It’s World Nutella day today, thanks to the wonderful hosts this year Ms Adventures in Italy, Bleeding Espresso.

Last year I created the wonderful Butternut Squash with Nutella sauce, this year I decided to get good use out of my ice cream maker so I whipped up some yummy nutella ice cream. This ice cream is the perfect chocolatey hazelnutty ice cream, I think next time I would add some mix-ins as I like some crunch in my ice cream.

Nutella Ice Cream (Inspired From: Kitchen Chick)

• 1 cup nutella
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 – 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the Nutella and sugar until smooth. Add the milk. Blend on low speed until smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and the vanilla.

Place in your ice cream maker and let it run for 20-25 minutes. Let it sit in a freezer overnight.

The last of our Christmas cookies, it took me a while to get around to posting.What baking day is complete without the gingerbread men, or in the case a gingerlady and man . These are simple to whip together and let chill while you work on everything else.

Gingerbread Men (From:My Mom)

• 6 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 T. ground ginger
• 1 T. ground nutmeg
• 1 T. ground cloves
• 1 T. ground cinnamon
• 1 C. shortening, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 C. molasses
• 1 C. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C. water
• 1 egg
• 1 T. vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed. Divide the dough into 3 pieces, pat down to 1 1/2 in thickness, wrap in plastic wrap,refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. CXut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, they will look dry, but still be soft to the touch. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the cookies can be frosted with the icing of your choice.

I was so excited when I got this months cookie recipe in my e-mail, I have been searching for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe and I was excited to have a reason to try one!

These are AMAZING cookies, they had wonderful flavor are extra chocolatey and just overall wonderful, this will be my new standby chocolate chip cookie recipe. I also found although these are wonderful gooey and chocolate out of the oven, they are even better once cooled.

The Ultimate Chewy and Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies (From: In The Sweet Kitchen By: Regan Daley)

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 16 oz. flavorful bitter or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly butter them, and set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, or stand mixer with paddle attachment, or a large bowl if mixing by hand, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Add the dry ingrdients to the butter-sugar mixture, and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Using your hands, shape knobs of dough about the size of a large walnut and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Stagger the rows of cookies to ensure even baking. Bake 12-15 for small cookies, 14-17 for larger ones or until the tops are a light golden brown.  If the cookies are neither firm nor dark when they are removed from the oven, they will cool chewy and soft. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. If somehow they don’t get inhaled immediately they may stored airtight at room temperature for up to one week.

ENJOY!