Happy World Nutella Day, my friends! Ms. Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso are once again leading the charge, for the love of nutella, so grab a spoon, and enjoy a dip of the chocolate hazlenut goodness! I have been celebrating since Monday when we went by Costco to pick up this package of goodness.
Tuesday evening I made nutella cookies– some rolled in sugar, some not. I reduced the amount of sugar from the recipe a bit to make up for all of the extra sugar on the outside.
Wednesday evening, I made banana nutella brownies. I think they taste a bit more like cake with nutella, and I definitely should have used more nutella!
Thursday evening I hosted book club. Photos from book club remain under lock and key, but I did make some crepes (recipe coming soon), which we topped with nutella and banana. We also ate the cookies and brownies, as well as some non-nutella items.
(I’m sorry for the random focal point on the photo. Yes, that is a jar of nutella in the top right corner, and yes, that is my win glass. Nutella + wine + tasty!)
Friday evening, I mixed a large dollop of nutella in to a cup of hot chocolate. All you do is grab a spoon of nutella and pour the hot chocolate over it in to your mug and then stir. TASTY! I did the same this morning with a cup of coffee. Sorry. I forgot to snap a photo!
How are you celebrating World Nutella Day?
P.S. Remember, every day is a great day for some nutella. 
December was Birthday month (as I have mentioned before), and my son’s request was for cupcakes. We ended up making applesauce cupcakes, and then dipped the tops in a slightly runnier version of my cookie frosting. Because the frosting is so thin, it’s important to add any sprinkles or decorations immediately, as the frosting dries quickly.
The Players
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins (optional)
2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)
The Fun
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin pan or use liners. (You could grease the bottom and sides of a rectangle plan or round pans if you want a cake.)
- Beat all ingredients except raisins and nuts in a large bowl for 30 seconds or so (until combined). Then beat on high for 3 minutes. Pour into pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking with a toothpick as they near done.
What’s a cake without some frosting? I whipped up this chocolate buttercream frosting for on top of my husband’s birthday cake. It truly was easy, though I was rushing to frost his cake, so it doesn’t look as smooth as it could have.
The Players
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened (margarine works too)
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
3-4 tablespoons milk (I use almond milk or water)
The Fun
- Mix powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and chocolate.
- Gradually beat in just enough milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.
December is a month of birthdays in our home– first my husband, then The Boy, and finally Jesus– so we bake a lot of cake! Here’s the easy chocolate chip cake recipe I used to make my husband’s birthday cake. The frosting will be up on Saturday.
The Players
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups milk (I sub almond milk)
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips (the mini ones work best)
The Fun
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan (13×9) or 2 round pans (9″) and lightly flour.
- Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, and then beat on high for 3 minutes, scraping he bowl occasionally.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into pan(s).
- Bake 35-40 minutes for a rectangle pan; 25-30 minutes for 9″ round pans, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pan for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack (for rounds, rectangle can be left in the pan to be frosted).
- Frost! (recipe coming Saturday)
I wish I could take credit for these being my own, but I got the recipe off of alpineberry’s blog. Kevin and I first made them in Germany back in 2006-07 and thought there was not enough cheesecake for our liking, so we doubled the cheesecake portion. Here is alpineberry’s recipe with our modification:
Nutella Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients for brownie layer:
10 tbsp butter (5 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup Nutella
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
Ingredients for cheesecake layer:
16 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temp.
6 tbsp granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2/3 cup Nutella
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 9×9 inch square pan with parchment (or No Stick Cake spray).
To make the brownie layer…
Combine butter, Nutella, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and mix until well combined. Pour batter into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Set aside while you prepare the cheesecake layer.
To make the cheesecake layer…
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and Nutella until well combined. Pour over your brownie batter.
Bake at 325F until the cheesecake looks set, about 40-45 minutes. Allow brownies to cool completely in the pan before cutting.
I think they taste best after cooling off in the refrigerator… nice and chilled…and sometimes with a bit of fruit preserves over the top… or some cool whip. The picture is not that great, but this is from the first time we made them. They are definitely worth the effort!
Recent Comments