Nutella Brownies

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This Nutella Brownies recipe is built on my favorite and fool-proof Brownies recipe. My kids love the popular chocolate hazelnut spread and I always have jars of them in my pantry. Can you really go wrong with Nutella? I have yet to meet a person who does not like Nutella. I know one of my favorite simple guilty pleasures is strawberries dipped in Nutella. Try it sometime!

These homemade Nutella brownies are the answer to your sweet cravings and a delightful treat for any occasion. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just trying your hand at making brownies, this recipe is designed to be easy and oh-so-delicious. Grab your apron, preheat your oven, and get ready to create these Nutella brownies.

Outline of this article:

What is Nutella?

Nutella is a popular sweet and creamy hazelnut spread that is often used as a spread for bread, toast, or crackers, as well as a filling for pastries, pancakes, and crepes. It is known for its rich and chocolatey flavor, which comes from a combination of roasted hazelnuts, cocoa powder, sugar, and palm oil.

Nutella was created by an Italian company called Ferrero and was first introduced in the 1960s. Since then, it has become a beloved product worldwide and is used in a variety of desserts and snacks. In addition to its use as a spread, Nutella can also be used as an ingredient in baking and cooking, adding a deliciously nutty and chocolatey flavor to recipes.

Ingredients used to make Nutella Brownies

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
8 oz (a little over 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup Milk
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons Nutella or any other chocolate hazelnut/almond spread

Step by Step guide to make Nutella Brownies at home

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat milk in a saucepan till it’s very hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add sugar to the milk. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Leave it aside to cool till you prepare the other ingredients.
Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Mix flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a bigger bowl.
Add chocolate/butter mix, milk/sugar mix, and vanilla to the flour mix and combine with a large spoon but do not overmix. The brownie mix will be thicker than the usual cake batter.
Prepare an 8-inch square glass or metal dish with parchment paper and spread the mix evenly around with a spatula.
With a spoon place 6 dollops of Nutella evenly spaced on the brownie batter. Take the back of a spoon or a skewer and make swirls with the Nutella, trying to spread it around the brownie batter.
Bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Take it out of the oven and cool it completely in the baking dish (about 2 hours) before removing the parchment and cutting the brownies.

What you see in the image above:

Brownie batter dolloped with Nutella.
Nutella swirled in the brownie batter.

Recipe tips for making Nutella Brownies

Follow these tips to make the best version of this Nutella Brownies Recipe:

I use the microwave to melt the butter and chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure to heat it in increments of no more than 30-40 seconds at a time, stirring in between each time. This will ensure that the chocolate does not burn. Burnt chocolate is nasty! At the end when most of the chocolate has melted and only very small pieces remain, just stir and the heat will melt the rest.
Use good quality chocolate for the best results. I use semi-sweet chocolate but if you are a Dark chocolate lover, use that! But try and stay away from Milk chocolate for this recipe. If you are using a chocolate slab, using a serrated knife, cut the chocolate into small uniform pieces. This will ensure that they melt evenly in the microwave without burning.
Line the baking dish with parchment paper with an overhang. Lining it with parchment ensures that the brownies do not stick to the dish and the overhang helps in removing the brownies from the dish once cooled. I put a bit of oil at the bottom of the baking dish and it helps the parchment stick to the baking dish.
It is important to completely cool the brownies in the baking dish after they come out of the oven before removing the parchment and cutting the brownies. If you remove it sooner, the brownies will fall apart.
If you like a cakier texture for your brownies, you can add ¼ teaspoon baking powder to the recipe. The baking powder will give the brownies a slight rise and make them fluffier.

FAQs – Nutella Brownies recipe

How do you get crinkle top on these brownies?

I did a lot of research and experimentation to get crinkle top on fudgy eggless brownies. I had to modify my original recipe for this a bit. The sugar must be completely dissolved before the baking process to achieve this. Therefore, in the recipe we melt the sugar in hot milk before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. Do not skip this step and you will get a crinkly top!

How to cut perfect pieces of brownies?

To get neat pieces of brownies needs some patience. Once the brownies come out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for a couple of hours. I generally make brownies on days when I can bake them and then go run some errands so I am not eagerly waiting to cut into them. The best would be if you can leave it for 3-4 hours. Once completely cooled, remove the parchment from the pan. Use a sharp knife to make cuts. Clean the knife in between each cut.

Can this Nutella brownie recipe be made vegan?

Nutella is not considered vegan because it contains dairy in the form of skim milk powder. The ingredient list typically includes sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa solids, lecithin (an emulsifier), and vanillin (an artificial flavor), in addition to the skim milk powder. Since vegans do not consume any animal-derived products, including milk, Nutella is not considered suitable for a vegan diet.
Some companies may also produce vegan hazelnut spreads that do not contain dairy, so you might be able to find alternatives if you are looking for a vegan-friendly option. If you do find a vegan hazelnut-chocolate spread, you can make these brownies vegan. Just replace regular butter with vegan butter and make sure the chocolate you are using is vegan.

Other Nutella recipes to try

Eggless Mocha Nutella Cupcakes

Recipe Card – Nutella Brownies

Eggless Brownies swirled with chocolate hazelnut spread Nutella

Recipe by Divya Jhaveri

5 from 1 vote

Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup Unsalted butter (1 stick)
8 oz (a little over 1 cup) Semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Whole Milk
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Nutella or any other chocolate/hazelnut spread

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat milk in a saucepan till it’s very hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add sugar to the milk. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Leave it aside to cool till you prepare the other ingredients.
Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Mix flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a bigger bowl.
Add chocolate/butter mix, milk/sugar mix, and vanilla to the flour mix and combine with a large spoon but do not over-mix. The brownie mix will be thicker than the usual cake batter.
Prepare an 8-inch square glass or metal dish with parchment paper and spread the mix evenly around with a spatula.
With a spoon place 6 dollops of Nutella evenly spaced on the brownie batter. Take the back of a spoon or a skewer and make swirls with the Nutella, trying to spread it around the brownie batter.
Bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Take it out of the oven and cool it completely in the baking dish (about 2 hours) before removing the parchment and cutting the brownies.

Tips

I use the microwave to melt the butter and chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure to heat it in increments of no more than 30-40 seconds at a time, stirring in between each time. This will ensure that the chocolate does not burn. Burnt chocolate is nasty! At the end when most of the chocolate has melted and only very small pieces remain, just stir and the heat will melt the rest.
Use good quality chocolate for the best results. I use semi-sweet chocolate but if you are a Dark chocolate lover, use that! But try and stay away from Milk chocolate for this recipe. If you are using a chocolate slab, using a serrated knife, cut the chocolate into small uniform pieces. This will ensure that they melt evenly in the microwave without burning.
Line the baking dish with parchment paper with an overhang. Lining it with parchment ensures that the brownies do not stick to the dish and the overhang helps in removing the brownies from the dish once cooled. I put a bit of oil at the bottom of the baking dish and it helps the parchment stick to the baking dish.
It is important to completely cool the brownies in the baking dish after they come out of the oven before removing the parchment and cutting the brownies. If you remove it sooner, the brownies will fall apart.
If you like a cakier texture for your brownies, you can add ¼ teaspoon baking powder to the recipe. The baking powder will give the brownies a slight rise and make them fluffier.