Nutella Chunk Cookie Bars

I've been trying to figure out a way to bake with Nutella for a while now, obviously because it's the perfect food. A chocolate hazelnut spread that's delicious enough to eat straight out of the jar with a spoon? I'll take it. I tend to slather it on apples and whole wheat toast as breakfast and after work snacks though, in a measly attempt to preserve my dignity.

nom nom nom

I've contemplated Nutella pies with crushed pretzel crusts, apple tortes with a Nutella filling, and molten cakes with Nutella lava, but none of these fledgling ideas have ever come to fruition, mostly because I really like recipes that have already been written and I don't have enough time to mess around experimenting in the kitchen.

That's probably a huge reason why I am not a food blogger.

But thanks to the blogger community and this cool new website Gojee.com, I found an extremely bright woman who writes The Ivory Hut who had a brilliant idea - make Nutella into chunks and put them into the chocolate chip cookie recipe that you already know and love.

And that's what I did.

As per her instructions, I melted 1 cup of Nutella together with half a stick of butter. I got nervous while  my mixture was in my makeshift double boiler because she said that it should "look glossy" and mine definitely looked pretty grainy. But I decided to power through and spread it out on a foil lined baking sheet, and stick it in the freezer overnight.

When I pulled it out of the freezer, I scored the sheet of gold Nutella with a knife to make them semi-regular chunks. You could definitely just break it with your fingers, but if you handle the chips too much they will start to melt very quickly. 

Then I whipped up a super fancy batch of cookies. Super fancy because I just used the recipe on the back of the bag of Nestle chocolate chips (which I actually don't use because the recipe is seared into my brain), but I made the chunks. Not only did I make them, I made them out of Nutella.

Like I said, super fancy.

And then 23 minutes later, these came out of a 375° oven.

I was nervous that these would taste just like the normal chocolate chip cookies I usually make because all the melting and the freezing and the baking might make the Nutella lose some of its inherent Nutellaness. But it didn't! These bars still have that great creamy chocolate flavor and the subtle hazelnut flavor we all love about Nutella. 

Unfortunately, I can't pass these babies off as breakfast like my other Nutella snacks. These bars are straight-up dessert. But really, who would want it any other way?

Nutella Chunk Cookie Bars

Ingredients

Nutella Chunks:

1 cup Nutella

1/2 stick of butter

Cookie Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups brown sugar

2 sticks of butter (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups homemade Nutella Chunks

Directions for Nutella Chunks:

Combine Nutella and butter over a double boiler. Stir constantly until it appears glossy and well mixed. Spread mixture on a foil-lined baking sheet and put in the freezer for at least three hours. Once frozen, remove from freezer and score into square-ish chunks with a sharp knife. Break apart with your fingers.

Directions for Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9x13 pan. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time. Once eggs are mixed in, add flour mixture gradually (I usually separate it into thirds). Then, gently mix in Nutella chunks. Spread dough out in greased pan and bake 20 - 25 minutes, until golden brown.

NOM NOM NOM.