Showing posts with label nutella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nutella. Show all posts

Nutella Muffin-Brownie-Cupcakes (who cares what they're called as long as they've got nutella?!)

11:15 AM | Labels: , , , , , ,



PHEW! Is anyone still with me? I wouldn’t be surprised if after the ghostly behavior I’ve exhibited toward this blog for the past week, a few people here or there lost faith in me. I haven’t lost interest or stopped cooking or been eaten alive by a giant jelly fish on the shores of the Atlantic ocean.  My vacation was, however, fuller and more time-constrained than I had anticipated, and so even with ample internet connection (and a week of safely avoiding killer jelly fish), I struggled to log on for updates. Every morning I woke up at 7am and quite literally did not finish my summer preparatory work for my dietetic internship until 2-4pm. Every. Single. Day. I hope you aren’t offended that with the approximate 4.5 remaining hours of daylight I chose the beach and boardwalk over blogging.

But now I’m back, and although I still have ridiculously demanding course work and case studies, I at least don’t have the beach and boardwalk shops to distract me. I’m even prepared to formally apologize for being so lame this week, and by apologize formally, I mean share a recipe for a really delicious brownie-muffin-cupcake-I-don’t-care-what-you-call-it-nutella-dessert. And it’s almost good for you, too! If you believe the Nutella commercials, then it’s definitely good for you. But in the real world, it’s just almost healthy, because nowhere but in an alternate universe could Nutella be considered anything but a jar of glorified, spreadable fudge. It is delicious, though, isn’t it?



So delicious, in fact, that these incredibly simple 3-4 ingredient muffin-cupcakes (I hesitate to call them muffins for fear of insinuating that they are proper Monday-Friday breakfast food) are equally, incredibly, magnificently delicious, too. They actually aren’t as overly decadent as the Nutella in them would have you believe – their flavor is subtle, with this low-key chocolate flavor permeating it. They used to be called brownies, as in, by the blogger who originally came up with the recipe. They are not brownies, they are light and fluffy muffins, but that’s ok, because a Nutella brownie-muffin by any other name does, in fact, taste as yummy.

I really shouldn’t post the recipe here because I didn’t change a darn thing except for doubling it to get 28 muffins (of very varying and not at all uniform sizes, oops), and forgetting the nuts, because if I didn’t forget at least one ingredient while baking then I wouldn’t be me. At least this time it was only a sprinkling of nuts. So anyway, the point of this was to say that you should click on over to A Thought for Food because she has the recipe, the beautiful, beautiful recipe, and it really is worth the extra click over to a different site. Enjoy!


One Year Ago (more or less): Healthy Egg Salad, Three Bean Salad
Two Years Ago: Cinnamon Raisin Cookie Sandwiches, Indian-Spiced Lentil Pasta

P.S. these were really good crumbled over that Nutella FroYo I told you about a little while ago. Just sayin’….

P.P.S. Did you know that today is Chocolate & Almonds day? That’s kind of like chocolate & hazelnuts, which is kind of like what this recipe is all about. Would you look at that!

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Posted by toni

Nutella FroYo - or should I say, FroCHO?

8:23 AM | Labels: , , , , ,



I made a vow to myself that I would stop blogging about unperfected recipes. Gone are the days of trying a recipe, getting it almost right, and telling you about it with little disclaimers here or there. That was ok when I was blown away by having 5 followers. Now that more people are sitting up and taking notice of Floptimism (it’s still a small following, but each and every one of you make my day by sticking around, seriously!), I feel as though I owe it to you to really only give you the recipes that I can say 100% work – ones that have already been tweaked and tested. I’ve started remaking things two or three times to get them right, and I can honestly say that I’ve even enjoyed the fine-tuning aspect of this whole process. It really seemed like the days of close-but-no-cigar recipes were over – no more “well the flavor was right, but the consistency…” or “I totally burned it but I think you can do better so here it is…”

That is, until I met this frozen yogurt. I debated this one for quite some time. I really shouldn’t tell you about it. This should not be happening right now. But it is, it has to, because after I took one bite, and then a second, and then a third, and then suddenly I looked back on the past 3 days in a row to discover that I ate a bowl of it for dessert each of those three nights…well, I can’t let National Frozen Yogurt Day go by and not tell you about this flavor and recipe. I don’t care if the consistency is borderline atrocious, one of the downright worst textures I’ve made to date you’ll feel the same.

