Easy Nutella Recipes

Nutella is a thick chocolate-hazelnut spread with a consistency similar to that of creamy peanut butter. It's delicious just spooned from the jar, used in a variety of desserts and snacks or paired with fresh fruit, particularly strawberries and bananas.

Nutella was created by an Italian pastry maker in the 1940's. At the time, chocolate was rationed due to Word War II. Hazelnuts, which were in abundant supply in the area, were ground and added to the chocolate to extend the supply. Nutella was born.

There are several different ways you can use it: to create unique and delicious sandwiches, melt it and use it as a yummy glaze for other desserts, or simply add a bit of the stuff to your regular chocolate recipes (cakes, chocolate chip cookies, etc.) Whatever you do with it, you're sure to love it as there is simply no way to ruin any recipe that has Nutella in it!

You don't need a whole lot of additional ingredients to make a tantalizing dessert or snack. You can easily use it to make simple, sweet sandwiches:

• Vanilla wafers or other simple cookies
• Sugar donuts, split in half horizontally
• Plain white bread or toasted English muffin
  
• French toast - Spread the Nutella between two pieces of cooked French toast. Place back on the griddle until slightly warmed.
• Banana bread or other sweet breakfast breads
  

Cut pound cake* into 1/2" thick slices. Spread one side of all of the slices with Nutella. Add thinly-sliced fresh strawberries to half of the slices. Cover with the remaining slices to form a sandwich.

Spray a panini pan with butter-flavored cooking spray and preheat the pan. Add the pound cake sandwiches to the heated pan, and grill for approximately two minutes, or until you have nice grill lines on the pound cake and the Nutella begins to soften.

*Frozen pound cake works best for this recipe.

Separate wonton wrappers into individual sheets. In the center of each wrapper, place a small dollop (approximately 1 teaspoon) of Nutella and top with a slice of ripe banana. Use a pastry brush to moisten the edges of the wonton with a beaten egg mixture. Fold the wontons in half to form a triangle. Use your fingers to press the edges of the wonton firmly together to seal completely.

Preheat a deep fryer, or heat two inches of oil in a pan to approximately 350 degrees. Drop the wontons in a few at a time and cook, turning them over during the process, until they are lightly browned and cooked through, usually 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve warm.

Open a store-bought tube of crescent dough. Separate each of the triangles and lay them flat. Brush one side with melted butter. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of Nutella near the bottom (wide side) of the triangle. Roll the croissants from the wide side up to the tip of the triangle and bend to form a crescent shape. Using a clean pastry brush, brush lightly with a beaten egg mixture.

Place the croissants approximately 1" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the croissants are golden brown. Remove from the oven, transfer to serving platter and dust with confectioner's sugar. These are best served warm.

Use your favorite crepe recipe to make as many crepes as desired. One at a time, spread the warm crepe out and cover with a thin layer of Nutella. Fold the crepe in half and then in half twice more. If desired, you can also top these with sliced strawberries or bananas before folding. Drizzle with some warm Nutella and top with fresh whipped cream, or simply dust with confectioner's sugar.

Note: You can keep the bare crepes warm in a 225 degree oven until you are ready to assemble and serve.

Break a full-sized graham cracker in half. Spread each half with Nutella. Pop a marshmallow onto a stick or skewer and roast over an open fire until the marshmallow just begins to turn lightly brown. (If you're not close to a fire, you can simply substitute marshmallow fluff.)

Place the toasted marshmallow on top of the Nutella on one half of the graham cracker, top with the other half of the graham cracker making a sandwich. Squeeze firmly together and enjoy.

The perfect treat for a cold winter night! Simple place 1 tablespoon of Nutella in the bottom of your espresso cup. Microwave for 10 seconds. Add your Espresso and top with frothed milk. Stir well before drinking.

This would work equally as well in capuccino, regular coffee or hot chocolate. Just increase the amount to 2 tablespoons.

So simple, and yet so delicious! Simply make a batch of choux dough, pipe into an eclair shape approx. 3" to 4" long and bake. When the eclairs have cooled, split them in half lengthwise. Spread Nutella on the cut side of each half. Top the bottom half with sliced strawberries or bananas and place the top back on.

Heat up some Nutella until it is fairly liquid. Drizzle over the eclair, give it a dusting of confectioner's sugar and top with fresh whipped cream.

• Nutella Calzones with Ricotta
• Nutella Dessert Pizza
• Nutella Gelato
• Grilled Pineapple with Nutella
• Nutella Buttercream Frosting
• Peanut Butter-Nutella Brownies

• Each year there is a "World Nutella Day" celebration. The next one is on the calendar for February 5, 2010.
• What do Nutella and New York City's Central Park have in common? If you lined up the number of jars of Nutella produced in just one single hour, it would equal the length of Central Park.