From the Library: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

I love to pick up cookbooks at the library. It's a great way to try one out and see if it's something you'd really like to add to your collection. I'm not a fan of clutter and I don't like to buy things for our limited bookshelf space if I am not pretty sure I'll make good use of it. One cookbook I keep pausing in front of, every time I visit the bookstore, is The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. Oh, I need this book like I need another 30 pounds on my hips and thighs, but I so love cookies that I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to resist. Especially now that I've gotten a good look inside. I think I mentally dog-eared 20-30 recipes the first time through..

When I first started looking through this book it was good and hot, causing a couple of no-bake recipes jumped off the page at me. Well, honestly, it could have been the use of Nutella in the list of ingredients that was even more responsible for the appeal of this treat than the no-bake part. Another bonus - this recipe helped us use up some of the rice cereal that's been lingering in our cabinet, negelected.

As it turns out, it was my oldest DS who ended up making these crisps (that's his hand in the picture. Wish I could show his handsome face, too). The ingredient list is quite short and it does not involve hot pans or hot ovens, though it does call for melting the chocolate in the microwave - pretty easy and safe. I tried to stay out of the kitchen - not easy to do - and let him have complete command over this one. Well, sheesh, the kid is 13 years old after all, so it's about time I let him fly solo here and there. Again, not easy to do, especially when the kitchen is your domain, your retreat.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Crisps

Even though there is nothing in the recipe to indicate these would be at all chewy, and the name has the word "crisp" in it, that's what my mind really wanted - chewy like a Rice Krispie treat. With me, it's always about chewy when it comes to cookies. Even though these are crisps and not chewy, they are still quite good. In fact, without the chewiness I crave, I'm much more likely to leave these alone and not eat more than my share. Do keep these in the refrigerator, they begin to melt in the hand almost immediately. For that reason, these probably would not make the greatest treat to bring to a BBQ or other warm-weather affair.

We still have two partial boxes of rice cereal left, so we may make similar recipe from this book - it calls for rice cereal, chocolate, Nutella, almonds and marshmallows.......