A Spoonful of Nutella

It’s the first day of school in my town and it’s always the food which will best ease us through the transition. What my kids eat for breakfast, lunch, after-school snacks and of course dinner will make or break a good day.

My heart was full this morning as I watched all three of my children eat a solid breakfast — banana bread (of course with chocolate chips) and fresh strawberries — knowing their tummies wouldn’t be grumbling when they got to school. For lunch, I take all requests the first day. It was fried rice for the youngest, Nutella and peanut butter for the middle and a ham sandwich for the oldest.

And though I’m sure my kids would love some Halloween Oreos tucked in their brand spanking new lunch totes, I’m a homemade cookie mom and resist all temptations to buy processed ones. So, I offered to make them the cookie of their choice and anything with Nutella won! I played “sneaky chef” and created a somewhat healthy cookie using some whole wheat flour and apple sauce that tastes pretty darn good. I’ve shared the recipe below and in between the back to school kid photos I snapped a shot of the cookies for you all to see.

Afterschool I’m surprising my daughter with her favorite flatbread pizza and my son some of his much loved potato leek soup. My high schooler will probably sneak a soda and rummage for some salty junk food and I’ll even let it slide today because it’s the first day of school. And the dinner finale will be chicken pot pie, a winner with all three kids.

If tummies are full and satisfied, minds and moods should be productive and mellow. Let’s hope the chef (that’s me!) is right about this one for they are about to get home!

Nutella Filled Cookies
Makes 24 good sized cookies

¾-1 cup Nutella
1 stick butter, softened
½ cup natural apple sauce
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 ½ cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Drop 24 spoonfuls’ of Nutella (about a teaspoon full or less) onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for at least 20 minutes until hardened. (You can do this the day before or several hours before as well. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the butter, apple sauce and sugars together. Add the vanilla extract and eggs. Gradually add the flours, baking powder and salt. If the dough is soft, place in the refrigerator for a bit.

Place a spoonful of batter on the cookie sheet, a piece of frozen Nutella and cover with more dough. Repeat until all dough is used. Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are golden. Remove from baking sheet onto a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.