub the inside of a plastic bowl with oil.
8. Place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
9. Punch down dough, and divide into two balls.
10. Grease the inside of two loaf pans, shape the two pieces of dough into loaves and place in loaf pans.
11. Cover top of pans with plastic wrap and allow loaves to rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
12. While the dough is on the last rise preheat oven to 375 degrees.
13. Bake the loaves in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped (total time will depend on your oven, if they brown too quickly tent with foil. A bread thermometer is helpful-when the bread temps 190-200 it is ready to pull out.
14. Allow cool for 30 minutes in pan and an additional 30 minutes before slicing.

This bread is nice as a side with soup. It also makes great savory toast, my kids loved it with goat cheese (my kids have adult tastes). You can adjust the amount of herbs based on your tastes. Some people might like more or less rosemary/sage. It would also work with other herbs if you have an over abundance of thyme, dill, etc. 

Rosemary Sage Bread

Summary:

A savory bread that is a great way to use garden herbs. Works well made in both the bread maker and in the oven.

Preparation Time: 2h, 20m

Cooking Time: 0h, 20m

Yield: 32 Slices