Nutella No-Bake Cookies

These Nutella No-Bake Cookies are sweet, chewy, and indulgent with that beautiful chocolate hazelnut flavor. They're so easy to make, and you don't even need an oven. You're gonna want just one more.

The first time I ever made no-bake cookies was my first Christmas in Taiwan. I shared the holiday with a few other expat friends, none of whom could really cook. We stayed at a friend's house. She taught at a school outside the city and had a big apartment, but the kitchen still only had one working burner, and all she had was a wok. I made Bacon Carbonara, which we ate with chopsticks. For dessert, I served no-bake cookies.

It was awesome. As much as I enjoy making a big, elaborate meals for friends, this Christmas dinner just proves that it's all about the intention when it comes to cooking for others. We were all away from home for the first time, and not just stuck at college but in a country where we couldn't speak or read the language. That simple meal, made in that one pot that I washed again and again, was a small taste of home shared with friends who felt like family. I'll never forget it.

What makes Nutella No-Bake Cookies so awesome?

Now I have my dream kitchen, but I still love simple food, like these Nutella No-Bake Cookies. I swapped out half the peanut butter in the usual recipe for everyone's favorite chocolate hazelnut spread to make them even more awesome. The flavor is definitely sweet, but also deeply chocolatey. Plus the chewy texture from the oats makes it feel like a little bit goes a long way.

These are obviously perfect for when you don't have an oven, whether it's broken or you just don't own one. It's also easy to make with kids as long as they're supervised. My favorite thing is that they're quicker than making regular cookies because once the mixture is combined, you scoop them out all at once, then walk away. You don't have to keep coming back into the kitchen every 10 minutes to swap out baking trays. You get to eating delicious cookies much more quickly.

Magical Properties of Hazelnuts

The hazel tree has strong ties to witchcraft. Wood collected on Beltane has the strongest protective properties. Folk would create hazel fences or craft hazel wood amulets to ward off malevolent fairies or other negative entities.

Hazel catkins also carry fertility energy. They were used to protect pregnant ewes during lambing and were associated with human fertility as well. A gift of hazelnuts was believed to lead to lots of children.

Hazelnuts were carried as charms to ward of rheumatism, and they could also divine the weather. Two hazelnuts on one stalk was known as a loady-nut and could protect from the evil eye and supposedly cure tooth ache. (Source: The Hedgerow Apothecary by Christine Iverson)

For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need for this recipe. Full details are in the recipe card below.

• Sugar
• Cocoa powder
• Milk - whole milk is best, but use whatever you've got
• Butter - unsalted
• Vanilla extract
• Salt
• Peanut butter - I use smooth, but chunky would probably also work if you want peanuts in your cookies
• Chocolate hazelnut spread - your favorite brand
• Oats - rolled oats are awesome here as they'll give you great texture

Tips for making Nutella No-Bake Cookies

Before you even get started, make sure you've selected a big enough saucepan to give you plenty of space to stir your ingredients together. If in doubt, use a slightly larger pan. Then add your sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and butter to that pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. You're gonna be tempted to crank it up, but be patient. You don't want to scorch the milk.

While that's heating up, measure out the rest of your ingredients in another bowl. You'll want to add them all at once and quickly once your mixture on the stove heats up, so just get everything ready to go. Once your mixture starts bubbling, let it boil for a minute, then take it off the heat. Dump in your remaining ingredients and stir them together to combine. Then use a cookie scoop or a big spoon to scoop your cookies out onto a flat parchment-lined surface. Give them space to spread. They'll spread less and less as the mixture cools, but the first few may spread quite a bit. Then the hard part is just to wait for them to cool and harden up.

It's really the simple things that bring us the most joy most of the time. Fill your days with extra awesomeness with some Nutella No-Bake Cookies.

Looking for more awesome cookie recipes? Try these Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies or some Almond Flour Cookies.

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