Nutella Pretzel Brownies

I think you guys have gotten to know me pretty well over the last couple of years, but there are some things about me that I haven’t shared that I thought you should know. First, though, you know I love the Hubster and the kiddo and our little Lokmeister like there’s no tomorrow. I love to bake. And cook. Obvs. I love DIY projects, crafts, and sewing.

You know that for every girly-girl, glam thing that I love, I have an equal and opposite geektastic obsession (sure, I own a bazillion frilly dresses and more nail polish than I know what to do with, but I also watch reruns of Battlestar Galactica while I craft a new Harry Potter shirt for myself). One of my favorite things to do is to combine those two sides of myself to create happy girl-geek joy, like my glittery TARDIS phone case.

I’m utterly petrified by spiders, and if you think you have an idea of how much they scare me, multiply it by 100 and you have the tip of the iceberg.

I’m certain that there will be a zombie apocalypse, and I spend my spare time preparing for it. And educating myself on vampires. You know, just in case. But not ghosts. Believing in ghosts would just be silly.

Now, what you probably don’t know about me is that, believe it or not, I’m shy. When it comes to meeting new people, I’m not so good at it. If you ever meet me, I may ramble on and on, giving off the perception that I’m a regular social butterfly, but the truth is, my rambling is less of a social reaction, and more of nervous response. Please accept my apologies in advance.

I’m a clutz. I’m not clumsy…like tripping and falling and stuff, but my elbows tend to hurt the ones I love, and I regularly singe the ends of my hair in various ways.

Like last night. I was cooking dinner, and I leaned over to grab the salt grinder, and totally singed a good inch off of the end of my hair. Admittedly, I have a few things working against me here: I’m short. I have very long hair. I cook on a gas stove. But the fact of the matter is, I feel like I’m cooking in Julia Childs kitchen. All of the countertops and the stove are a good few inches higher than in an average kitchen. I told my friend that I would have to start cooking with my hair in a ponytail at all times, to keep from setting my head on fire, and she said, “Or you could wear some tall, sexy high heels.” Frankly, I like her idea better. Plus, it has the added benefit of making the rest of the kitchen normal height for me.

One good thing about my giant person’s kitchen? It’s easy to see when my brownies are ready to come out of the oven.

Now, today, me and my dangerous elbows are off to our first class of Zumba. Wish us luck. Just don’t tell the instructor that I hid one of these brownies in my bag.

What? I’m working out, aren’t I? I deserve a treat.

One of my very favorite snacks is pretzels dipped in yummy nutella. I tell myself it’s healthy. Don’t tell me it’s not…I need my little illusions.

One day, while munching away at a particularly good nutella covered pretzel, I was struck with inspiration… How delicious would these two simple ingredients be if I added them to brownies?!

I know.

For the crust of these brownies, I used the pecan crust from my German chocolate brownies as a guide. I just replaced the pecans with pretzels (I prefer Butter Snaps, because they add a bit more savory flavor than just plain pretzels), kept the butter and brown sugar, and followed the same directions.

Once everything is mixed up, just press the pretzel mixture firmly into a lightly greased pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the crust feels firm.

I used my favorite brownie recipe, which only consists of all-purpose flour, sugar, unsalted butter, eggs, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract, then I added some Nutella Hazelnut Spread. Easy peasy.

Once the brownies were done, I let them cool for about 45 minutes, then I frosted them with plenty of nutella, and used more pretzels for decorating. I like frosting them while they’re still a little warm, because it melts the nutella slightly, making it easier to spread.

This is one of those recipes that I knew I was going to love from the very beginning. It has three of my favorite things: brownies, nutella, and pretzels. There’s no way it can go wrong!

I love the way the addition of the nutella to the brownies gives them an even fudgier yumminess, and the sweet and salty combo is as good as ever. These are easy to make, and super easy to eat. If you need a unique, delicious snack to share, you can’t go wrong with this one. Enjoy!

Nutella Pretzel Brownies [Printable Version]
Makes 1 8×8-inch batch

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups pretzels
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE BROWNIES
1/2 cup (50 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup nutella hazelnut spread

More Nutella spread for frosting the brownies
Extra pretzels for garnishing

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Place the pretzels in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until broken up into tiny pieces. Add the sugar and pulse until combined, then pour in the butter. Continue pulsing until combined.

Press the pretzel mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the crust feels firm.

While the crust is baking, make the brownies: In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sugar until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and Nutella.

Whisk in the dry ingredients until combined and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it. Allow brownies to cool for at least 45 minutes before frosting with nutella spread and garnishing with pretzels.

Recipe by Darla

Tagged as: Brownies, Chocolate, Nutella, Nutella Brownies, Nutella Pretzel Brownies, Pretzels, Recipes