Day 45 with Nutella

Today I tasted the best cookies ever!  Chef Thomas Kozinsky made these delicious cookies.  He was a bit reluctant to give me his recipe but he finally agreed and now I get to share it with you all!  These cookies are made with a lot of love and a lot of Nutella...Love and Nutella do go together, after all!  I hope you enjoy them.  If you do like the cookies, please post a comment and I will pass it along to Chef Tom! 

Nutella Cookies


Ingredients:
1 cup softened unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
¾ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 26.5 oz jar of Nutella

2 ¾ cup Flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt – kosher

¾ cup toasted hazelnuts


Mix together the first 6 ingredients until blended very well. Set aside

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add this to the first 6 ingredients that are already blended. Mix everything together thoroughly. Add the toasted hazelnuts and mix in.

Take the dough and freeze until very firm. You want it to feel like almost as hard as frozen cookie dough.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put the cookie dough in ¼ size balls on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for about 15 mins or until the cookies are firm but don’t overcook them or they will be too crunchy.

Day 44 with Nutella

It's been awhile since my last post...It's almost like I had to take the summer off.  While on my hiatus I was still dreaming of Nutella.  A friend of mine sent me a link to a recipe for Nutella Puppy Chow recipe and of course I was intrigued.  Nutella for dogs?  Surely not...  Turns out it's for humans, it just looks like it's for the dog...while not the most attractive thing I have ever made, it sure is delicious and is very popular with the kiddos....they all crack up about eating dog food. 

Here's a picture of my Nutella Puppy Chow

 



Like I said, it looks a bit like dog food...hence the name but, wait until you taste it.  You can't stop eating it.  Yummy deilish and pretty easy to make.

Nutella Puppy Chow Recipe ( my adapted version)

Ingredients:


• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 cup Nutella

• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (use semi-sweet)

• 2 cups Pecans

• 12 oz box of  RiceChex
• 3 -4 cups powdered sugar

Method:

• In a 350 degree preheated oven, roast pecans until fragrant and light brown, about 10 minutes.  Let them cool and then grind finely in a food processor.

• Put the cereal in a large bowl

• On a pan over medium-low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips stirring constantly - I use a double boiler so I don't scorch the chocolate

• When all is melted, remove from heat and add Nutella and stir until mixed in, then add pecans and stir well.

• Slowly pour over cereal and stir with your hands! It’s much easier than with a spoon.
• Add about half the mixture to a gallon sized plastic ziploc bag, add the about 1 cup of powdered sugar and shake. you can always add more powdered sugar.  You want it to coated to the point of it being light brown.

After it's all coated, I put the mixture on a cookie sheet for about 20 mins to let it cool more.  The put it in a bowl and serve.  It won't last long!

Day 43 with Nutella

How about Nutella with animal crackers?  Sounds good to me.  According to Wikipedia,  animal crackers are crackers in the shapes of animals, some brands of which are sweetened. These are usually animals one would see at the zoo or circus, including lions, tigers, bears, and elephants. There is debate about whether or not animal crackers are actually crackers or cookies. They resemble crackers due to the way they are made, with layered dough, but the use of sweetened dough gives them the cookie taste and consistency. Traditionally they come in a box with a handle on the top. The string handle was originally added so the box could be hung as a Christmas ornament and carried easily by young children.  Probably more than you wanted to know about animal crackers...anyway, next time you and your kids are bored you can play animals ( animal crackers) get stuck in the mud pit ( Nutella) and then eaten by the big monster ( you)!

Day 42 with Nutella

Chocolatey Nutella Rice Krispy Treats

Remember the Rice Krispy Treats?  Well if you love them, then you will love them with Nutella.  Make a batch of Rice Krispy Treats according to the directions. Set aside.  Melt 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips...after they have melted, add 1 1/2 cups Nutella.  Stir until smooth.  Pour the mixture over the rice krispy treats and let cool for a few hours.  Cut into squares and munch out!

Day 41 with Nutella

Nutella Bread Puddin' recipe courtesy of my friend Lili.  This looks so delish, you just want to lick the picture!  Enjoy!

Bread puddin recipe:

1/2 loaf of Challah bread, cubed (about 3-4 cups total)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup raisins, soaked in water for 5 minutes
1 t cinnamon

Topping
4 T butter
1/2cup brown sugar
3 T flour
1-2 t cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 c slivered or sliced almonds
Nutella/ cream cheese swirl
1/4 c Nutella

1/4c cream cheese
1/4c powdered sugar
2T heavy cream

(Mix the 3 ingredients above in a small bowl and put in a small baggie or pastry bag. Pipe over bread intermittently with piping Nutella

Place bread in a buttered baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over. Gently toss to coat. While the bread soaks, combine topping ingredients with a fork. Sprinkle over bread mixture. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the bread has completely cooled, pipe swirls of Nutella over the bread

Day 40 with Nutella

This is recipe is not totally Martha Stewart, but getting close!  But I have to tell you that the end result is fab.  Well worth the trouble.

Nutella Crumb Muffins


For the muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup Nutella

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract
For the crumb:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 stick cold butter cut into pieces
For the muffins:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In another bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk, vanilla and Nutella.

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently.

Pour the batter among muffin cups.

Place the crumble on top of the muffins.

Bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

For the crumb:

In a bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar and nutmeg.

Add butter and cut with a pastry cutter until a crumbly texture.

Day 38 with Nutella

Nutella/Banana Haystacks

Another recipe from my friend Kristi, who is becoming a regular contributor to the 365 Days with Nutella!

Cut a banana into 1 inch chunks. Melt some Nutella in the microwave, then rolled the banana chunks in the Nutella and then in shredded coconut. Stick a skewer in each piece (food is always more fun on a skewer) and put them in the fridge to harden up the Nutella a bit. The tasting panel verdict? Delicious! They were gone in 60 seconds.