This is frozen yogurt at its almost purest state, and it’s not for everyone. If you like that tang of plain yogurt, particularly Greek, you’ll enjoy this. The Nutella just barely sweetens it, giving it a deep chocolate flavor without masking the beautiful flavor of plain, unadulterated yogurt. You could add more Nutella – the original called for equal parts but warned that it was cloyingly sweet that way – to subdue the yogurt and bring out the Nutella a little bit more. This would also fix the problem I ran into with the consistency – Nutella is oily enough to supposedly prevent the ice cream from getting too solid in the freezer, when used in greater amounts. However, the amount that I used wasn’t nearly enough, and I wound up with a brick after freezing it, and a stubborn brick at that. It does not soften quickly on the counter. Last night it took me 2 hours of refrigerator time to get it to a point where I could scoop it, and even then it probably could have used a little bit more patience on my part. A few nights before that I microwaved it and wound up with more of a sauce (which I poured over a different flavor of frozen yogurt – so not a bad thing!) than froyo. Suffice it to say, this recipe has its kinks. But it’s sheer perfection when it comes straight out of the machine (so if you want to serve/eat it immediately, all of these textural issues go out the window), and the flavor is so heavenly enjoyable that you can look past the glitches. This is the kind of froyo that makes me never want to buy the processed, overly sweetened cartons at the grocery store. This is the queen of all Froyo, and true to her title, the queen can get away with any offense – including being hard and stubborn as a rock.


One Year Ago: Herbed Turkey & Vegetable Pizzas on No-Knead Dough
Two Years Ago: Spring Vegetable Pizza
(I feel like I should’ve made pizza for you guys today or something!)

Nutella FroCHO
This frozen yogurt is simple, relatively healthy, and bursting with a satisfying flavor profile unlike the one-dimensionally sweet varieties you buy at the store. It’s tangy, chocolatey, and totally indulgent – or well, it feels totally indulgent, anyway.

Yield: 1 quart
Prep Time: 2 minutes
“Cook” Time: 10 minutes
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
9-13 ounces Nutella1
23 ounces plain Chobani yogurt2
1 ounce mini chocolate chips

The Method
Place the nutella in a microwave-safe container and soften in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. Stir in the yogurt. Taste and adjust the amount of yogurt and Nutella according to your preferences. Fold in the chocolate chips then freeze according to your ice cream machine’s instructions, though it will likely take less time than the manual states due to the thickness of greek yogurt (approximately 10 minutes).

Serve immediately or transfer to a freezer-safe one-quart container. Cover with saran wrap, then the lid, and be sure to give it several hours to come to room temperature between freezing and serving.

Source, adapted: Life+Running

Notes:
1The original called for 26 ounces. I used 9. This is where it’s important to taste before freezing and add more Nutella if necessary.
2I used Chobani and can therefore only attest to this brand’s success in the recipe; other Greek yogurts will probably also work, though.




By the way, don’t feel boxed in by this recipe. My brain is already in overdrive thinking of the possibilities for this as the foundation of many other flavors: stir in thawed bananas or make a banana split, top with strawberries, add peanut butter and honey (it’s seriously one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had – I can’t believe as a teenager I actually ate that calorie & sugar bomb for lunch on a regular basis), or reinvent my raspberry-banana Nutella sandwich in froyo form. Just think of all of the incredible ways that you like to eat Nutella, and find a way to make it work as a frozen yogurt flavor.

What’s your favorite way to eat Nutella? (Yes, “with a spoon” is a perfectly legitimate answer.)

