Recipe/Ricetta - No-Bake Nutella and Oat Cookies

I love Nutella - I make no secret of this fact. In Venexia, some of the gelaterie (which also serve crepes) have jars so large, I could almost fit my head inside. Perhaps fortunately, I've never actually bought a jar that big!

I found this recipe through Pinterest; it's from a great blog called Megan's Cookin' (where she also has some really fun Hallowe'en recipes!). I've changed the quantity of sugar that Megan states in her original recipe - after making these cookies, I found that 300g was just too much...I am of course, the only person in this house who has this opinion! Other than that (the stirring, and the bit at the end), I make no claims upon this recipe!

These cookies are really filling, and probably better, healthwise, than shop-bought ones. And of course, they are great to make with children because aside from the actual melting of ingredients, the kids can pretty much do all of this themselves. If you are going to make these with children, I suggest that you put the oats into a large mixing bowl and add the molten choc mix to the oats, rather than adding the oats to the pan - it just makes things a bit safer!

One last thing - they may look at first glance to be less-than-diet-friendly but trust me, one is really all you need (unless you answer to the name, amato mio, and live in my house)!

No-Bake Nutella Cookies - makes 24

Nutritional values per cookie:

Calories: 144

Carbohydrate: 19g

Protein: 2g

Fat: 6g

Sodium: 6mg

(Please note that these are based on the ingredients I used - your own may be slightly different)

For 24 cookies:

115g butter (unsalted if possible)

115ml semi-skimmed milk

300g sugar

45g cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

150g Nutella

260g rolled oats or porridge (I use Waitrose LoveLife Four Grain Porridge)

You will also need silicone baking parchment, a wooden spoon, and a large saucepan.

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1. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for three minutes, still stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and Nutella.

3. Add the oats and mix very well.

4. Drop dessertspoonfuls onto silicone parchment, cover with another sheet of parchment, carefully press down to flatten the cookies, and then allow them to cool and set.

Because they are soft, you'll probably want to keep them in a container in the 'fridge....assuming they last long enough to be packed away!

Buon appetito!