12 Decadent Nutella Recipes
Some flavor combinations are so absurdly delicious that it's as if they were meant to be together. And if there is one culinary pairing that can make us believe in True Love, it's chocolate and hazelnuts, especially in the perfected form of Nutella. The story goes that the original recipe was a matter of necessity. In the wake of World War II, cocoa was scarce and pricey in Europe, so two enterprising brothers, Pietro and Giovanni Ferrero, devised a new confection — a paste made of hazelnuts, sugar, and a scant amount of valuable cocoa. Thanks to Pietro's creativity and Giovanni's business savvy, the product took off. The first iteration of the recipe was shaped into hard blocks, like chocolate bars, and called Giandujot. Over time, the brothers tweaked the recipe, turning it into a spreadable product that they first named SuperCrema and then, by the 1960s, Nutella.
There is no wrong way to eat Nutella. One of the best things about it is that it is just as credible as a breakfast food as a dessert. You can spread it on toast instead of peanut butter or mix it into ice cream, and arguably the best way to eat it is straight out of the jar by the spoonful. But there are many other creative ways to incorporate it into recipes to show off its range and unrivaled deliciousness. Here are a few of our favorite options to get you started.
1. Chocolate Hazelnut Cheese Ball
If there's one thing that can make Nutella even more delicious, it's cream cheese. Rich and tangy, it provides even more decadence to the luxurious spread. This recipe doesn't just stop at this simple addition, however. Instead, it turns these two ingredients into the foundation of a customizable, no-bake dessert.
Nutella and cream cheese are mixed with chocolate chips, sugar, and salt. Once the mixture is formed into a ball and chilled, roll it in chopped hazelnuts and serve it with graham crackers, pretzels, and fruit.
Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Cheese Ball
2. Ina Garten's Chocolate Cake
Ina Garten knows a thing or two about cake. The Food Network star has been publishing cookbooks for decades and has produced dozens of cake recipes in print, online, and on her shows. Her famous Beatty's Chocolate Cake involves layers of moist cake coated in chocolate buttercream, and recipe developer Kate Shungu has recreated it with a few twists.
Like Garten's cake, this version uses coffee for a stronger flavor but adds Nutella to the buttercream for a heavenly hint of hazelnuts. It also calls for raspberry jam to be sandwiched between the layers.
Recipe: Ina Garten's Chocolate Cake
3. Giant Ice Cream Sandwich
Let's be honest — most ice cream sandwiches are laughably, even infuriatingly small. Recipe developer Jason Goldstein knows this and created a homemade alternative that is, shall we say, substantial. To be more precise, this ice cream sandwich weighs 5 pounds and is about 8 inches tall.
Despite its size, however, it's a breeze to make. All you need is pre-made cookie dough to form two giant cookies, ice cream to sandwich between them, and Nutella to use as glue.
Recipe: Giant Ice Cream Sandwich
4. Quick Crepes
There are few sweet breakfast foods that do not taste better with Nutella. Whether you're having oatmeal, pancakes, or a humble slice of toast, the chocolaty spread will elevate the meal into something worthy of a special occasion.
Crepes are no exception. In fact, they are tailor-made for it. Unlike pancakes, crepes are not fluffy, sweet, and delicious in their own right. They need to be slathered with delicious ingredients to reach their full potential. This quick recipe for crepes provides the foundation, and a jar of Nutella will do the rest of the work.
Recipe: Quick Crepes
5. Joanna Gaines' French Toast Crunch With A Nutella Twist
Joanna Gaines can do it all, whether it's publishing children's books, remodeling a home, or running an e-commerce empire. It's no surprise, therefore, that she has also mastered a delicious take on French toast.
Recipe developer Susan Olayinka has taken Gaines' mouthwatering formula and added a few bells and whistles, namely a caramel element to the crunchy cornflakes, and opting to roll the slices of bread into tubes filled with Nutella. It is just as good as it sounds.
Recipe: Joanna Gaines' French Toast Crunch With A Nutella Twist
6. Easy Nutella Mug Cake
Mug cakes are the perfect combination of cozy and luxurious. Their biggest selling point, however, is how easy they are to make. Add a few ingredients directly to a mug, give it a stir, and pop it in the microwave.
