My Nutella Addiction

They say that the first step is admitting it, and I will say that I love Nutella, the milk chocolate and hazelnut spread sold in Europe and making its way into the US.  Don't let them fool you, the US version isn't as delicious as the Italian version.  A couple of weeks ago, Dr. C. and I had lunch at a restaurant near the Vatican and they gave us a little bar cookie that was basically a buttery crust, with Nutella sandwiched in the middle and crumbs on top.  So yesterday I decided to try and make them in our little kitchen. 
Here is the recipe, which couldn't be simpler, and it goes together really quickly if you have a food processor, but I used my fingers to make it. 

Nutella Crumble Bars

Makes one 9-inch square pan

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chilled butter, cut into small bits

1 large egg

1 cup Nutella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and coat the inside of a 9-inch square pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  Distribute the butter over the top of the dry ingredients, and pulse on and off until the butter looks like small peas.  

Remove to a bowl, and add the egg, the mixture will be crumbly.  Remove about 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs, and pat the remaining mixture into the pan, in an even layer.  Spread the Nutella over the crust, and top with the reserved crumbs.  

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the crumbs are golden brown.  Allow to cool completely, and cut into squares.  These will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days, or frozen for 6 weeks.

Before baking

Baked

The lone leftover!

We had a friend over for dinner last night, she and Dr. C. gave them their seal of approval.  Hope you will try them, even if you can only get the US Nutella they are a winner.  Ciao for now.