ice cream sandwich - nutella style

Last night I happened upon a pretty amazing snack. And I couldn't not share it with you.

Two chocolate hazelnut smooches, minus the smooches.
One scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Yummy goodness. Thank you, God, that we still had nutella cookies in the freezer left over from Thanksgiving. My tummy is so happy right now.

Oh, and while I was writing this I was thinking, why not spread some nutella on the inside of the cookies before smooshing them together with the ice cream...

Gotta go. I've got an ice cream sandwich, the sequel, to make with only 8 minutes left until the last episode of Monk. Ever.

snickerdoodles

When I saw these, I just knew we had to try them. I'd never made Snickerdoodles before, and wanted a good recipe for my collection. This sure is it; I won't need to try any others. We even mailed some and turns out they'll hold up well being shipped. I did bake and ship in the same day which helped them stay fresh longer for the birthday girl. (I whipped up the dough the night before and let it chill so the balls would be easy to handle when baking in the morning, just like the recipe suggests.)

These cookies are crisp on the outside and cakey in the middle and a wonderful bundle of cinnamony-sugar goodness. They didn't last long in our house and I'm going to guess they won't in yours either.

On a completely unrelated note...

I think this month of not eating out really had an effect on us. I've always been one to LOVE eating out, I'd pretty much always choose that over eating in, even with my love of cooking. I think I liked the event of it, something different AND not having to do dishes. But Monday night we went out to dinner for the first time in weeks, and I found myself wishing we were back at home, eating something I'd cooked up and just enjoying time around our own dinner table, folding chairs and all. And the surprising thing is, when I shared with my husband what I'd been thinking, he said he'd felt the same way. I never would have guessed all we'd want to do after a month minus restaurants is to stay home, but I'm pleasantly surprised that that's the case.

chocolate-hazelnut cookies

Giada's always using Nutella on her show, it's like she knows how addicting it is and just sticks it in everything so more people try her recipes. That nerve!

Okay, Giada, I'm just kidding. Please don't be mad. We love Nutella and will make whatever you decide to put it in with smiles on our faces. And a little chocolate on our chin.


Today's recipe is Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches, minus the smooch for us. (I'll get to that in a second.) I saw her making these on Everyday Italian this week and thought they'd be a fun Halloween cookie to make with my daughter. We followed the recipe closely, only one modification, leaving out the chocolate kisses on top, which means we baked the cookies for 11 minutes straight. I just didn't feel like smooches on our cookies this time around. My daughter, Ava, and I had so much fun making these. (She got to roll them in the sugar and lick her fingers afterwards. Yum.)

I won't leave you in suspense. These are awesome. The sugar coating provides a fun crunch to the cookie, but they are still chewy in the middle. Such a perfect balance of texture, and the taste is delicious. How could it not be with yummy Nutella goodness inside?

When I told my husband what we were baking today, he was less than excited. But I brought him a sample anyways, and he took a bite with an apprehensive look on his face. I'm not exactly sure what look was on his face while he continued to eat a few more cookies, but, you get the picture. These are good, even for the toughest critic.

in the form of a cookie

And this is where my addiction to puff pastry started. Proceed with caution.

You'd think with the name Palmiers that these would be super fancy cookies that took a lot of effort to make, but that's far from the truth. They are super simple and, in my opinion, one of the best uses of puff pastry sheets. I was weary of the salt, but Ina Garten said it really made the cookies great, and she was right. I'm learning, mostly because the Food Network stars mention it all the time, that salt really makes flavors pop, both savory and sweet. I've become a fan of Kosher salt. I really think it makes a difference rather than simple table salt in the impact it has on dishes. I'd recommend making the switch, if you haven't already.

I left my cookies a little underdone (I think they are supposed to come out very crispy) because I like the chewy texture of things with a little crunch on the outside edge. So addicting. They didn't last more than 24 hours in our house and my husband didn't even like them. In my defense, I only made one pastry sheet worth of them, but still, it was a lot of cookies to consume in a short amount of time...I just couldn't stop...and I'm blaming it on the salt.