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Posted by toni

I interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you: Banana, Raspberry & Nutella Sandwiches

4:17 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,


I promised all of you a prompt post about those delicious roasted tomatoes that I paired with my Spicy Hake from a few nights ago. But I'm not here with no pesky roasted tomato recipe; no, I'm here with something much, much better. Apparently, my brain has adopted a new habit of inventing recipes while I am otherwise trying to fall asleep, and I can't say that I am much complaining. This time, I was drifting off when, all of a sudden!, I thought of a bunch of rapidly ripening bananas on my counter along with the plump-and-surprisingly-not-moldy raspberries in my fridge. Then, I got to thinking about breakfast for the next morning, and before I knew it my brain was adding ingredients like nutella and bread, and as a result I can present to you one of the most satisfying breakfast/lunch/light dinner/dessert recipes I have ever tried.

Banana, Raspberry & Nutella Anytime Sandwich
Serves: I'm still working on this one; currently, 1, but I'm really thinking that halving it would be better. But really, who wants an extra half a banana lying around? Exactly.
The Ingredients
1 banana, preferably close to baking-softness for prime mashing ability
1/4 C (ish - I wound up using about 8) raspberries, washed and patted dry
2 slices (whole wheat) bread
1 Tbsp. nutella, divided

The Method
1. Toast the bread (I like mine lightly done, but feel free to make it as dark or as light as you like)
2. While the bread is working in the toaster, coarsely mash the banana just to break it up. Add the raspberries, flattening them with the back of a fork and then mixing them up with the banana. Try to get the two fruits evenly incorporated, but really, don't fret about the exact ratio.
3. When the toast is done, spread about 1/2 Tbsp. nutella on each slice, and then spoon the fruit mixture onto one slice.
4. Top with the other piece of toast, slice (or not), and enjoy!

I say that this might be better off with half as much filling because, well, pureed fruit is gooey and gloppy and tends to escape the confines of the bread before it can fully make it to your (re: my) mouth. So, if you're making more than one sandwich I'd suggest using 1 banana for every 2 sandwiches. Otherwise, unless you know of a good use for half a banana, make the full filling and be sure to eat over a plate or napkin. Scooping up some unruly banana-raspberry puree with your finger at the end is never a bad thing.

This sandwich is quick, easy, and - in the grand scheme of things - pretty good for you, too. You get 1 1/2 servings of fruit plus the benefits of whole grain if you choose to use that type of bread. The only thing I have to warn you about is sodium levels - bread loves to sneak unnecessary sodium into its crevices. Each slice of the bread I had (much to my dismay upon reading the label after buying it) contained 200mg sodium, which makes my whole sandwich a whopping 550mg sodium bomb. Considering how I try to keep my entire day below 1500, that's pretty significant.

Still, that has not stopped me from having this sandwich two mornings in a row (what? The first time was a test run and the second was absolutely imperative to be able to give all of you proper measurements!), and I don't regret it one bit. Letting the bananas get soft releases all of that sugary goodness, while the raspberries offer a bold tartness that's very recognizable even with only 1/4 C of them. The nutella is just strong enough to blend into the other flavors, complementing them with a slight nuttiness and chocolaty burst that any morning could benefit from. Toasting the bread gives the sandwich a crunch, so that you're not biting into total mush, and allows the nutella to melt just slightly by the time you get it to your mouth.

Do you understand now why I had to interrupt my recipe line up for this? Do you forgive me? If you don't know, go and try this sandwich, and then I think you'll understand completely. It's worth it.

Oh, and while you're busy forgiving me for delaying the roasted tomato post, you'll have to also forgive me for that picture up there. It was 6:30 in the morning, I was hardly awake, the sun was hardly awake, and I'm amazed I didn't wind up with blurred, flash-on, terribly-angled pictures as is. The truth is that this sandwich is colorful and only minimally mushy-looking, as one might expect.

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