Secret Bakers - Nutella Candy Bars

First, sorry no pictures. I forgot to take them before sending the package off to my SB. To make up for this, I will link here to the blog where I got the recipe so you can see her lovely pictures of these sweet, addictive, Nutella-containing bits of deliciousness. The theme for this month's Secret Bakers was Something New, trying recipes that we've never made before. At first, I was going to try my hand at macarons for the first time. Those delicate little sandwich cookies are so beautiful and there are so may neat flavor combinations out there. But every single blog I went to for recipes talked about how hard it is to make them and how many times they had to try before the things turned out right. Yeesh! I think I'll find a place to buy them in Baltimore, thanks. Not that I don't like a challenge and one day I will try to make them. But right now I'm taking it easy in preparation for the insanity of four graduate classes, work, and everything else that life requires which will commence to crush me beneath it like an ocean wave on January 26th.

Instead I thought I'd make my "something new" candy. For Valentine's this year, I'd like to try to make homemade candy for my loves. Nutella, the existence of which is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy, is one of my favorite things in the entire world to eat and bake with. There is almost always a jar of it in my cupboard and yes, I will admit it here for the entire world, I eat a spoonful when I need to. What?! Don't front like you've never done it! And if you haven't, well honey I feel sorry for you. Ahem, I was saying...I wanna make candy and I saw this Nutella candy bar recipe and it was a logical conclusion that I should make them as soon as possible. When I make them again, which I will, there are a couple of things I'll do differently. For one, I will score them when they are still warm to make for even lines to brake the candy along. They turned out more like jagged candy chunks than candy "bars" per se. I would also decrease the powdered sugar...in fact, if it won't mess with the consistency too much I think the powdered sugar could be left out all together. It was just a little too sweet, which stepped all over the Nutella flavor. I'd also like to try chopping some hazelnuts and layering the melted chocolate over them. Ooh and you could add a caramel layer, if you wanted. It's a candy bar, so I think the opportunities to tweak the recipe are nearly endless. Anyway, here is the recipe with my suggested changes. Enjoy!

Nutella Candy Bars

Ingredients
1 C Nutella
2 C finely ground graham crackers
1 C powdered sugar (less would be better if you ask me)
1 C melted butter

4 T Nutella (I'd add more next time)
1.5 C bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Grind graham crackers very finely and place 2 cups in a bowl. Add 1 C Nutella and the powdered sugar and mix.

2. Add melted butter to the mixture and combine. You'll have a sort of dough now. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 bakign pan lined with parchment or wax paper. I used two 8x8 tins that I just sprayed with cooking spray and it turned out fine, so that's an option if you forget to get wax paper like I did :).

3. Melt Nutella and bittersweet chocolate in a doble broiler or microwave and stir so the Nutella is incorporated. Spread evenly over the graham cracker/Nutella base. Place in refrigerator until cool and chocolate has hardened. They taste best at room temperature.