Nutella Brownies

Happy World Nutella day!

It is so cold and snowy in St. Louis these days, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to warm up the oven for these ultimate comfort brownies.

I am always looking for any excuse to bake and celebrate!

These Nutella brownies are a fantastic way to celebrate the merging of two cultures!  Combining chewy chocolaty American brownies, with creamy delicious hazelnut Italian Nutella, is a fantastic tribute to our culinary and cultural histories.  The Nutella flavor is somewhat subtle in these brownies, so don’t forget the chopped hazelnuts to really amplify the chocolate hazelnut goodness!

Bake, eat, share, love!

Nutella Brownies
adapted from from Buns in My Oven

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
1 cup Nutella
4 large eggs
1 cup dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon hazelnut extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 cups chopped dry roasted (unsalted) hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 13x9x2 inch glass pan.

Melt butter in a medium/large saucepan, over medium low heat.  Add the sugar and stir constantly for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the Nutella.

Stir in the eggs, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and hazelnut and vanilla extracts to the butter-sugar mixture.  Stir vigorously until thoroughly combined.

Slowly add the flour and stir until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts.

Spread the batter into the greased 13x9x2 glass pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Confession of a *wannabe* foodie… How long can I justify celebrating World Nutella Day… a day… a week… a month?!?