Nutella Day!
February 5th is World Nutella Day!
When we were kids, Nutella was a staple in our diet. Fruits & vegetables, meat, grains, dairy and Nutella. The five food groups. The best part was showing up for lunch with a chocolate sandwich. Oh how the other kids envied us! (This, of course, was in direct contrast to when we showed up to school with eggplant, “fettine” or mortadella sandwiches).
For me, nothing beat the half and half version. Half hazelnutty chocolate, half creamy white chocolate. It came in a tall glass jar and when it was all gone, we’d wash the jar and use it as a drinking glass. Spread it over a slice of fresh white bread then add a layer of peanut butter….oh ya!!! You got the makings of the perfect snack!
So what better way to celebrate World Nutella Day than by baking a batch of Nutella brownies! This, of course, totally does not fit the diet I am currently on. There is an unwritten rule in my house….no Nutella allowed. My weakness for Nutella became very apparent Saturday, when I bought a jar to bake the brownies. Despite trying to convince myself that it was for baking brownies only, I couldn’t get past the thought that there was a jar of Nutella in the house. It sat on the counter, untouched, for an entire 4 minutes (not sure, but this may be a record of sorts).
Needless to say, Nutella won. Out came the spoon and a jar of peanut butter. Classy, I know. But it’s been years since I’ve had Nutella and let me tell you that spoonful was worth every calorie.
There are countless recipes out there for Nutella. Adriano’s recipe post for Nutella French Toast was a hit. Here’s a recipe for Nutella Brownies that I picked up from the winter issue of Ricardo Magazine. If you still want to celebrate World Nutella Day but don’t want to bake, just grab a spoon, open a jar and dig in! It’s still the best way to enjoy this chocolate, hazelnut treat.
A single Nutella Brownie
Nutella Brownies
adapted from Ricardo Magazine, Winter 2008
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled slightly
Preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom of an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, letting the paper extend over the two sides. Butter the other two sides. In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat the eggs, Nutella, brown sugar and vanilla extract with a mixer until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and melted butter, alternating between the two. Scrape the batter into the cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. About 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 2 hours, unmould and cut into squares. Makes about 16 brownies.
I used heart shaped moulds then heated up a bit of Nutella and drizzled it over the top. Mmm…..I’m drooling even as I write this.
The brownies turned out quite good, but I felt there wasn’t enough “nutellaness” to them. The next time I make a batch I’m going to add a few chopped hazelnuts to add a bit of crunch.
Nutella Brownies
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Any recipe that calls for 1 cup of Nutella is bound to be good! These sound awesome!
Ohhh this looks good! Too bad I already polished off my jar of nutella. It’s very dangerous stuff so I did my duty and “cleansed” my home of it. by the spoonfuls
Luckily I’ve used up most of my Nutella stash but these look wonderful. Thanks for sharing!