This brownie recipe uses Nutella and two other ingredients for a seriously fudgy dessert.
There are certain foods I like to pretend I keep around for my children. Nutella is one of them. My kids certainly do their part—they love anything involving chocolate and hazelnuts (their latest obsession is Kinder Bueno ice cream cones), but if we’re assigning responsibility for the ever-present jar of Nutella in our pantry, it belongs squarely to me.
Years ago, I worked in an office on a team with four other women. Birthdays were fairly low-key: We’d leave a favorite candy bar, Starbucks pastry or some other little treat on the birthday person’s desk. One year, I arrived at work on my birthday to find four jars of Nutella waiting for me. Apparently, whatever impression I’d thought I was giving my coworkers, “casual appreciation for chocolate-hazelnut spread” was not it.
It’s no wonder that this three-ingredient Nutella brownie recipe going around social media caught my eye. Here’s a weeknight dessert you’re going to want to add to your Nutella recipes.
What are 3-ingredient Nutella brownies?
The recipe is one 13-ounce jar of Nutella (about 1-1/4 cups), two large eggs and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. That’s it—no butter, additional sugar, sifted cocoa powder mess or melting chocolate over a double boiler. With Nutella making up most of the batter, I was especially curious about how much of its distinctive chocolate-hazelnut flavor would survive the oven.
How to Make Nutella Brownies
I preheated my oven to 350°F and greased an 8-inch square baking dish. Then I stirred together the Nutella, eggs and flour until the batter was smooth and spread it evenly into the pan. Mine were ready after 22 minutes, though I’d start checking around the 20-minute mark since oven temperatures vary; anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes is a good window. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.
That’s genuinely all there is to it. Using the entire jar of Nutella even eliminates most of the measuring, so getting them into the oven took about three minutes.
How do they taste?
I knew there was a decent chance I’d like these, but I was surprised by just how good they were. The brownies were intensely chocolaty and wonderfully fudgy, with a rich, gooey center and just enough hazelnut flavor to distinguish them from a traditional chocolate brownie. In fact, I’d take these over any brownies I’ve ever made from a box, and they require arguably less effort.
From a culinary perspective, this recipe works because Nutella is unusually well-equipped for the job. A traditional brownie recipe needs some combination of chocolate or cocoa, plus sugar and fat. Nutella brings all three in one jar. The eggs give the batter moisture and structure, while just 1/2 cup of flour is enough to hold everything together without making the brownies cakey. It’s a very short ingredient list, but nothing important is being asked to sit this one out.
Of course, you can add more than three ingredients, like peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, chopped hazelnuts or a little flaky sea salt. I’d also love to cut a batch into chunks and fold them into chocolate chip cookie dough for brownie cookies.
If you try this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments below!
