One final zucchini recipe before summer leaves us for good.
Three kinds of chocolate (Nutella, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips) make the zucchini hard to spot in this delicious quick bread. But the added vegetable helps to keep the loaves soft and moist. And it lets you pretend this is a healthy treat.
This recipe make one regular-sized loaf or 6 mini loaves, which freeze perfectly and are just the right size for when there are only two of us left at home.
RECIPE: Continue reading
DAY 3: Chocolate Nutella Brownies
Homemade brownies with the extra fudginess of Nutella added to the batter and swirled into the top.
RECIPE: Continue reading
DAY 7: Chocolate Nutella Fudge
Can you ever go wrong adding Nutella to a dessert?
Here is a perfect example: a rich, creamy fudge made even more delicious by adding Nutella. Plus lots of toasted nuts. And nuts are protein, so that makes this healthy, right?
You can also make this completely smooth and creamy, but I love the addition of chopped toasted nuts. I like lots of nuts per bite, so I use 2 full cups of chopped nuts, but if you just want the nuts sprinkled here and there, use less. My ideal fudge would be a pile of nuts with just enough chocolate to hold the nuts together in one piece!
I used a small cookie scoop to scoop the warm fudge into miniature foil cups. You can also spread it into an 8” square pan and cut it into squares.
Nutella tip: to easily measure Nutella, warm the jar of Nutella in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (be sure that all of the foil seal is removed first!). Spray a measuring cup with oil or cooking spray, then pour warm Nutella into the measuring cup.
RECIPE:
1 cup Nutella
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (about 1 heaping cup bittersweet chips)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 Tbs salted butter
1/8 tsp salt (omit salt if using salted nuts)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 cups chopped toasted nuts, optional **
If you are making fudge in a pan, lightly grease an 8” square pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edge on 2 sides. If you are making individual fudge cups, lay 48-64 miniature foil baking cups on a rimmed baking sheet or tray.
Place Nutella, chopped bittersweet chocolate, sweet milk and butter in the top of a double boiler. Heat water in the bottom of the double boiler to a simmer, reduce heat to low and place the top of the double boiler with the chocolate mixture over the water. Stir until mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in salt, vanilla and chopped toasted nuts.
Spread warm fudge into the prepared pan OR use a small cookie scoop (or spoon) to drop about 1 tablespoon of warm fudge into each foil cup. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until fudge is firm.
If fudge was prepared in a pan: For easier cutting, run the knife under hot water, then pat dry before using to cut the fudge. Run the knife along the edges of the pan and use the parchment paper to lift out the block of fudge. Rinse knife in hot water again, dry. and cut the fudge into 1” squares (cut larger squares, if desired). Rinse and dry knife before each new cut.
Makes 48-64 servings
**To toast nuts: Coarsely chop nuts and spread into an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake at350°F for 5-10 minutes.
NoEmptyChairs.me
DAY 8: Nutella Marbled Cheesecake Bars
Cheesecake and Nutella. I don’t think any more enticement is needed.
An easy cheesecake bar recipe that will feed a crowd, and you don’t have to fight with a water bath.
RECIPE:
Crust:
2 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers (about 1 ½ sleeves)
6 Tbs butter, melted
2 Tbs sugar
Filling:
4 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs flour
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup Nutella
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix crushed graham crackers, butter and sugar and press into a 1/2 sheet pan for thin bars or a 9×13” pan for thicker bars (you may want less crust for 9×13” pan).
Filling:
Using a mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt until well blended. Beat in eggs just until mixed through. Pour over crust. Warm Nutella in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Drizzle over cheesecake batter. Use a knife to swirl.
Place a broiler pan (or other large pan) on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour about 1/2” of hot water in the pan. Place cheesecake pan on the middle oven rack. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes for a 1/2 sheet pan, or about 45 minutes for a 9×13” pan, or until set.
Makes about 48 bars (in a ½ sheet pan)
NoEmptyChairs.me
We are still working on getting through the numerous monster zucchini that came out of our zucchini forest this summer.
