Toasted Hazelnut Nutella Brownies
These are seriously my DREAM brownies! They’re mega-fudgy and tender, full of rich chocolate flavor, and best of all, swirled with Nutella! These Toasted Hazelnut Nutella Brownies have toasted hazelnut flour and toasted hazelnut chunks in the batter, as well! The hazelnut chocolate combination makes these brownies a perfect treat for the Christmas season, or year-round!
TOASTING THE HAZELNUT FLOUR
The first step to making these Hazelnut Nutella Brownies is toasting the Hazelnut flour/meal and whole hazelnuts! To toast, simply spread hazelnut flour onto an even layer on a one baking sheet and the whole hazelnuts onto another, then place into the oven. Every 5 or so minutes, remove it from the oven and mix it around – this just promotes even toasting and browning. Once most of the hazelnut flour and hazelnuts looks golden in colour, remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes! I found the hazelnut flour took 10 minutes to toast, and the whole hazelnuts took 15 minutes!
Removing the skins from the whole Hazelnuts
The skin of hazelnuts is actually quite bitter in flavor, for that reason it is best to remove the skins. To easily remove the skins, place the fresh-from-the-oven hazelnuts into a kitchen towel, and allow them to steam for 5 minutes. This ‘steaming’ will help loosen the skins. Next, using the kitchen towel, rub the hazelnuts together roughly to remove the skins (if a few are stuck onto some hazelnuts, that is fine!).
HOW TO PROPERLY MELT CHOCOLATE
This recipe for Hazelnut Nutella Brownies has melted chocolate in the brownie batter. Melting chocolate, while seemingly relatively straight-forward, actually has a low-threshold for any mistakes and can become an absolute disaster quite quickly!
First of all, chocolate absolutely hates moisture (water) of any kind! The introduction of water into chocolate will cause the chocolate to seize up and thicken, becoming unusable. Moisture can get in the chocolate in many different ways, including the steam from your bain marie, water on a freshly washed cooking utensil, etc. The other way chocolate can be finicky is that it also hates too much heat. Overheat or heating chocolate too quickly will cause the chocolate to seize as well. This is the reason why you melted chocolate in a bain marie, rather than heating it with direct heat.
So as mentioned above, the proper way to melt chocolate is to finely chop it, place it into a heat-proof metal or glass bowl, over top of a simmering pot of water. You do not want the water to be boiling, because steam and excess heat can ruin your chocolate. As well, the bowl should be a tight fit over the pot of water, to reduce the amount of steam escaping. You’ll want to keep stirring the chocolate until it is completely melted, but this process should take 1 to 2 minutes, depending on how much chocolate you’re melting.
Another way you can melt chocolate is by using your microwave! Place the chopped chocolate into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Place back into the microwave, heating in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate has melted completely!
HOW TO MAKE THE Hazelnut Nutella Brownies
1. Prepare the hazelnuts : As per the instructions above, toast the whole hazelnuts and peel them. As well, toast the hazelnut flour until golden.
2. Melt Chocolate: Place chopped chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and place over top of a pot of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Combine sugar and eggs: In a large mixing bowl, add both sugars, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Lightly whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy looking.
4. Add chocolate: Pour in the slightly cooled melted chocolate, then whisk the mixture again until it is smooth.
5. Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sifted cocoa powder, toasted hazelnut flour and salt.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Grab a rubber spatula and fold the dry ingredients into the batter until well-combined! Add chopped toasted hazelnuts, then fold in.
7. Bake: Pour the Hazelnut Nutella Brownies batter into a 9×9” baking pan, and top with Nutella. Swirl the Nutella into the batter, then place into the oven to bake for around 40 minutes!
8. Cool: Allow the Hazelnut Nutella Brownies to cool completely before slicing!
WHEN ARE THE Toasted Hazelnut Nutella Brownies DONE?
When making fudgy brownies, such as these Hazelnut Nutella Brownies, it is important to not overcook the brownies. In fact, you’ll want to take the Nutella Brownies out of the oven before the centers seem finished. Yes, that’s right, when done, the centers will actually seem a little undercooked and have an ever-so-slight jiggle to them, similar to when making pumpkin pie! Don’t fret though, because the brownies will continue to cook as they cool in the pan, solidifying the middle into it’s perfect fudgy-glory!
Get the Recipe: Toasted Hazelnut Nutella Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (25g) Hazelnut Flour/ Meal
- 1/2 cup Whole Hazelnuts
- 10 oz (280g) Semi Sweet Chocolate,, finely chopped
- 2 cups White Sugar
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter,, melted
- 1 ½ tsp Vanilla
- 120 g (8.5oz) All Purpose Flour,, about 1 cup measured volumetrically
- 75 g Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder,, sifted (about 3/4 cup measured volumetrically)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 6 tbsp Nutella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment. Evenly spread hazelnut flour onto one baking sheet and whole hazelnuts onto the other, then place into the oven to toast.
- Bake hazelnut flour for 10 minutes ensuring that you stir every 5 minutes to promote even toasting. Remove the toasted hazelnut flour from the oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Bake whole hazelnuts for 15 minutes, then immediately transfer into a kitchen towel, and wrap tightly. Allow the hazelnuts to ‘steam’ for 1-2 minutes. Next, using the kitchen towel, roughly rub the hazelnuts together to get the skin off (if a few pieces of skin remain that’s okay!). Allow the hazelnuts to cool, then roughly chop them. Set aside.
- Prepare a 9×9” baking pan with cooking spray and parchment.
- Add chopped chocolate to a heatproof bowl and place over of a pot of simmering water, ensuring the bowl fits tightly over the pot of water and that the bottom does not touch the water. Heat, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until all the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool until just warm (but still very liquid).
- In a large mixing bowl, add white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk together by hand for about 1 minute. The mixture should look creamy and well-combined. Next, pour in the butter, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Whisk together until well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sifted cocoa powder, salt, and toasted hazelnut flour. Add these dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula, until the batter is smooth, well-combined, and thick. Add in the chopped hazelnuts and fold in.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out. Dollop the Nutella around the top, then using a wooden skewer or knife, swirl the Nutella into the batter. Place into the oven to bake for 40-45 minutes. When done, the brownies will seem slightly under-baked in the center, but they will continue to set as they cool. Allow to cool before slicing.
