These Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal Cookies--Nutella Oatmeal Cookies--came about when I had a cookie attack. It was a full-blown cookie attack, too. I wanted soft, gooey, chocolate cookies. That said, I knew I couldn't down a full batch of cookies, even over several days, without significant consequences. The chief consequences being that the excessive sugar would make me sick and the excessive calories would mean I'd be living in stretch pants for the coming days. So, I decided to scale back my "wants" and limit my cookie supply by using my air fryer to make a small batch of chocolate hazelnut cookies. To make the cookies "healthier"--and salve my conscience--I included oatmeal in the treats. The resulting cookies were soft, chewy, and full of chocolate and hazelnut flavor without being too sweet. I also had my cookies in about 15 minutes. Then, even though I had made only a small batch of dough, I stashed half of it in the refrigerator for later--in case of another cookie attack...
Chocolate Hazelnut (Nutella) Oatmeal Cookies -- Makes 15-18
2/3 cup of Nutella or similar chocolate-hazelnut spread (I use Aldi's spread)
1 large egg
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of quick oats
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of buttermilk
In a medium bowl or measure combine the Nutella and egg well. Stir in the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the buttermilk. Cut sheets of baking parchment to fit your air fryer basket. Drop several 1 1/2 tablespoon scoops of dough onto each parchment sheet, spacing the scoops at least an inch apart. Flatten the dough balls slightly with your fingers. Put one dough-covered sheet in the air fryer basket and bake the cookies in your air fryer at 320 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove the cookies and repeat the cooking process with the remainder of the dough (or as much as you want to bake at one time). Let the cookies cool a few minutes before devouring them.
