Nutella Crunch Brownies

Imagine this: fudgy brownies, the kind that have a deep dark chocolate flavor and zero cakiness, plus a creamy layer of Nutella, more dark chocolate, and brown rice crispies. The rice crisps and Nutella add a sense of playfulness, but the overall flavor is sophisticated. This is a chocoholic’s brownie.

I’ve made this brownie multiple times but I’m only just blogging about it now because… well, I was busy with life. I have a new job. Matt and I are moving to a new place. And we’ve been spending a lot of time travelling, eating, and just hanging out with friends. But I’ve been making time to make brownies.

These brownies are so fudgy that they’ve been mistaken for actual fudge, which is never a bad thing, in my opinion. I used my tried and tested brownie base (I used cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate, plenty of butter, and a scant amount of flour). Then I mixed melted nutella, chocolate, and brown rice crispies – just like I did with these Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies and spread that on top of the fresh baked brownie as a generous topping. The flavors and textures are what makes up my brownie dreams.

I love a slice of this brownie with a cold glass of milk, hot tea, or red wine, depending on the night. I prefer eating this chilled. However I’ve given this away to different friends and they ate it at room temperature – there were zero complaints, only compliments and happy smiles.

So I’ll keep this short, dear readers. My wish for you is: no matter how busy you might be, too, that you’ll always find time to enjoy your own little slice of heaven.

Yield: 16 bars

Nutella Crunch Brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

Ingredients

BROWNIES

1 1/4 sticks butter, melted (plus more for buttering pan)
2 large eggs
3/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

NUTELLA CRUNCH TOPPING

1 cup (8 oz) Nutella
1 cup (8 oz) dark chocolate
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cups brown rice crisps

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Make the brownie base. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, sugars, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and coffee. Mix well.
  3. Stir in flour and salt. Whisk together until smooth.
  4. Spread brownie batter in a foil-lined and buttered 8x8 pan.
  5. Bake 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in brownie comes out clean.
  6. Make the Nutella crunch topping. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine Nutella and dark chocolate. Heat for 1 minute, stir, and heat again in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. I ended up heating everything for a total of 1 1/2 minutes.
  7. Add salt and fold in brown rice crisps. Mix well.
  8. Spread mixture over the brownie layer and even out the top with a spatula. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.

You can use regular rice crispies instead of brown rice crisps, or substitute milk chocolate for dark chocolate.

   

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