In The Kitchen: Gianduja Bars

We were invited to dinner over at a friend’s house and I had offered to bring the dessert. I wanted something that would be a show-stopper and easy, but our rule is no extra shopping trips for specific items. We do our planned grocery runs that involve coupons and try to plan menu’s around the stockpile.

I had this recipe in my stash and have been wanting to try it. I had gotten this recipe from Food Network. It is a Giada de Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian.  Although these are called Gianduja, which is an Italian chocolate with hazelnut paste in it, Giada uses the Nutella and hazlenuts.

What I really love about this recipe is it’s ease. Short on time? You can purchase store-bought brownies and do the topping or you can make brownies, which as you know are easy to prepare. While I did not have brownie mix (I really was being lazy and wanted to cheat), I did have the ingredients for decadent, melt in your mouth, to-die-for brownies.  

For the brownie, I used a recipe, also from my stash I’d been wanting to try. These brownies took the final product over the top. I am sure they would not have been as fabulous with store-bought or mix brownies.  You really, really need to make them.

Anyway, back to our main recipe. This really is super quick and easy and tastes delish. I have a lot of friends who just do not bake and this would be a great recipe for them as they can just dress up store bought brownies. Oh, and really, you can use any nuts and any combination of chips to make it yours. It’s a great one for what’s on hand.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 brownies (about 2 by 3-inches)
• 1/4 cup nutella
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (try a mix of white, semisweet, and milk chocolate)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spread each of the brownies with 1 tablespoon of nutella. Sprinkle each of the brownies with 1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts. Top the nuts with 1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips. Place the brownies on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 7 minutes until the chocolate is starting to melt. Transfer the brownies to the refrigerator and let cool until the chocolate hardens, about one hour.