Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Today is World Nutella Day so of course I had to find a new way to experiment with this chocolaty, hazelnut goodness. My kids just LOVE Nutella and a jar really doesn't last very long in our house. They love it on toast, combined with peanut butter on sandwiches or just eaten out of the jar with a spoon.

For today's recipe I mixed the Nutella in with the batter from my Banana Chocolate Chip Bread (which is in my cookbook) since my youngest was craving some banana muffins for breakfast. The Nutella really added another delicious layer of flavor to these muffins and there is nothing better than fresh baked muffins to start your day. ~Enjoy!

Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Banana Bundt Cake

Today is our last day of Thanksgiving Recipe Week so I have to end with dessert. I know, it's a mouthful to say and I have to agree, but this recipe was another wonderful way to use up those bananas. This was a deliciously moist cake with the chocolate, hazelnuts, pumpkin and bananas all wrapped up into one tasty package without being overly sweet. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Banana Bundt Cake
2 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1/2 c. Granulated Sugar
1 c. Pumpkin Puree
1/4 c. Nutella or other Hazelnut spread
3 Ripe Bananas, blended
1 Egg
2 tbsp. Milk
1/4 c. Hazelnuts, chopped
1/4 c. Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and  cocoa powder. 
2. In a separate larger bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin, Nutella, bananas, egg and milk. Whisk together until well blended. 
3. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix well; then fold in the hazelnuts and chocolate chips. 
4. Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until the top springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 16 slices. 


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Enjoy!

*Tip: You can also make these as muffins; however, the cooking time would be different. For muffins, I would start checking them for doneness after 10-12 minutes.

Thanksgiving Tip
The day of, write a list of what items you will be serving and at what time. This will help you determine when to place items into the oven to avoid over crowding and to keep you on some sort of schedule. 

Here is an example:
9:00am Place turkey in the oven
12:30pm Put appetizers in the oven
1:00pm Guests arrive/serve appetizers
2:00pm Heat Soup 
2:30pm Serve Soup
3:00pm Serve Salad
3:00pm Put sides in the oven, rolls and/or cook the potatoes for mashed potatoes
3:15pm Carve Turkey
3:30/4pm Serve main meal and don't forget the cranberry sauce in the refrigerator(I do this every year!)
6:00pm Serve dessert and coffee


Shared at Close To Home 11/15/12

Triple Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Cheesecake

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I hosted Easter this year and I was dying to try out a new cheesecake recipe. I had originally started off thinking I was just going to do a Chocolate Hazelnut version but I thought that raspberries would also give this a nice flavor. I used the same base as the Limoncello Cheesecake I made several months ago, but changed it up a bit. It was INCREDIBLE!!! I just love the flavor combination of chocolate, raspberries and hazelnuts and it was so creamy, not dense like other cheesecakes I've had. I will definitely be making this cheesecake again. I does taste best if you make it a day before you are ready to serve so that the cheesecake has time to properly set (get firm) so plan accordingly. It will also freeze well as long as you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then cover it in foil. 

Triple Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Cheesecake

Crust

16 Chocolate Graham Crackers

½ c. Hazelnuts

¼ c. Granulated Sugar

1 Stick of Salted Butter, melted 

1 tsp. Butter

Pulse the graham crackers, hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor until they are chopped fine. Gradually pour in the butter until it is mixed well and crumbly. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 10”  round spring form pan using approximately 1 tsp. of butter. Press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of the pan and come up about ½" on the sides. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes then remove and let cool. 

Cheesecake filling

2 lb. Cream Cheese

1 c. Granulated Sugar

4 Eggs

1 c. Chambord (Raspberry Liquor)

1/2 c. Nutella

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 oz. Dark Chocolate, chopped fine

1 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped fine

1 oz. White Chocolate, chopped fine

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Next, add the eggs, Chambord and vanilla until well blended and smooth. Fold in the Nutella and three types of chocolate, then pour filling into the cooled crust. Place pan on top of a sheet pan and add 2 c. water to the bottom; creating a water bath. Bake 350°F for approximately 1 hour or until the edges puff up and the center is set. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until the cheesecake has fully cooled then cut into 12 slices. 

Enjoy!

Shared on Sweet As Sugar Cookies Sweets for a Saturday 5/5/12
Shared on Carole's Chatter 5/31/13

Holiday Baking #1: Hazelnut Truffles

How is everyone doing today? I have been busy, busy. busy with some of my holiday baking. I still have a few more cookies to make but I'll be creating separate posts for each item that I've made so far so you too can get a jump on what you might need to get at the store today if baking was on your agenda this weekend. 

