Nutella and Banana Empanadas & Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutella week sadly has to come to an end. It has been fun trying all these great recipes and have no fear, Nutella will still be regularly making an appearance on this blog. I have 17 Nutella recipes in my "try" file and I just found a website with at least 40-50 Nutella recipes! So, needless to say, there will be a lot of Nutella baking in my future!

There are two recipes today because I couldn't decide on what to make. I turned to my girls (Monica, Erica, and Britteny) and gave them 3 recipes to choose from. Monica and Erica both chose the empanadas and Britteny chose the cookies. I was just going to go with the majority but then thought that Britteny should get her first pick, too! So, that is why I have two recipes for you today!

The empanadas were very easy to make thanks to the help of (GASP!) refrigerated pie dough. Sure, you could make your own pie dough but, when time is of the essence, store bought never hurt anyone. One of the best parts of this recipe (besides the Nutella, of course!) is that you can freeze the empanadas for up to 3 months. I doubt they would last that long, but at least you know it's an option! They were really tasty, too! I love Nutella and bananas together so I knew that this recipe would appeal to me.

The cookies were fantastic! I was suprised that the recipe was almost identical to a recipe I use for my monster chocolate chip cookies. I never considered adding Nutella to my cookie dough and boy am I glad I happened across this idea! These cookies were outstanding! I am doing my best to not eat all of them!

I hope you all enjoyed Nutella week as much as I did. Have a wonderfully frightening and fun Halloween!

Nutella & Banana Empanadas

Both recipes from Recipe Goldmine

Pie dough (enough for 2 - 9" pies)

1 cup Nutella

1 banana, cut into 1/4" pieces

Sugar, for sprinkling on top

Roll out pie dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut dough into 3" rounds.

In a small bowl, combine Nutella and banana. Place about 1 TBSP mixture onto each round. Moisten edges and fold over to seal. Pinch edges together with fork. Brush lightly with water and sprinkle with sugar.

Transfer empanadas to parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for at least 15 minutes.

Remove from freezer and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until golden.

*Empanadas can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsifted bleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Nutella

1 large egg

1 additional egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl. Set aside.With electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in Nutella, egg, yolk and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in chips to taste.

Scoop out 1/4 cup of cookie dough and place on cookie sheet at least 2" apart. Bake until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden, yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes.)