Nutella-Rum Cookies

While Merk is off, I like to bake a few times a month. Really, I'd bake more if I could get away with it, but you saw my last post - my body shape can't afford having me baking all the time. I take the proceeds down to one of the local farmer's markets to my friends there so that I'm not stuck with a full batch of something weighing me down.

Today, I made an adaptation of the flourless cocoa peanut butter cookies from Baking Bites, one of my favorite cooking/baking blogs. She talks about the cookies being chewy and tender, but my recipe isn't that way at all. My cookies came out supremely fragile and light, almost like a meringue, and ended up dissolving on the tongue with an amazing delicacy of flavor.

Here's what I did:


3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg

3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup nutella
1-1 1/2 shots rum
1/2-2/3 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line your baking sheet with a Silpat (or use parchment paper if you have no Silpats. If you have no Silpats, though, put one down on your birthday gift list because I can't live without mine). Beat egg and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add in cocoa powder, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Once fully incorporated, dump the nutella in and mix well. At this point, you'll have a very thick fudgy batter. Drizzle in your rum and sprinkle the chips in, and mix until fully incorporated.

Scoop into 1" balls (but leave a lot of room, these things spread) and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until shiny and crisp on the outside. Pull from the oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling off. BE CAREFUL, as these cookies are extremely delicate. This is why you used parchment paper - if something gets stuck, you can very gently loosen it with a spatula or even peel the cookie off the sheet.

This is a recipe I am going to come back to time and time again - it's quick, uses few ingredients, and the result is a cookie like I've never tasted before!