CHEWY, FUDGY NUTELLA BROWNIES

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” – Charles M. Schulz

This was the very reason why I signed up for Le 15 Patisserie’s Chocolate Lover’s class in the beginning of this year. I had been away from my husband for a month and wanted to do something really special for him when I returned to the US, just in time for Valentine’s Day. I know the way to my man’s heart is through his stomach, specifically if it’s a decadent chocolate dessert.

The class was led by Pooja Dhingra, Owner and Executive Chef of Le 15 Patisserie. She went over several pertinent baking tips and techniques, while covering five scrumptious chocolate based dessert recipes. This class was really a turning point in my culinary life as it awakened in me a new-found love for baking. I have always been an ardent cook but baking desserts was not really my forte. Till last year my repertoire of baking included experimenting different variations of boxed brownies, cookies and cake mixes. The thought of measuring every ingredient and baking from scratch was rather daunting and required more patience than I possessed.  Pooja’s class inspired me to start baking from scratch and along the way I have discovered that baking is a very de-stressing activity.

Post the Chocolate Lover’s class, I called my husband gushing about my plans to start baking regularly. He was overjoyed and ensured that I would not change my mind by gifting me a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (a baker’s best friend) for Valentine’s Day. And so began the last few months of my baking experiments.  

Of the five chocolate recipes shared in the class, the Nutella brownie recipe was my favorite. It marries together Nutella and chewy brownies – a sinful combination!  Using lesser flour and using baking chocolate (instead of just cocoa powder), creates brownies that are both chewy and fudgy. While dark chocolate and hazelnut spread are the dominant flavors in this recipe the addition of white chocolate adds a remarkable creaminess to the texture of these brownies.

After working on these brownies a few times, I have made a few minor modifications to the recipe shared in the class.

Chewy, Fudgy Nutella Brownies

Recipe adapted for Le 15 Patisserie’s Chocolate Lover’s Class
Yields: 20-25 brownies, depending on the size of your baking pan

 Ingredients:

170 grams (1 ½ sticks) of room temperature unsalted butter
150 grams dark chocolate (Recommended Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Baking chocolate)
85 grams of white chocolate
3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
350 grams (1 ¾ cups) granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
170 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp table salt (ONLY if you are using unsalted butter)
75 grams (3/4 cup) roasted and chopped hazelnuts
3 tablespoons of Nutella (or more if you want a lot of Nutella)

Notes:

• In some countries where only salted butter is available, eliminate the salt from the ingredients.
• You can use walnuts in place of roasted hazelnuts.
• Never melt the chocolate directly on the stove top as it will scorch. Always use a hot water bath (double boiler) to melt the chocolate.
• Chewy and fudgy brownies do not break while being cut if refrigerated for 1-2 hours before cutting them.

1) Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Grease and flour a 9” or 10” square baking dish and set aside.
2) Over a hot bath, melt together the butter, dark and white chocolate and cocoa powder. Use a whisk to keep stirring this constantly. Once melted, set aside till this mixture cools a little.
3) Whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
4) Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt (if using it).
5) Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture over the egg mixture and lightly whisk it together. Be careful not to over mix.
6) Use a spatula to slowly fold in dry ingredients, followed by ¾ cup of the hazelnuts.
7) Spread this mixture into the greased baking pan.
8) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. It takes about 35 minutes in my oven.
9) Set aside the brownies to cool in the baking pan. After the brownies have cooled down, generously spread them with Nutella.
10) Place the brownies in the fridge and let them chill for 1-2 hours. Once the brownies are chilled and firm, cut them into 2 inch squares.
11) Enjoy these brownies with some vanilla bean ice-cream or a cold glass of milk!