Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies

I don’t even know what to say. The moment I saw Nutella, caramel, hazelnuts, and brownies in one sentence I lost the fight. If you have as little resistance as I do, I’m sorry. But they are really, really good.  The brownie itself is crispy, the center is softened with a layer of the top’s caramel brownie-mixture, and entire thing is drizzled with a lavish syrup.

These brownies are incredibly decadent–more than you can imagine! But oh, are they worth it. Make sure you cut them in tiny pieces! Joseph and I ate a couple and then gave the rest to the guys who were over detailing our cars. They seemed appreciative and I was glad to finally have someone to toss my left-overs to!  I’m tired of the two of us eating entire cakes alone. One tiny piece is definitely enough of these, so they might be best for parties (remember–tiny pieces)!

I skipped the hazelnuts. I really, really love the flavor of hazelnuts but just don’t like eating nuts in general.  I think I will include them next time–maybe in the batter or in the caramel-Nutella mixture baked into the middle of the brownie (you can see that gooey-ness in the above photo).

Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies from bell’alimento at TastyKitchen
½ cups All-purpose Flour
⅓ cups Cocoa Powder
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Unsalted Butter
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ cups Nutella – Melted (more If Desired)
¼ cups Caramel Sauce – Melted
1 bag (8 Oz.) Small Bag Of Hazelnuts, Or More If Desired

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Into a mixing bowl, add your flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Using a whisk, mix together and set aside. Into your stand mixer, add the sugar and butter; cream together. Add in eggs one at a time and mix well. Add in your vanilla. GRADUALLY add in your flour mixture until it’s well combined. Batter should be thick and sticky.

Spray an ovenproof dish with cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper (slightly larger than your dish to allow for handles) inside. It will adhere to the bottom of the dish. Take HALF of your brownie batter and smooth it on top of the parchment paper. Take your caramel sauce and spoon it on top of the brownie mixture covering the entire layer of brownie. Place the remaining brownie batter on top, smoothing it out. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until sides are firm and center is no longer giggly.

Allow brownies to cool completely before removing. Cut your brownies to your desired size using a serrated knife. Make a small indentation with your finger into each brownie. Take your melted Nutella and drizzle over the tops of the brownies. Garnish with the hazelnuts.

Again, I’m truly sorry!

Peanoatella Chip Cookies

Peanoatella Chip Cookies–Joseph came up with the name. These are the absolute best cookies! Peanut butter, oatmeal, Nutella, and chocolate chip–yum! I get requests for these all the time.

Peanoatella Chip Cookies altered from Allrecipes.com
1/3 – 1/2 cup butter
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup Nutella or other chocolate spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 – 1 cup rolled oats
½ – 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, Nutella, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

These are very customizable. I vary the amount of butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chips depending on what I want. I still have decided which way I like best, so just test it out! As for the butter–in the photos above I had used 1/2 cup; for more crumbly and less flat cookies, use 1/3 cup. I posted this recipe once before. That time I had used only 1/3 cup butter, and there is a visible difference.

Very, very sweet–be sure to serve these with a glass of milk!