Nutella Truffles

Valentines day is coming up.  I’m not a huge fan of some traditional V-Day customs.  I hate getting crammed into a restaurant at a teensy table and ordering off of a fixed menu.  Or the red roses.  It’s a little cliché and seems a bit forced to me.  I AM however a fan of a date night, red wine, mushy cards, and above all… CHOCOLATE.

One year Mr. FSL cooked me dinner for the occasion.  Chicken, spinach and garlic.  It was really good.  He’s been a bit, um more adventurous in the kitchen since then.  Thankfully, I’m cooking dinner this year. Here’s a text I got the other day from him.  He asked me to pass this information along to all of you.

Thanks Honey.

These aren’t just any truffles.  They’re NUTELLA truffles.  Do they have a 12 step program for Nutella addicts?  I found this truffle recipe at mybakingaddiction.com.  The photos of their truffles are just beautiful.  If you’re looking for classy top shelf food porn, go visit that site.  If you’re looking for trashy food porn, look no further

The original recipe includes Frangelico (hazelnut liquor).  I’m all for mixing booze and dessert.  In fact, that is my kind of par-tay.  While we’re on that subject, check out this recipe I made last year for triple chocolate cabernet cookies.  Um, yeah, you may wanna try that also.  Or eat all of the batter.  Whatever creams your Twinkie.

I knew I had a window of time to make these because my little Prince Charming was conked out and strapped to my chest.

Anyhoo, I didn’t have the frangelico on hand and had all of the other ingredients. My lack of patience and need for instant gratification greatly outweigh the 3 Tablespoons of liquor.  I’ll just wash the truffles down with a glass of champagne and call it a night.  Done and done.

Here’s the recipe I used:

Ingredients

10 ounces semi chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate morsels)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped

Directions

In a double boiler, melt chocolate, butter, heavy cream and Nutella. Stir occasionally and melt until smooth.

Remove from chocolate mixture from heat and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. I did a load of laundry, washed baby bottles, and hit up Instagram.  Power multitasker right here ladies and gents. 

Whisk in vanilla.  Refrain from smushing your face into the bowl.  I seriously considered this until I thought of the chubby boy Agustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that fell into the chocolate river and ended up getting stuck in the tube.  Ya, not a good.  So I licked the bowl clean.  Focus Mindy, focus.    Pour mixture into a shallow dish.  I used an 8×8 round glass one. 

Cover with plastic wrap and pop it into the refrigerator for about 2 hours. If you refrigerate longer than two hours, the mixture will be too hard. If this happens, leave it on the counter for a little while until you can easily spoon some out.

While the chocolate is firming up, lightly toast your crushed hazelnuts.  I put mine in a small frying pan over medium heat until I smelled them. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small scoop (2 teaspoons) or a melon baller, scoop out chocolate, roll into balls, and place on the sheet.

Roll balls in chopped hazelnuts. Refrigerate truffles until ready to serve.

What are your favorite Valentine’s Day traditions?  Are you addicted to Nutella?  Help me please.

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