Since Nutella makes every sweet treat more delicious, recipe developer Catherine Brookes has crafted an entire mug cake around it. Think of it like eating the heavenly spread out of the jar, but in this case, the jar is a mug and the Nutella is oozing out of a fluffy, chocolatey cake.
Recipe: Easy Nutella Mug Cake
7. 3-Ingredient Nutella Brownies
Gooey, moist, and dense with chocolate, brownies are the gold standard of dessert, whether you're dining at a fancy restaurant or curled on the sofa in your pajamas. There are many ways to make a delicious batch of these bad boys, but we're bringing you something extra simple. This recipe has only three ingredients — Nutella, flour, and eggs — and will knock your socks off with its flavor and texture.
Better yet, they take only five minutes to prepare, making them the perfect last-minute dessert when you're running late but don't want to compromise.
Recipe: 3-Ingredient Nutella Brownies
8. Easy No Bake Nutella Cookies
No-bake cookies can be hit-or-miss. Half the time they taste more like dense protein bars than chewy, indulgent cookies, which might make you hesitant to try another recipe. When you add Nutella to the formula, however, it's tough to go wrong, and we can vouch for the fact that these cookies do not disappoint.
Made with oats, Nutella, almond milk, cocoa powder, and lots of butter, they are rich, flavor-packed, and quick to make. Although the recipe makes 22 cookies, you might want to make a double batch because they are sure to be gone in no time.
Recipe: Easy No Bake Nutella Cookies
9. Best Nutella Cupcakes
Do you love Nutella, but frequently run out of ideas for new ways to use it? This is the recipe for you. Not only are the cupcakes made with cocoa powder and covered in Nutella frosting, but filled with the nutty chocolate spread as well. Gooey, fluffy, and utterly divine, this is the kind of all-out indulgence that Nutella lovers are craving.
To make these cupcakes elegant as well as decadent, top them with chocolate sprinkles and hazelnut candy. Because of the frosting, these have a short shelf life, but you'll probably polish them off in under 24 hours anyway.
Recipe: Best Nutella Cupcakes
10. Nutella Stuffed Strawberries
Chocolate-covered strawberries are a classic treat often associated with romance and Valentine's Day. They're juicy and delicious, but it's impossible to deny that they just don't satisfy a chocolate craving due to the highly unbalanced chocolate-to-strawberry ratio.
To solve this problem, recipe developer Jaime Shelbert has created an ingenious solution: stuffing the strawberries with Nutella. This recipe caters to the chocolate-covered strawberry purists as well as the chocolate-obsessed, because once you've stuffed each berry with Nutella, you dip them in melted chocolate, too. It's the best of both worlds.
Recipe: Nutella Stuffed Strawberries
11. Gordon Ramsay's Donuts
Gordon Ramsay needs no introduction. The larger-than-life chef with the killer insults has earned his celebrity through an intense on-screen persona and, lest we forget, some formidable cooking skills. These donuts are a testament to his craft. Light and full of melted chocolate, they're sure to become your new go-to dessert.
While Ramsay's version puts homemade ganache in the yeasted dough, recipe developer Michelle Morey has opted for an easier and, we believe, more delicious alternative: Nutella. For even more flavor, the donuts are coated in a powdery mixture of sugar, malted chocolate powder, and toasted hazelnuts.
Recipe: Gordon Ramsay's Donuts
12. Nutella Baked Oats
Baked oats is a breakfast food that seems too good to be true: a healthy dose of oatmeal that looks and tastes like cake. This version from recipe developer Ting Dalton takes the decadence a step further by adding Nutella to the mix. But don't worry, these baked oats are still nutritious, even by breakfast standards.
To transform oats into cake, you need to blend them with the other ingredients, which, in this case, include milk, a banana, an egg, honey, baking powder, salt, and Nutella. Once you've poured the batter into ramekins, add a dollop of the hazelnut spread to each portion.
Recipe: Nutella Baked Oats