Many years ago I found a recipe for Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles from Chef Judy Contino from Ambria Restaurant in Chicago, IL. The paper is so tattered and barely readable at this point because I have to make these every year for my niece, who absolutely adores them. I love this basic recipe because the texture is wonderful no matter what you add to it. So this year, I will be making the Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles (and I also made some Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream!) but I also wanted to try a few different variations. I also decided to make them smaller, as they are so rich and found these cute petit four paper cups at my local party store but you can certainly make them larger. So here is my Holiday Baking Experiment #1. 

Hazelnut Truffles
Adapted from Chef Judy Contino, Ambria Restaurant
12oz. Dark Chocloate
1/2 c. Nutella (Hazelnut spread)
1/2 c. Heavy Cream
2 Egg Yolks
1 tbsp. Butter
4 oz. Finely Chopped Hazelnuts

Add the chocolate, Nutella and heavy cream to a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until all of the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the egg yolks (I save the whites to use for my breakfast). Next, whisk in the butter until melted. Pour in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until firm. Using a spoon, mold the mixture into 1/2" balls. (If it starts to soften, put it in the freezer for a few minutes to stiffen while you work). Roll the balls in chopped hazelnuts. Keep refrigerated. Makes 3 1/2 dz.-1oz. truffles.  

Enjoy!

My Gluten Free Baking Experience featuring Nutella Crepes and Apple "Crisp"

The other night, one of my old friends from high school was up visiting from the South and came over for dinner with her 4 year old daughter (who happens to be Gluten intolerant). Dinner was easy, as she wanted a cheeseburger. But the dessert part was going to be a little tricky as my little friend requested apple pie. So I did what any other person would do when  a cute 4 year old says "Aunt Carrie, can  you PLEASE make me apple pie?",  I went out and bought Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour. Then I looked online to see if I can find a recipe for pie crust, and found several, but they all required 3-4 different types of flours and Xanthan Gum; which I didn't have. So I tried my recipe for my own pie crust and just substituted the gluten free flour in place of the all purpose, added some vanilla and cinnamon to give it a little flavor and hoped for the best. Well, the best was horrible! It was so sticky, I couldn't even roll it out so that was the end of that experiment and into the trash it went. 

Next, Plan B. Since I had the apples anyway, I figured I'd make an Apple Crisp (see below), but I couldn't use oats. So, I mixed the gluten free flour with brown sugar and then crushed up some Special K® cereal; which I thought was gluten free until another friend told me to double check the box and good thing I did since the second ingredient was Wheat Gluten!  Well there went THAT idea and since it was already made, I just hid it in the back of the refrigerator and hoped my little friend forgot about the apple pie..and thank goodness she did. 


So that left Plan C. Her mom noticed I had some flour left and that I also had some Nutella®. According to the Ferrero website, Nutella® spread was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker. At the time, cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So he used hazelnuts, which were in abundance in the Piedmont region of Italy, to extend the chocolate supply. All I know is that my kids LOVE it on toast for breakfast and we've even used one of the Food Network recipes by Giada to make her Chocolate-Strawberry Panini; which is made with poundcake, strawberries and Nutella®. Anyway, she suggested we go online to look for a crepe recipe on the flour's website. We found one but didn't have all of those ingredients either, so we adapted it, making some slight changes and it was a hit!

Gluten Free Nutella Crepes
1 Egg
1 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/8 tsp. Almond Extract
1/4 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 Tbsp. Butter, melted
2 Tbsp. 2% Milk
3 Tbsp. Nutella® Spread


In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, milk and butter. Add in the flour and mix together until it is the consistency of heavy cream. Heat a small, non-stick saute pan over medium heat and lightly spray with cooking spray (or you can use butter). Add just enough mixture to thinly coat the bottom of the pan and swirl it around until it starts to go up the sides. When it starts to lightly brown, gently flip it over to the other side until that side is lightly browned. Add 1 Tbsp. Nutella Spread to the crepe and spread it evenly. Fold in half, then half again. Serve hot. Makes 3 crepes. 


Here is the recipe I used for the Apple "Crisp". I already noted the change in the cereal so that you can make it Gluten Free. When I usually make this in the fall, during apple picking season, I use all purpose flour, whole grain oats and light brown sugar (same measurements). 

Gluten Free Apple "Crisp"
1 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Gluten Free Rice Krispies®, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
5 Tbsp. Butter, melted

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, cereal and cinnamon and blend together. Add the melted butter and using a fork, blend it together until the mixture is crumbly. 

Apple Mixture
7 MacIntosh Apples, cored, peeled and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar


In a separate mixing bowl, add the apples, cinnamon and sugar and mix until well blended. Add the apples to a pie dish and evenly spread the crumbly mixture on top. Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes or until the apples are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.


Now, this came out a little too brown on the top (I got a little side tracked, I told you I wasn't a great baker!), but according to my husband, it was very good...especially when he topped it w/ French Vanilla ice cream!


Enjoy!