Recipe

Nutella Shortbread Brownies

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Photo by Brandon Carl

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Holiday Confection
gingerroot's Testing Notes: The Yellow Table’s Nutella Shortbread Brownies are as decadent as they are delicious. This is an example of the-best-of-both-worlds kind of confection. It's hard to go wrong pairing a dark...
The Yellow Table’s Nutella Shortbread Brownies are as decadent as they are delicious. This is an example of the-best-of-both-worlds kind of confection. It's hard to go wrong pairing a dark chocolate hazelnut brownie with salted butter shortbread—the result is a rich amalgam that starts out chewy chocolaty, sings of hazelnut in the middle, and ends with a crisp toffee like cookie. One note: I could not find vanilla in the ingredient list but the teaspoon I added was sufficient. Be sure to use a sharp knife when cutting to ensure that stubborn hazelnuts slice in half – otherwise you can lose a whole chunk out of the next brownie.

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Chef
The Yellow Table's Notes: These sinfully rich little confections were inspired by a recipe I found years ago on Epicurious.com for Fudgy Brownie Bars. I've made this for years, with the addition of Nutella, vanilla...
These sinfully rich little confections were inspired by a recipe I found years ago on Epicurious.com for Fudgy Brownie Bars. I've made this for years, with the addition of Nutella, vanilla, and whole hazelnuts to the batter, and for the shortbread base I use salted butter to give a sweet-salty contrast. These are always the first thing to go at holiday parties!

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Makes 24 brownies

Salted Butter Shortbread:

2 cups flour Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup light brown sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 teaspoon salt Ask a question about this ingredient

12 tablespoons salted butter, cut into small pieces Ask a question about this ingredient

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is full of pea-sized lumps.
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Sprinkle the mixture into a 13"x9"x2" baking pan and press the mixture evenly into the pan with your hands (or a metal spatula).
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Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before adding the brownie layer.
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Hazelnut Nutella Brownies :

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter Ask a question about this ingredient

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate Ask a question about this ingredient

1 cup sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

4 eggs Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon vanilla Ask a question about this ingredient

1/4 cup Nutella Ask a question about this ingredient

3/4 cups flour Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 teaspoon salt Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup whole roasted hazelnuts, skins removed Ask a question about this ingredient

Keep the oven preset at 350°F. Melt the butter and the chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
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Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat well with electric beaters (or a whisk). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla and the Nutella and continue beating.
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Stir in the flour and the salt, until no streaks remain. Stir in the hazelnuts. Pour the mixture over the shortbread base and smooth the surface with a spatula.
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Bake on the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes or until a tester comes out with moist crumbs attached. (The middle may crack a bit–this is normal.) Cool completely before slicing. Cut into 24 bars and keep in an airtight container at room temperature (or freeze).
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15 Comments on Nutella Shortbread Brownies

RoundLake Cook added 6 months ago

I am about to make my second batch of these brownies. They are crazy good!

wssmom added 6 months ago

Really really nice, congratulations on the CP. My son has a severe peanut/nut allergy, so I will be trying a nut-free version ....

Ms. T added 6 months ago

YUM! I would kill for some right now. Congrats on the CP :)

gingerroot added 6 months ago

Hi! I tested these this weekend and noticed you don't have vanilla listed in your ingredient list. I emailed you through the site but maybe it did not go through. I ended up adding 1 t. They were delicious!

The Yellow Table added 5 months ago

Hi! I never got your email (and I'm not on this site much so I didn't see your comment until now!) Thanks for testing these–I just added 1 tsp vanilla to the ingredient list. That is exactly how much I normally use, so thanks for noticing it was missing!

RoundLake Cook added 6 months ago

I made these for a bake sale on Saturday and they were gone in a flash! Wish I had made 2 pans! Thanks!

The Yellow Table added 6 months ago

Wow that's great! This is one of my all-time favorite holiday baked goods!

The Yellow Table added 7 months ago

Thanks for all the comments :) These are pretty yummy I must say, but dangerous to keep in the house!!!

AntoniaJames added 7 months ago

Oh, this is too funny. Brilliant minds obviously think alike! I make something similar, using a bit of salted peanut butter in the shortbread, and putting a layer of Reese's peanut butter cups (leftover from Halloween) between the shortbread and the brownie . . . . and a gingerbread variation, too, with lemon and anise in the shortbread. Not sure if I'll have time to post those recipes, given everything else going on right now. Love the nutella and hazelnuts, though!! ;o)

Niknud added 7 months ago

Oh, please post them! If not this week, later. BTW, apologies for the somewhat sappy message last night but it was late and I had had a really wretched day (I'll post about my Emergency Room Roast Duck later) and it just seemed like the only good thing that had happened that day! Your message really helped cheer me up!