After a fall at a church young women camp, I spent most of the summer in this:
I had spent a good portion of spring digging out old dirt and hauling in new topsoil to help rejuvenate our garden. The new soil made a huge difference and we ended up with zucchini plants that were almost as tall as me. I realize that at 5’2”, that is not a huge accomplishment, but for zucchini, I thought that was pretty impressive. Our garden is planted on a tiered hill, which was impossible for me to navigate in my new fashionable summer footwear. The plants were so tall that I had a really hard time getting my kids to wade through the jungle looking for squash. For some reason ratatouille and zucchini fritters (some of my favorites) were not a huge motivation for them to risk life and limb in the outback. However, when I switched to making zucchini brownies, pumpkin zucchini muffins and these chocolate zucchini muffins, I found I had ample volunteers!
And when they came across this little guy hiding out in the cucumber plants, they spent a good portion of the rest of the summer searching for living, crawling things in the garden.
If you still have zucchini that you are working your way through, these muffins, spiked with Nutella and chocolate chips, make for a great breakfast (especially for a couple dozen awesome teenagers at 6am!) or a much appreciated lunchbox addition.
RECIPE:
3 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup Nutella
1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup buttermilk or kefir (or sour milk**)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom or nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line regular muffin pans with paper or foil cups. Or use large Reynolds Foil 3 ½” baking cups (these are self-standing-just arrange on a baking sheet).
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, Nutella, brown sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in zucchini.
In a separate bowl, use a whisk to mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom or nutmeg. Add mixed dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin cups (fill about 3/4 full).
For regular muffins: Bake 15-18 minutes.
For large muffins: Bake 20-25 minutes.
Yield: About 36 regular muffins or 20 large muffins (made with 3 ½” baking cups)
**To make sour milk: place 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar in a ½ cup measuring cup. Add milk to ½ cup line. Let sit 5 minutes.
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts
Nutella Swirled Coffee Cake
Last week we were swimming in coffee cake around here. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of swimming that helps trim inches off of my waistline. Good thing there were lots of hungry skinny children lurking around!
I was bringing breakfast to our seminary class on Friday, and wanted to try a new recipe, so I had to give it a test run at home earlier in the week. I ended up making quite a few changes to the original recipe, including swapping out the traditional cinnamon topping on one batch with one made from ooey, gooey chocolaty Nutella.
The first batches I made for home (shown in the pictures) used pecans, but I used walnuts the second time around for our class. I preferred the walnuts, but I almost always prefer walnuts over pecans, so choose whichever nut you prefer. Both the cinnamon and Nutella topped varieties were really good. The cake part was moist and light, and just slightly tangy from using buttermilk.
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
To distribute the chocolaty/cinnamony goodness throughout the cake, I layered half of the batter in the pan, added half of the topping, then repeated the layers. The Nutella topping was very sticky; it was easiest to just use my fingers to drop small amounts onto the batter. It melts nicely into the cake while cooking.
For an extra dose of chocolate, sprinkle some chocolate chips (not shown in this picture) on top of the Nutella layers.
The cinnamon topping is crumbly and can be sprinkled easily.
I split the batter and made one of each variety in two 8×8” square pans, instead of one large 9×13” pan. Just an FYI: the full batch that I made later in a standard 9×13” pan rose right to the top edge of the pan when baked, so be sure to use a pan that doesn’t have low sides!
The only down-side of this recipe is that it uses a lot of mixing bowls (four!), but the end result is definitely worth an extra run of the dishwasher.
Recipe:
3 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 egg whites, beaten until stiff
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup butter (1-½ sticks), softened
1 ½ cups sugar
Nutella Swirl or Cinnamon Streusel Topping
Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare topping in a small bowl; set aside.(Choose your topping below for a 9×13” cake, or make one of each in two 8×8” pans, halving topping amounts)
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. Stir vanilla into buttermilk. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar with a mixer. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately until barely combined. Beat just until flour is incorporated; do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in beaten egg whites.
Spread half of the batter in a well-greased 9 x 13” baking pan (I used baking spray with flour). Sprinkle with half of the topping. Spread remaining batter into pan; sprinkle with remaining topping.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until center is set.
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NUTELLA SWIRL TOPPING:
¾ cup butter (1-½ sticks), softened
¾ cup Nutella
½ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 scant tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
½ cup chocolate chips
Mix together all ingredients, except chocolate chips. Mixture will be sticky. Using your fingers, drop small amounts of Nutella filling onto first layer of batter. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate chips. Repeat layers.
CINNAMON STREUSEL TOPPING:
½ cup cold butter (1 stick)
½ cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ Tbs cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Mix together all ingredients, except nuts, using a pastry cutter or two knifes until crumbly. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle half of topping onto first layer of batter. Repeat layers.
Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts
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