HAZelnuttY days of summer

I know Nutella has a cult following; there is even a World Nutella Day where people from various blogs post recipes and celebrate its existence. Even still, I had tried the concoction only once several years ago to my Grandma Sue's prodding and I don't think I was impressed. What was I thinking?! Actually, I know what I was thinking. Every time I passed the stuff in the grocery store, I thought "this stuff actually looks delicious and will probably have to go on my 'too dangerous to buy' list." Knowing this, I still had to buy some to attempt to make something for the Nutella loving grandmother above.

Below are two recipes. The first is adapted from a recipe that is labeled as a "dense cupcake" with complaints of being on the dry side. I really like the concept of a self-frosting cupcake so I tweaked some things that I feel made it a bit more moist. The other recipe is something I concocted to please my grandma's taste buds. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the latter because I brought them to NY while we were crashing there for the beer weekend and the equation of food + my family = instantaneous evaporation. A 9 x 13-inch pan was eaten in two days. Basically, if you have a nice layer of Nutella sandwiched between brown sugary shortbread, you're in the clear.

Self-Frosting Hazelnut Muffcakes

adapted from Baking Bites
Yield: 12

INGREDIENTS
10 T unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
2 T milk
1 1/4 C all purpose flour, sifted
3/4 C hazelnuts, toasted
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2-3/4 C Nutella

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line standard 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
1. Process or blend hazelnuts to a nut flour. Do not over process or it will become a paste.
2. Distribute a teaspoon of the nut flour evenly among the paper liners for a crumbly bottom to the cupcakes. This will total 1/4 C of the nut flour.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs, milk and vanilla.
5. Stir in flour, remaining 1/2 C hazelnut flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains. Keep in mind that the batter will be more thick than usual cake batter.
6. Fill each muffin liner 3/4 full with the batter.
7. Top each cake with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the Nutella. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition:337cal, 20g fat,146mg sod, 34g carb, 23g sugar, 1g fiber, 5g protein

Hazelnut Layer Bars

Yield: 24 bars

INGREDIENTS
1 C hazelnuts
1 jar Nutella
1/2 t vanilla
1 C unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 C brown sugar
2 C flour

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil.
1. Cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla.
2. Grind hazelnuts to a nut flour in a food processor or blender.  Mix flour with hazelnuts and add to butter mixture.
3. Spread half of the mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 15-20 min.
4. Remove from oven and spread Nutella over the base layer.
5. Drop spoonfuls of remaining batter over Nutella, trying to cover as much as possible without pulling up the dough.  Bake for another 15 min. at 350 degrees F.

Nutrition: 237cal, 14g fat, 6mg sod, 56g carb, 26g sugar, 1g fiber, 2.5g protein