Nutella Crunch Bars

Today is October 22^nd and what I consider the first “cold” day in Minnesota. Everyone was freaking out about snow yesterday but I didn’t see it and it didn’t stay on the ground so I say it doesn’t count. All-Star season for roller derby is over and it’s going to be winter soon. All I want to do is stay home and snuggle with Chad and bake all the things!  So, I have sort of been baking all the things. I often forget about the blog and the fact that I should be posting this stuff here. Most people know that patience isn’t my strong suit and sometimes I can’t be bothered to take a photo of some partially finished dough or the milk in the double-boiler ready for six ounces of chocolate chips to take a dive into.

In the past week and a half, I’ve baked pumpkin cream cheese bread, pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese, jalapeno cornbread, and these chocolate hazelnut crunch bars. It is one of my teammate’s birthdays and I’m bringing them to share. I pawn off roughly 70% of what I bake and we eat the rest. These are so rich and wonderful and perfect for the chocolate and Nutella freak in your life. I was inspired to make them after having Forepaugh’s (haunted and yet classy St. Paul institution) made this candy bar-like dessert that I wanted to replicate. When I found this recipe, I was in!  Left photo is my dessert from Forepaugh's and right is thekitchn.com. I think I'd add a layer of whipped ganache to the recipe to make them even closer to the dish I had in the restaurant.

This recipe comes from thekitchn.com and contains one ingredient you certainly won’t have in your kitchen. It calls for 2 cups of pailleté feuilletine which I had to immediately Google. After a bit of digging around I found out that I could replace it with crunched up wafer sticks or if you want to use the Pepperidge Farm term, “Pirouettes.” Normally I would buy these at the Vietnamese grocery store since they have them in bigger volumes at a lower price, but this was a last minute project and the hazelnut version of the Pepperidge Farm ones were going to have to do.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Bars by thekitchn.com

*with a few alterations by me*

Makes one 9x13 tray, bars cut as big or small as you like. I went small since these are RICH.

For the crust:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
10 ounces (about 1 cup) chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
5 ounces (about 2 cups) pailleté feuilletine (again, I used the Pirouette cookies)

For the filling:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces (1 cup) heavy cream
2 ounces (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the crust, line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper, allowing the parchment to hang over the long sides of the pan to act as handles. This is a necessary step as I’m pretty sure that the whole thing would stick to the dish like crazy if you skipped it.

In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate (I used a shortcut in this and microwaved the chocolate in a glass bowl for 30-second intervals) and chocolate-hazelnut spread and stir until smooth. Fold in the feuilletine/crushed cookies until combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Use a sheet of wax paper (or a nonstick Silpat mat) to press the mixture into a smooth, even layer. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill while making the filling. I popped mine in the freezer for a minute to speed this along.

For the ganache, I completely ignored their method as I think the one I’ve got down is best. Over a double-boiler, heat your cream until it is just barely bubbling. Dump your chocolate in and stare impatiently for about a minute. Whisk the cream and chocolate slowly and drop your bits of butter in, continuing to whisk. You’ll now have a beautiful and velvety ganache to pour over your Nutella cookie crust, smoothing with a spatula.

Transfer to the refrigerator until set and firm, about 1 - 2 hours should do but I left mine overnight. Slice into bars before serving and then sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts if you wish. Next time, I may just mix the hazelnuts right into the ganache for extra crunch. Keep stored in the refrigerator and serve chilled. These are sitting in my car right now on this first cold (36 degree) day waiting for hungry roller girls to devour. Hope they like them!