Nutella!

My first trip to New York was about 20 years ago.  My husband, then boyfriend, took me to Brooklyn to meet his family.  I not only met his big Italian family, I also met friends, neighbors and acquaintances.  Everyone was very nice to this little girl from the swamp and it was a wonderful trip that I remember with fondness.  But, what I remember most about that trip is the massive amounts of food we encountered everywhere we went!  Baked ziti, cannolis, spumoni, the best pizza I've ever tasted, amazing bagels, prosciutto bread, the list goes on and on.  My favorite foodie find, however, was Nutella.  Back then, it wasn't available all over the country like it is now.  I had never even heard of this chocolate hazelnut spread.  When my Mother-in-law handed me a pretzel covered in Nutella to try, I was hooked.  All I could say was, "Where has this been all my life?"

Here are a couple of recipes featuring this little jar of awesomeness:

This first recipe is super simple.  In fact, it only has 3 ingredients.

NUTELLA BROWNIES

1 cup Nutella
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
10 TBS all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 baking dish.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together until combined.

Press into the greased baking dish in an even layer.  The batter will be thick.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Let them sit and cool before you try to cut them.  Otherwise you'll have a big mess on your hands.

These are fudgy and delicious!  Not too sweet and they have that undeniable Nutella flavor.  Perfect brownies!  And the recipe could not be easier.  The hardest part is waiting for them to cool.

This next recipe is a bit more work but well worth it.  If you like chocolate chip cookies, you'll love these.  These are chocolate chip cookies kicked up a few notches!

NUTELLA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 stick butter, softened (let sit at room temp till soft)
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (350 degrees if you have a dark or nonstick cookie sheet).  Cream together butter, Nutella, granulated sugar and brown sugar until smooth (a mixer works great for this but if you don't have one just beat the tar out of it with a whisk).

Add the egg and vanilla extract.  Mix until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon with a whisk until thoroughly combined.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture just until combined.

Gently stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping Tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Leave some room between them because they will spread.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set.  8 minutes is perfect for my oven but every oven is different.  Just keep an eye on them.

These cookies are crisp on the outside and fudgy on the inside.  Almost like a cookie/brownie combo!  Yum!  Have a few of these with a big glass of milk and all is right with the world.

So, if you love Nutella like I do, make these recipes.  Right now.  And if you've never tasted Nutella, well, what are you waiting for?  Seriously, go.