chocolate | My Little Table

If I buy a jar of nutella, I will finish a jar of nutella. I will finish it spoonful by spoonful, walking past the kitchen, reading a book, in my pajamas, while I’m ironing….

We could be in a commercial filled with snapshots of my day, with this song playing in the background.

It’s kind of a problem, so I try not to keep in the house on a consistent basis.

However, these cookies are the greatest reason to buy nutella. They are one of my absolute favorites, but because everyone with taste buds loves them, I always pack some up and give them to friends.

Who wouldn’t like this care package?

No one will ever guess that there are 5 ingredients in these cookies. I am still in disbelief, myself.

However, it’s true. Nutella swoops right in and provides enough chocolate, sugar, and milk to eliminate the need for a laundry list of ingredients. Since they contain no leaving agents (baking soda or powder) and very little flour they are dense, flat and fudgy. If you’re looking for a cakey cookie, this one’s not for you.

When I served these to a professional chef friend of mine, he loved them so much he gobbled up four of them on the spot. He said to me “Did you make a mousse for the base?” I wryly said… “Uh huh.”

I finally folded and told him the secret ingredient. He was shocked.

Bonus? The 1 cup of nutella needed here leaves you with too much to throw out and not enough for a second batch. Believe it or not, the recipe for the remaining nutella is even easier than the cookies:

Prepare yourself by changing out of clothes and into pajamas and cozy socks. Walk into the kitchen, turning on the dimmest light to keep a low profile. Take one spoonful of nutella from jar and eat. Wash spoon and return to drawer immediately to destroy the evidence.

5 Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Cookies with Sea Salt

Adapted From Ambitious Kitchen

MAKES 14-16 COOKIES

½ cup flour (you can also use a gluten free flour blend here with good results)

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup nutella

Fleur de sel, or other flaky salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients but salt in a large bowl with electric mixer until well combined. Cover bowl with ample plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the surface of the dough to ensure no air gets in.

Place dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Remove from refrigerator and, using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon to ensure even portioning, roll dough into 1 ½-2 inch balls.

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between them.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Remove from oven, let set up for a few minutes, then sprinkle with salt.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Serve.

*My Two Cents: If you don’t have fleur de sel, you can grind sea salt over the tops of the cookies. The key is to make sure the grain isn’t super coarse, we’d like to keep everyone’s teeth intact.

* I have made these with a gluten free flour blend with very good results. With such little flour, you can’t even tell the difference!

There is nothing to dislike about toffee… well… nothing to dislike about the TASTE of toffee, anyway. It’s butter, sugar, and chocolate. Check, check check.

The only issue with toffee is that it’s candy, and candy is temperamental. Achieving the proper caramel without the sugar and butter separating used to be a challenge for me, until I learned a little trick. A mere 2 tablespoons of water keeps this amber concoction perfectly emulsified. That is, if you follow the other instructions correctly.

A good quality saucepan and a working thermometer are important here, as caramel is easy to burn. Once you get the hang of it, though, you will make over and over again. It is impressive, and so incredibly tasty. You will see that I use salted butter here as I’m a bit “salty-sweet” girl. You will also see that this serves 15-20 people. I had to ask myself “How many normal people would this toffee feed?”

See, with my crew it serves 10 at most. I choose my friends carefully.

ENGLISH TOFFEE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE AND ALMONDS

SERVES 15-20

8 ounces dark chocolate (I like Ghirardelli 60% cocoa), finely chopped

3/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped

1 cup salted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Line a medium sized baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil, using enough foil to cover the bottom and come at least 1 inch up the sides of the baking tray. Set aside.

In a heavy saucepan equipped with a candy thermometer, cook the butter, sugar, and water over medium heat until the temperature reaches 305 degrees, stirring occasionally. Watch the temperature after 290 degrees as it will rise rapidly.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the mixture onto the foil. It may not reach the edges of the pan, but that’s okay. You can tilt the pan slightly to encourage it to spread over the surface.

Cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, or until hard.

Melt the chocolate according to instructions on the side of package. I microwaved the chocolate for 1 ½ minutes, stirred until the bowl was no longer warm, then repeated at 30 second intervals. It took about 2 ½ minutes. Spread melted chocolate over the cooled toffee, and sprinkle with the almonds, pressing lightly to set almonds into chocolate.

Let set at room temperature 1 hour, or until the chocolate has set.

Break toffee into pieces and store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

*My Two Cents: Cashews or Pecans make excellent toffee as well. You can also trade milk chocolate or white chocolate for the dark I use here. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut is amazing. A little orange zest mixed in? Oh, yes.

*I eat this a nibble at a time, but it’s great crumbled over ice cream, too.

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Tag Archives: chocolate

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