Let me not state the obvious here and say, I love baking. The fact is if you read this blog, you will already know this. The problem comes in when you feel like trying out new recipes (yes, as in more than one) but your waistline protests at the thought of eating that much baked treats for the rest of the week. Of course I am willing to suffer for my art, but my doctor may say something different ;). It is also nice to have something hidden away in the freezer for the next time your family is pleading for something sweet but you haven’t had the time to mix something up. So this weekend, I had already made carrot cake, apple Danish (with some leftover phyllo pastry and cinnamon spiced caramelized apples).
Then I came across this recipe on one of my favourite blogs http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/. It caught my interest because of the combination of ingredients and I was curious to find out how it would come together. The result was a pleasant surprise and not only because it spread so much despite the dough being well chilled beforehand. So if you give this recipe a try, I hope you will let me know what you think and remember to leave lots of space between the cookies on the cookie sheet. This recipe makes 3 well sized rolls of cookie dough (which allows for about 12 large cookies) which makes it a great fridge staple, perfect for those midnight snack attacks.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Cook Time: 10 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 30
Ingredients
• 2-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Instant Coffee Granules
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup (2 Sticks) Salted Butter, Softened
• 1-1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Nutella
• 1/2 cup Very Finely Chopped Pecans
• 3/4 cups M&M’s, Roughly Chopped
Preparation Instructions
Combine flour, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together and set aside.
Cream together the butter with the sugars, scraping the bowl once while mixing. Add eggs, mixing one at a time, and vanilla. Add peanut butter and Nutella and mix. Add dry ingredients in increments, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl once and mix again.
Add chopped pecans and M&M’s and mix gently to combine. Add more of either ingredient if needed.
Spoon dough on a long piece (or two shorter pieces) of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Carefully roll the dough inside the wrap, pressing gently to get it to form into a firm cylinder. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours or place into the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice off as many cookies as you’d like and lay the slices on a baking sheet. (The thicker the slices, the farther apart the cookies will need to be. They bake up flat.)
Bake for 10 minutes, or until nice and golden brown.
Delicious!