Nutella Swirl Brownies

This has been a pretty tough winter so far, hasn't it? And worse for some parts of the country than others!

After our stellar beginning with our October 4th&5th blizzard (go here if you don't remember that storm!), we've been pretty normal. Cold, snowy, and windy.

But who wants winter to end when you can snuggle next to the fire (or your heater, or your furry friend) with Nutella Swirl Brownies?

Oh yeah, let's go there!

This recipe came to our house through my daughter's friend, Mia, who lives in Norway. Mia is great. We got to know her this summer when she stopped by to meet Carrie in person (they're internet friends), and toured our part of the States.

Believe it or not, she loves chocolate as much as we do!

She sent this recipe to Carrie, who promptly made a batch. Or two. Or three. Maybe more.

These brownies are fabulous!

Nutella Swirl Brownies

You start with the brownie recipe on the back of the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate.

(By the way, did you know that the man who started the Baker's Chocolate company was named Baker, and that's how the company got it's name? I always thought it was because they made chocolate for bakers.)

Ingredients: 

4 ounces Bakers unsweetened chocolate (that's a whole box)
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Nutella (that's about half of a 13 ounce jar)

That may seem like a lot of sugar, but remember: you're using unsweetened chocolate.

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Break the chocolate into small squares. In a large bowl, heat the butter and chocolate together in the microwave until the butter is melted. Stir until they're well combined and all the chocolate is melted. You may need to heat the butter a bit more to make sure it's done.

Add two cups sugar, and stir well.

Add the eggs and vanilla, and stir again. In fact, don't stir - beat that batter so those eggs are completely incorporated into the batter.

And then add the flour and stir until it's all smooth, chocolaty goodness :)

Pour it into a 9"x13" baking dish. I like to line mine with parchment paper. It seems awkward at first, but when it comes to getting the brownies out of the pan, it's heaven!

Now, open the jar of Nutella.

What? You already opened it? The jar is half empty?

 /Jan shakes her head./

Well then, take as much Nutella as you have - up to 1/2 cup - and drop it by tablespoonfuls on top of your brownie batter.

By the way, you don't have to use Nutella. Peanut butter is delicious! Or cream cheese! Or - wait for it - make cheese cake batter and use some of it to swirl in your brownies!

Oooh, oooh! Or marshmallow cream! How decadent is that?

Take a knife, and swirl that Nutella (or whatever decadent ingredient you've chosen) into the batter.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes, or until done. Either stick a knife or toothpick in the middle (if it comes out clean, the brownies are done), or use the touch test (lightly touch the top of the brownies with your finger - if the top springs back, they're done).

While we're waiting for the brownies to bake, let's talk about cowboys :)

It's time for the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo, and we have cowboys, cowboys, cowboys!

I wish I had more pictures to show you, but we'll try some of these....

Father and son cowboy boots.

This is the G Bar G Saddles booth in the vendor hall. This family
has been handcrafting saddles since 1965. You'll have to go
check out their website here. These are the real deal.

The vendor hall is fabulous. Saddles, boots, hats, furniture, gloves, western clothing (the real stuff, not the dude ranch bling), stock fencing, stock trailers, trucks....

...and the petting zoo, featuring Osama bin Llama.

And there is nowhere else you can go - except the county fair - where you see this:

Okay, I hear the timer ringing, so let's get those brownies out of the oven.

Now's the hard part - you have to let them cool. Thoroughly.

While we're waiting, we are NOT going to discuss football.

Okay. Remember how we lined the pan with baking parchment? Once your brownies are cool, just lift the parchment out of the pan and lay the brownies on a cutting board.

Isn't that nice and neat?

Next, cut the brownies and serve.

Everybody grab a glass of milk and dig in! I've saved a cozy spot for you right by the fire.