Nutella muffins

It's been a long few days, recovering from that godawful stomach bug. I spent a couple of days feeling weak and puny, with no real appetite at all. Yesterday, my husband started to feel bad, and I had a terrible vision of him getting this thing too. Fortunately, he hasn't so far, and my appetite has come back.

I celebrated by making a batch of Nutella muffins.

From Kirbie's Cravings, reprinted below:

(Note: I halved this recipe.)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of Nutella
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line oversized muffin molds with liners. You can also line regular muffin pans. Makes about 12 oversized or 24 regular. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, Nutella and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, then the chocolate chips, stirring until all ingredients are combined. The batter will still be a little lumpy.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin about 2/3 full. Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes for oversized muffins (about 18 minutes for regular), or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Peanut butter and Nutella french toast

Sometimes, you need Nutella.

I'm usually not a stress eater. When I get stressed out or upset, I lose my appetite. Every once in a while, though, instead of not eating, I'll just not eat anything healthy. I get crazy sugar cravings.

I guess today is one of those days. I woke up craving Nutella.

And lo! I said, let there be peanut butter and Nutella french toast for breakfast, and there was. And it was good.

It's essentially a french toast sandwich. Smear either peanut butter or Nutella (or both) between two slices of bread, to make a sandwich. Proceed with the french toast recipe as usual.

I had some stale whole wheat bread, courtesy of work, and some milk that needed to be used up. So you see, it was fate.

If you want to get crazy with this, add some sliced bananas.

Nutella cookies

The easiest cookies I think I've ever made. Only four ingredients: Nutella, flour, sugar, egg. That's it!

I used this recipe, with one key change: I had to use two eggs instead of one.

So:
1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs

Combine. Shape the batter into balls and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. (They'll be sticky.) Using the greased bottom of a glass, press down into a cookie shape. Bake 7-8 minutes at 350. Let cool for a minute before eating, as they'll be soft.

If possible, these were even better the next day. The first day, they were very fudgy. By the second day, they'd hardened slightly into a very soft and chewy cookie. Yum!