Nutella….how I love thee, let me count the ways!

It’s no secret, I’m addicted to Nutella, (pronounced in Italian “noo-tel-lah”). As a matter of fact, so are most Italians! There is always a jar of Nutella in every Italian home I’ve been to…..and after 6 years, I’ve finally understood the hierarchy: First, one must have olive oil at all times, then comes wine, and only third, comes Nutella!

For those who never tasted nor heard much about Nutella, don’t worry, neither did I before coming to Italy. As a matter of fact, till this day, the supermarket near my parent’s home in California still houses only 3 dusty Nutella jars on the very top shelf of the peanut butter aisle. Really, you would need a detective to find them! So it wasn’t any surprise that I couldn’t understand the love of Nutella. Once I tasted it though, I realized it was the most delicious, creamy, chocolate hazelnut spread in existence. And thus, my love affair with Nutella began. It’s true. My husband sometimes returns home from running errands only to find residual Nutella traces at the corners of my lips and knows I wasn’t alone!

So I wanted to share with you my recipe for the most delicious and chewy Nutella cookies! I actually tried them out on my neighbors, and these babies passed with flying colors as they said.”Wanita! Questi sono buonissimi, voglio la ricetta!” (Wanita, these are very good, I want the recipe!) ……And after that, let me tell you, I was beaming with pride =) =)

Ingredients:

-1 Cup of Nutella

-2 Cups of All Purpose Flour (….in Italy: tipo 00)

– 1 Large Banana (smashed) or 1 large egg (…...I prefer to use a banana as I like the subtle flavor it adds to the Nutella)

-1 Cup of Roasted Hazelnuts (….see my post on “How to quickly roast nuts”)

Directions:

-Roast the hazelnuts and place in a Zip-lock type bag. Shake and rub to remove as much of their skins as possible. Remove the nuts from the without picking up their skins, leave the skins at the bottom of the bag and discard the bag. Set the nuts aside to fully cool.

In a bowl, mix the Nutella, flour and banana well until the color is uniform

Then mix in the nuts

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit \ 180° Celsius. Form round, golf size balls and press down just a bit to form a thick patty.

Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool.

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito!

Wanita =)