Annie's Guide for What To Do When Your Husband is Gone

Husband is out of town. He left Friday night. I won't see him until Wednesday. That's a whopping 4.5 days apart which is the longest we have ever been away from each other since before we got married. Go ahead and make fun of me, I know it's nothing to be all despondent about. Especially considering the fact that we dated long-distance for 9 months. But I'm a newlywed now and it's just different. And semi-lonely. So I thought I would tell you all what the proper protocol is for things to do when your husband is out of town.

1. Move in (temporarily) to your parents house
2. Sleep in old bed
3. Spend 30 minutes watching cat gifs and videos with your mom (favorite one found here)
4. Text husband every single thing you do. Like so:

5. Wear frumpy sweat pants, oversized long-sleeved shirt, and knee-high socks
6. Spend twice as much time at the gym as you normally do
7. Pout
8. Spend $63 at Walgreens
9. Listen to old-school songs by Usher ("Moving Mountains", anyone?)
10. Wear red lipstick (normally I don't because I don't like to make Husband look like a drag queen if I kiss him)
11. Eat mac & cheese for lunch
12. And dinner
13. Have a dance party in your old bedroom
14. Throw out your back dancing in your old bedroom
15. Throw out your back singing in the car by yourself
16. Watch "Mulan"
17. Don't shave legs
18. Get a "head start" on Christmas shopping but end up spending 3x more money on yourself
19. Pick out wedding photos with your mom to order...six months later
20. BAKE!!!!!

Now for your special treat. I am giving you all the recipe for my famous chocolate Nutella cookies!

I cannot even tell you  how many times people have asked me for this recipe. I can't remember where I originally found it, but here it is. And the best part? There are no eggs in the batter so you can eat the dough semi-guilt free. But let's be honest, I would still eat the dough even if it did have eggs in it.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
2/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (I like to use the Hershey's Special Dark variety)
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown, it doesn't matter)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp hazelnut extract (you can sub 1/2 tsp vanilla if you would rather, I have never used the hazelnut extract)
1/3 cup Nutella (can add some peanut butter if you like, be generous)
1/3 cup milk (I like to use almond milk)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth.
4. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds.
5. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth.
6. With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
7. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely.
8. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 mins (and as long as 2-3 days).
9. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined sheet, allowing 2" between the dough balls.
10. Lightly press the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass (makes them a little prettier) then bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
11. Stuff your face and don't share with others.

Because I used the dark cocoa powder, mine turned out almost black. If you use the regular cocoa powder, they'll be a shade or two lighter, but still just as delicious :)

The original recipe says it makes about 3 dozen cookies, although I have found this to only be true if you make the dough balls fairly small (more like half a Tbsp). Sometimes the cookies take a bit longer than 12 minutes, but you'll want to watch them carefully because they are best when they are still gooey in the middle. These will stay pretty moist though because of the Nutella which is splendid. What are your favorite Holiday treat recipes?