N&N Bars

These bars are a combination of Nutella and nibs.  Most of you are familiar with Nutella, but the nibs are actually chopped up cocoa beans.  They are commonly referred to as cocoa nibs.  They have a nutty,sharp chocolate taste and bring a unique texture and taste to baked goods.  Also, I like to sprinkle them on vanilla ice cream.

As you can see by the above picture, these came out with a tan hue and speckled with the cocoa nibs.  They are more on the cakey side than fudgy but are much more dense and chewy than cake.  Also, the bars are not extremely sweet like a chocolate brownie.  Nutella does have less grams of sugar per serving than chocolate.

This subtle sweetness goes great with the dark chopped cocoa nibs.  The added crunch is just enough to add a dimension of flavor, while letting the Nutella flavor shine through.

N&N Bars
by flourtrader

Ingredients
2 eggs
2 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup Nutella
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa nibs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom of  an 8X8 baking pan with parchment paper.

Sift together baking powder, salt and flour.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs together.  Then stir in the sugar, melted butter and the vanilla extract.  Once blended, mix in the Nutella until evenly distributed.

Fold the sifted flour mixture into the batter until no more dry streaks remain.  It should be a very thick batter, like fudge.  Lastly, add the cocoa nibs and mix until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Transfer the mixture to the pan.  With damp, clean hands, spread batter evenly inside the pan.  Place pan in oven and bake 25-30 minutes.  It is done when tester comes out clean and surface is no longer shiny.  Let cool in pan for 30 minutes and then invert onto plate.  Remove parchment and invert again and let cool completely and cut into squares to serve.
                                  **LAST YEAR:Cranberry Walnut Scones***