Nutella (One Bowl) Brownies!

Nutella Brownies! I will say that just about ANYTHING made with Nutella is pretty tasty in my opinion. However, I was quite surprised how INTENSE the Nutella flavor was in this recipe. A lot of the recipes that call for Nutella...well they just have too many other ingredients & the hazelnut flavor gets lost. It seems like the other ingredients over power the Nutella...but NOT in this recipe. This is super easy, super quick and absolutely delicious! If you love Nutella then this recipe is a must for you!

I found a recipe similar to this on the internet and then I tweaked it a little bit to make it work gluten free and retain the wonderful Nutella flavor. I have been a Nutella lover since I was 5 years old...when I first went to Germany to visit family. (USA didn't have Nutella available back then. I only got Nutella if we went to Germany for a visit or our German family mailed a package). My husband got addicted to Nutella when we visited my German family a few years ago. We had such a wonderful time. My cousin's children (Paula, Mila & Luke) would make sure that they had Nutella on the table every morning for Dave and they gave him a "Nutella knife" for Christmas when we left. He uses it all the time!  We would love to go back to Germany soon. I miss my German family!

I converted this recipe to gluten free but if you don't have a gluten allergy you can certainly make these with regular flour.  Any of the recipes on my blog can be made gluten free as the recipe suggests but you can always substitute regular flour if you don't have a gluten allergy. You can also substitute peanut butter or almond butter if you don't like Nutella (but really...who doesn't just love Nutella?!) or if you don't have Nutella on hand and still want to make some killer delicious brownie or blondie bars. I like recipes that are flexible and EVERYONE can use them! :)

Nutella Brownie Recipe:

• 1 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread). I have also used the Hershey version and it worked fine too
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used a non-GMO version but you can use whatever you have on hand). If you like your baked goods less sweet, reduce sugar to 1/4 cup + add 1/4 cup more flour to keep the correct consistency.
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup gluten free flour blend
• 1/4 cup finely ground hazelnuts, optional. (I have made the recipe with & without the hazelnuts. I like the extra little texture and flavor it gives the brownies but if you don't have them on hand, just go ahead and make them without the nuts. They will still taste great!
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine that contains at least 65% fat (Actually I left the butter out of the last batch I made today and they still turned out just fine. Maybe a little flatter but tasted fine).
• 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum or guar gum (ONLY USE THIS IF YOUR GLUTEN FREE FLOUR BLEND DOESN'T CONTAIN IT. DON'T USE IT IF YOU ARE USING REGULAR FLOUR). I have my gluten free flour blend recipe below or you can use a store-bought blend. I prefer one without sorghum flour for my sweet baked goods. (I have used Betty Crocker, Trader Joe's, Cup4Cup and King Arthur brand of gluten free flours with success).

Ingredients you will need. (Ground hazelnuts are optional. I like to add them but you don't have to!)

 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the Nutella, sugar and eggs until creamy. I just mixed it by hand. You don't want to over-beat brownies or the texture can turn out weird. Add the flour, baking powder & pinch of salt. If your gluten free flour blend doesn't contain xanthan gum or guar gum...add it now. Omit it if your flour contains it or if you are using regular flour instead of gluten free. Spread into a greased 8x8 baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until center is set. You can frost them if you want. I prefer mine plain. My hubby likes his sprinkled with powdered sugar.

This is what the batter looks like just before putting it into the pan to bake

My Homemade Gluten Free Flour Blend Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 cup white rice flour (I used sweet rice flour for this batch)
• 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour (made from sticky rice, it's gluten free)
• 1 cup potato starch (not flour)
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk, make sure it is very fine in texture
• 1 cup corn starch or tapioca starch (I used tapioca starch for this batch)
• 3 tbs. xanthan gum

Combine all ingredients together well. You can put it in the blender for an extra smooth texture if desired. I store mine in a glass container and use it in place of regular flour in all my recipes. This particular blend I really like for baked sweet goods. (A friend of mine that has a dairy problem used non-dairy creamer powder in place of the powdered milk and said it worked just fine!)

Up close view of the chewy chocolate brownie....YUMMY!

Fresh from the oven.

One for me!

Two for hubby!

Up close view of how dense and rich they are!

I hope you enjoy one of our new favorite recipes. We are a Nutella loving family so of course this is a huge hit at our house. They are great for a casual weekend dessert or BBQ.

Enjoy!
Tanja
Gluten Free Casually