Chocolate chip hazelnut cookies and summer reads

Hello pretty people! Yes yes, another cookie recipe. I'm sorry, but seriously, these are WAY too good to miss. You're gonna want to eat them. All. With a glass of milk or without it. They taste like nutella, sort of. Maybe you'll eat them while reading a book?

I devour books in summer. I start by going through a book while I'm on my long plane flights on my way home. (Specially if annoying teenagers don't let me sleep). Then I just carry a book around everywhere I go. The beach, the park, the car (not if I'm driving that is). I read while I'm having breakfast, while I wait for my bread to rise, while my parents are taking naps. I just read read read.

This summer I'm going for the classics. Believe it or not, I have never read 'to kill a mockingbird' or 'the catcher in the rye', so I decided to give them a shot. Have you read them? did you like them?. I seem to be in the dark/mystery mood lately. My other two reads for vacation are 'Invisible' by Paul Auster and 'the beekeeper's apprentice by Laurie King. Too much information? Sorry, I love books!. Now you tell me, what are you reading this summer? Do you have any recommendations for me?

I think you should eat these cookies while you read. They are THAT good. My roommate claims they are the best cookies he's ever eaten. They have oats and chocolate chips and crunchy hazelnuts. They smell like heaven. You could add other nuts to them, but the hazelnuts and chocolate combination has a nutella effect to it that you can't beat. Plus they are made with whole wheat flour, which means they are healthy, right? right!

Hazelnut chocolate chip cookies

adapted from 101 cookbooks

Print this recipe

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cups hazelnuts chopped by hand

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Mix in the egg. Add the dry mixture and mix until combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and hazelnuts and incorporate into the dough with a wooden spoon. Drop the dough into a baking sheet by tablespoonfuls and press it down to flatten (they don't expand much when baked). Bake for 7-10 minutes until the cookies are fragrant and have golden edges.

Cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies

Do this guys sound familiar? yes, I know, I already updated an oatmeal cranberry cookie recipe. But this one has chocolate!

Last Friday it was my friend JM's bday. He lives in Atlanta so he got a package in the mail with one of my Spanish easter cakes and a box of these cookies. Not bad huh?

I wanted to try a new recipe for oatmeal-whatever cookies. Because you can really add whatever it is you want. Raisins? Apricot? Dark chocolate?. Your choice. Plus they have oatmeal. That makes them healthy, right? Right.

It didn't take me long to find a right combo of ingredients. This recipe comes from the 'Craisins' bag.

2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream butter and sugar together until fluffly. Mix in the eggs one at a time. In a bowl, combine oats, flour and baking soda. Add to the wet mixture and mix well. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips and incorporate with a spatula. Drop by tablespoonfuls in an ungreased baking sheet. Press with a fork to flatten (they don't get flat during baking). Bake for 15 min or until lightly golden.

For the love of cranberries

My love story with cranberries was love at first sight. Unfortunately I didn't even know of the existence of this delicious round little things until I moved to the US. Apparently some countries in Europe have them, but Spain didn't until pretty much a year ago and they definitely don't have the fresh stuff.  (did i say they? i guess i'm an adopted american now).

Anyway, as soon as I tried them... I fell in love. Needless to say, cranberry sauce is one of my favourite Thanksgiving dishes. I could just eat tablespoons of it. Plain tart yummy cranberry.

The dried sweetened ones go perfect in my salads and... combined with some oatmeal... a little healthier breakfast cookies!

Fast, easy, delicious cookies!

3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Stir in the baking powder and flour. Don't overmix. Fold in the oats and cranberries. It will look like there's no way in hell you're gonna get all those cranberries incorporated in the dough, but don't worry, they will stick to the cookies. Drop the dough by 2 tablespoonfuls in a cookie sheet. Flatten them as they won't get flat through baking. Bake for 10 min or until slightly brown on the bottom.

They are so easy and yummy you'll be making them over and over.