What your parents are nutella’n you about

As a kid, I grew up in a modest household. We didn’t drive fancy cars or have the latest fashionable clothing. We didn’t go on extravagant vacation destinations. But we did have all the Little Debbie® snacks you could think of in our pantry! But no name brand sodas. But we had Blue Bell ice cream! …But no Nutella®. I know what you’re thinking: “Wait. What? How could you be deprived of that delicious hazelnut spread?!” Well, it’s simple. If my parents had given us everything we wanted (or in this case, stuff I didn’t even know I wanted!) then we would’ve grown up spoiled. So it was a give-and-take, carefully-plotted, and purposefully-chosen method they adopted to determine which junk food we were allowed to eat so that we didn’t turn out that way. Or at least that’s how I’m choosing to rationalize it to myself…

A few weeks ago, I was making my normal s-shaped route (or figure-8s or whatever you want to call them) through my local HEB…going up and down every single aisle to see what catches my eye…and I see Nutella. What heck is this? I read the label: Hazelnut Spread with Skim Milk and Cocoa. Mmmm! Every morning I get a hazelnut-vanilla coffee, so I know I love hazelnut flavoring. Skim is my preferred fat percentage of the milk family! And cocoa? Don’t get me started on my soon-to-be-lethal addiction to chocolate. So I bought the smaller size jar and tried it that night on some bread. Just bread and Nutella became dessert! I was in love with a hazelnut spread that had a super weird name and it’s been a happily-ever-after story since.

So with that intro, I feel like I need to kick off a new mini-series to The Runner’s Blotter; one dedicated to finding and exposing Nutella recipes! Or just showing you all the easy stuff you can do with it. I had a great experiment tonight, but I’ll save that revealing piece for a later date. Trust me, you’ll want to make this cookie recipe so you can see for yourself how awesome the result is!

To start this puppy off, I’ll keep it simple and easy. I expanded on the bread and Nutella dessert to make it a meal. I chose some great Mrs. Bairds wheat bread to be bearer of (good news!) spreadable wonderfulness: organic crunchy peanut butter on one side and Nutella on the other:

PB&N Sandwich

If you love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Reese’s Pieces, Peanut Butter M&Ms, Twix PB, then you’ll love this modern twist on the old-school PB&J. Look at how empty the rest of that plate is! No worries--this wasn’t my entire meal. I also had a granola bar. Guess what I did with the granola bar? Yup…I dipped it in the Nutella!

Nutella-dipped granola bar

If you’re wondering, the answer is yes. Yes, I had a huge glass of milk accompany my Nutella quest for the night. And yes, this was an awesome dinner that I was thoroughly pleased with after finishing! I had a protein shake as well, for those of you wondering if I starve myself! haha

My mind started racing. I wanted to concoct other more-elaborate uses for this hazelnutty goodness! So I started to make a list, with the help of some others, and I plan on making everything on it! Lots of people have known about this almost-50 year old product for years. Many of them will admit they’ll just grab a spoon and eat it right out of the jar sometimes like it’s frosting or ice cream! That’s how tasty it is. So for those of you who grew up in a household like mine, put Nutella on your next shopping list. You won’t regret it.