{No Bake} Nutella Cookies

.  And it's the beginning of the week once again.  But did everyone have a good weekend?!

Over in our neck of the woods, the weekend absolutely flew by because on Friday night, Robbie and I headed down to Kansas City for his sister's baby shower weekend.  We went down a bit early to see their brand new house, do a little shoppin', and of course hang out with the fam.  It's pretty rare for the entire family to get together due to distance, so we gotta take advantage when we can!

The weekend ended with the baby shower on Sunday afternoon and fortunately most of the immediate family were all able to attend, many of them making 5+ hour drives in order to celebrate the special occassion.  This will be the first grandchild in Robbie's family so you can imagine the buzz and excitement!  It was also really great to see all of Robbie's relatives again since I hadn't personally seen them since Kelli and Brett's wedding [Robbie's sister and brother-in-law] a few years back.  The shower was held at the soon-to-be-parents house and was filled with loads of gifts, summertime foods, and endless chatter.  So all in all, a perfectly lovely afternoon!

But you're probably thinking these [No Bake] Nutella Cookies debuted at the baby shower, huh?  Well, unfortunately they didn't quite make it that far into the weekend.  Well, the majority of them didn't.  But no worries, that wasn't the plan anyway.  And there were plenty of lovely desserts at the shower, Kelli's girlfriends had it all covered!

I actually made these [deeeeeeeeelicious] little chocolate nuggets as a weekend treat for everyone.  Kelli and Brett graciously hosted Robbie and I, his family, and his mom's sister, for the weekend so I figured a little snack was the least I could offer.  And luckily...these were a hit.

Do any of you remember the regular no bake cookies from your childhood?  Because I most definitely do.  And if you never had these, your parents deprived you of something fabulous.  And I'm only slightly joking...

These little mounds of chocolatey yumminess are downright addicting.  A couple bites of one just isn't enough, you'll find yourself going back for a second.  And third...  Trust me.  But what makes them so dang good?  Well...the chewy oatmeal, the richness of the Nutella flavor, and the creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate concoction binding this simple recipe into a classic cookie you'll make for the kiddos [and yourself] over and over!  So despite your busy schedule, I know you'll have a hot moment to whip up these chocolate bombs [thank you, Jamie!].  Stove on...stir...and cookies!

P.S. I haven't mentioned the gender of the baby because Kelli and Brett have decided to wait to find out.  So we'll find out what 'Baby L' ['L' for Lauritsen, their last name] really is around July 19, when the little bundle is due!  So be on the look out for a baby post right around that time  .

My Notes:

• I doubled the ingredients from the original recipe and the cookies turned out perfectly.  So if you're serving a big crowd [or people who can crush cookies], double away! 

Adapted from Six Sister's Stuff

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. milk

1-3/4 c. sugar

4 tbsp. cocoa powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. Nutella

3 c. quick cooking oats

Directions:

1. Line baking sheets with wax paper, aluminum foil, or parchment paper; set aside.  In a large saucepan, whisk together butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder, over medium heat.  Bring to a rolling boil and then boil for 1 minute.  Remove bowl from heat.  
2. Add vanilla extract and Nutella and whisk until combined.  Add oats and stir until completely incorporated.  
3. Drop batter by scant tablespoonfuls on prepared baking sheets.  Let cool until set.

Yield: 30 cookies