Nutella Brownies from Handle the Heat

Nutella Brownies - made July 14. 2023 from Handle the Heat

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup Nutella

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (96 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt together chocolate chips, butter and unsweetened chocolate. Whisk together until melted, combined and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella. Let cool for several minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar, eggs and egg yolk for 3 minutes, until light and thick. Beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture, mixing until evenly combined.
5. Add flour, cocoa and salt, mixing until just combined.
6. Pour in even layer into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from heat and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

I confess I made this recipe twice. Not because I loved it so much and had to make it again but because I think I underbaked it a little too much the first time. 

Normally, underbaking brownies is a safe bet to get the fudgy texture. But you don't want to underbake too much or it'll be soft and mushy instead of dense and fudgy and that's what I felt like I did, even though I let this bake about 5 minutes longer than the original recipe called for; each oven is different so I always take the recipe as guidelines, not an actual "must follow".

I did follow the rest of the directions to the letter, including beating the batter for 3 minutes after the eggs are added. I normally don't do that as I know beating it that much with eggs already included will lead to a meringue-crust topping. I'm one of the few people I know who don't like that crackly top on a brownie. Boxed brownie mixes often have it and bakers like to replicate that in homemade brownies. Me, not so much.

So the second time I made this, I didn't beat the batter as long with the eggs in it and I baked the brownies for almost an hour, yes, an hour. The results were better the second time around, although I have to admit, they were still a little mushy. So maybe that's how the texture actually is supposed to be?

I thought they were good but the Nutella flavor isn't very obvious and texture-wise, I still prefer my go-to brownie recipe. If you want a more obvious Nutella flavor, I suggest dolloping Nutella within and over the top of the batter and swirling it around to incorporate. And don't underbake it too much.