Nutella Brownies

As always, our trusty Nutella has never steered me wrong. I think, for me, anytime I see Nutella in the name of a recipe, I can almost instantly assume that it will be a hit. The original recipe calls for caramel and hazelnuts, which unfortunately I did not have on hand. I tossed around the idea of making my own caramel sauce, but just decided that was to be too much work, I forged ahead without. The results were just as lovely without, however, I feel there should be a way to work in a cream cheese swirl. Let me know if anybody figures out a way to work that in :)

Nutella Brownies (Inspired by bell'alimento at Tasty Kitchen)

½ cups All-purpose Flour
⅓ cups Cocoa Powder
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Sugar
½ stick Unsalted Butter
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
½ almond extract
¼ cups Nutella (1/4 cup Nutella, melted if desiredfor garnishing)
Nuts, if desired (I used pecans because thats what I had on hand) hazelnuts would be ideal though.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Into a mixing bowl, add your flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Using a whisk, mix together and set aside. Into your stand mixer or in a bowl using a hand mixed, add the sugar and butter; cream together. Add in eggs one at a time and mix well. Add in your vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually add in your flour mixture until it’s well combined. Batter should be thick and sticky.

Spray an 8"x*" ovenproof dish with cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper (slightly larger than your dish to allow for handles) inside. It will adhere to the bottom of the dish. Pour the batter in the prepared dish. Spoon the Nutella over the batter, and swirl throughout the batter using a spoon or a spatula. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until sides are firm and center is no longer giggly.

Allow brownies to cool completely before removing. Cut your brownies to your desired size using a serrated knife. Make a small indentation with your finger into each brownie. Take your melted Nutella and drizzle over the tops of the brownies. Garnish with the nuts.