Nutella Sugar Cookies & Coupons--A Moral Story

I will start off this story by stating that I conduct nearly all of my grocery shopping (and shopping in general really) at Costco and Target. Why Costco? I live practically on top of one Costco and drive by another almost every day. If you've got freezer room to spare and if you're like me and like to have things conveniently on hand, Costco is hard to beat. Why Target? For those smaller, incidental grocery items, Target usually has a good price, better than most grocery stores, and I happen to live across the street from one. What shall we conclude from this? Cheap and convenient is a major driving in the med student's life.

Those of you who shop at Costco are aware, I am sure, every once in awhile Costco assembles a group of coupons that are actually worthwhile! Conveniently the day after receiving such a collection of coupons in the mail, I had to go to Costco to pick up bagels en masse for a group event. For convenience, again my favorite motivating force, I decided to do some personal shopping while I was there because why waste a Costco trip, right? Right? Wrong! As I gleefully filled my cart with our necessities that were on sale (ok and some not so necessary items too), I had no idea what tragedy was lying in wait for me. One of these coupons was for something like $2 off Nutella. When I opened the coupons and flipped through them, this particular one was what I was looking forward to most. I had been eying the already fabulously priced Nutella at Costco for a month or two and this coupon finally gave me the impetus needed! I'll cut to the chase, I was about to pay for my items when I remembered to hand the coupons to the cashier who told me that the coupons weren't good until the next day. A reasonable person might have just not completed the purchase, but I'm a med student and time doesn't grow on trees, people! The cashier helpfully suggested that I could return everything tomorrow and repurchase it and the guy in line behind me lended some sympathy by relating a similar experience the previous month. I could have saved $11! Moral of the story? The first date on a coupon is just as important as the expiration date.

I have managed to live through my tragic coupon experience, but just barely. I was in need of some cookie therapy the other night. The husband unit recently gave me some cute fall-themed cookie cutters, which I was dying to use.  After my coupon ordeal, I have also been eager to whip out some Nutella. How could I combine the two? Of course! Nutella Sugar Cookies!

Nutella Cookies!

Everyone loves Nutella, right? They must else there wouldn’t be World Nutella Day coming up on Feb. 5th. The interwebs are abuzz with Nutella creations and I couldn’t resist joining in. Especially since it means taking a break from studying the anatomy of the pelvis & perineum. Bleh.

I generally don’t buy Nutella because I end up sneaking it straight from the jar. I figured, however, if I could use it for a recipe then perhaps it’d be alright. Just this once. These cookies are a little bit like chocolate chip cookies but with Nutella in the batter. The Nutella has replaced some of the butter. The recipe I used called for mini-chocolate chips, but I only had regular chocolate chips. If I were to do it again I would probably chop the regular chips a bit smaller. It doesn’t make that much of a difference, though and you could probable even leave out the chocolate entirely if you wanted.
Begin with room temperature butter. Cream the butter together with the two sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Now for the fun part. Mix in the Nutella. Make sure to savor the way the batter turns to a wonderful light Nutella-y brown color.

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl separately. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet then fold in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls on to the baking sheet and pop them in the oven for 6-7 minutes.

Lastly and most importantly: enjoy!
Nutella Cookies
 Recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup Nutella or other hazelnut chocolate spread
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter with an electric mixer until smooth (around 1 minute). Add the sugar and brown sugar. Beat on high speed about 3 minutes until light & fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the butter was cold and not room temperature, the mixture will turn crumbly instead of fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Next add the Nutella and mix well.
In a small bowl stir the flour, baking soda and salt together. Add these dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly and mix until incorporated. Keep mixing just until the dough is smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
Form the dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake 6-7 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring them off the baking sheet. Makes around 30-35 cookies.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Healthy Twist

This weekend I had an abundance of avocados on hand and what with the heat wave and all I decided baking cookies would be a brilliant idea. Avocados are not a fruit (yes, fruit) people generally associate with cookies, however they can be used to substitute part of the butter in cookie recipes. It sounds weird, but trust me everything turns out just fine in the end.
So why bother with the avocado at all? Avocado contains 75% less calories and fat than butter. While avocados are generally considered to be rich in fats, they contain monounsaturated fats and no cholesterol. Diets rich in monounsaturated fatty acids have been found to lower LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), total cholesterol, and triglycerides (basically fat) and increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the blood for patients with elevated cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) (source). It has also been suggested that avocados may help to prevent cancer (source). Avocados are also rich in vitamins and minerals like B vitamins, folate, and potassium.
Here is a chart comparing 1/4 of a cup unsalted butter with 1/4 cup mashed avocado:

Chart from: http://www.fitsugar.com/Substitute-Butter-Avocado-When-Baking-8199268

Are you convinced yet? That’s ok time for some pictures.

 Set the oven for 375F and gather all your ingredients

Cream together the butter and sugars. Mash up half a cup of avocado and add it to the bowl. Gently beat in the avocado until blended.

Trust me, it turns out much more yummy than it looks.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix. Add in the flour, baking soda and salt slowly until it is all mixed in. Next it’s time to stir in the oats.

Fold in the chocolate chips

Spoon onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.

With respect to the oats, I really think that Quaker’s Old-Fashioned quick-cooking (but not instant) oatmeal is the best. I used Coach’s Oats here and was not as pleased with the result. I’ve been told, however, that Coach’s Oats makes some kick ass oatmeal. I think the rolled oats or Quaker’s gives a less grainy cookie in the end.

Here’s the recipe from London Foodie in NY

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (with avocado)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peeled, mashed avocado (around 1/2 an avocado)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 F
2. Beat butter until smooth, add sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in avocado until blended
4. Add egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly
5. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix well.
6. Stir in the oats and coconut.
7. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
8. Drop tablespoon-sized balls onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.

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Ever want to look up nutritional information about foods like fruits and vegetables? Search the USDA National Nutrient Database for free: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/