Naughty But Nice Recipes To Try This World Nutella Day

It might not be circled in everyone’s calendar, but for devotees of a certain chocolate spread, February 5th is definitely a memorable date - it’s World Nutella Day! This nutty celebration was first created by a food blogger in 2007 and was soon adopted by Nutella fans all around the world. World Nutella Day is all about rejoicing the world’s most popular hazelnut chocolate spread by being as creative as possible. Fans share Nutella-themed memories, take pictures of themselves eating Nutella in all sorts of weird and wonderful locations, create art from Nutella jars and even write songs and poems dedicated to their beloved spread!

It’ll be to no one’s surprise that the most popular way to celebrate World Nutella Day is to trade recipes featuring Nutella as the main flavour. Keen to get in on the festivities, we’ve put together a line-up of our favourite scrummy Nutella recipes for you to try this year. Whether you’re crazy about cookies or mad about milkshakes, one thing’s for certain: if you love this naughty but nice spread, you won’t be disappointed!

Okay, so these recipes may not be the healthiest around, but isn’t that what makes them so delicious? Just this once, listen to the devil on your shoulder, give in to temptation, and check out these sweet ‘n scrumptious recipes. After all, World Nutella Day is only one day of the year - and calories don’t count on special occasions, right? 

Regardless of whether you’re looking to indulge in a treat that’s specially made for you, get baking with the little ones or surprise your friends with a care package of goodies delivered to their door (socially distanced, naturally), carry on reading and get ready to spread the love!

Our first recipe is a steadfast favourite among Nutella fans and a regular sight in coffee shops and bakeries around the world: Nutella cookies. These mind-blowing biccies take the chocolate chip cookies that we’re all familiar with and give them a gooey, delectable centre of molten Nutella. 

The first step is to scoop your heaped teaspoons of Nutella onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and pop the whole thing straight into the freezer until solid. This should take between 30 and 60 minutes. In order to prepare your cookie dough, preheat your oven to 190°C/374°F and beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Now it's time to add the egg (without any shell, if you think you’ve got the skills!) and the vanilla extract, and beat the mixture thoroughly again until smooth and silky.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cornflour together. While stirring, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients from the step before. Once all of the ingredients are mixed together well, line two to three large baking trays with more parchment paper and withdraw your now frozen Nutella from the freezer. Scoop out a portion of your freshly made dough in a cookie scoop, but don’t place it onto the lined baking trays just yet - it’s time to get messy! 

As you scoop each cookie, flatten the dough slightly so it forms a depression, then add a lump of frozen Nutella into the space. Using your fingers, pinch the cookie dough around the Nutella until it’s completely covered and you’re left with a ball of cookie dough ready for baking! Place onto a baking tray and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Try to leave a generous gap between each ball of cookie dough, as they may expand during baking.

One your trays are packed with doughy-Nutella deliciousness, put them in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden. If you’re dead set on a gooey gourmet centre, take them out of the oven a minute or so before you think they’re done. As tempting as it may be to tuck right in, remember to wait for these delicious Nutella cookies to cool before taking a bite - that molten chocolate spread will be tongue-sizzlingly hot straight out of the oven!

If you need a quick fix of nutty goodness, the Nutella Milkshake is the top choice! This refreshing, creamy and indulgent milkshake is made from only a few ingredients and can be prepared almost instantly. All you need to do is pour the Nutella, ice cream, milk and sweetened condensed milk into a blender and process until all the ingredients are combined and creamy. All that’s left is to pour your Nutella Milkshake into a tall glass and drink while it’s still cool. 

You can also sprinkle or drizzle some extra ingredients over the top if you really want to up your milkshake game! A dollop of whipped cream, a dash of chocolate syrup and a dusting of crumbled hazelnuts will work wonderfully.

Brownies are a favourite of bake sales and school culinary classes everywhere, thanks to their succulently chewy texture and easily shareable nature (not that we’d ever share ours!). Nutella brownies combine all the best bits of these popular baked bites, with an oh-so irresistible twist of hazelnut that makes them seriously moreish!

Just like the goo-filled cookies we described earlier, you’ll want to begin by heating your oven to 177°C and line the bottom and sides of a baking tray with parchment paper. This tray must have raised edges or your brownie mixture will leak out of the sides (and there’s nothing worse than good chocolate - or any chocolate for that matter - going to waste!). If you’re not sure which trays to go for, grab yourself some specially made brownie tins.

Next, you’ll need to beat the butter on high speed in a bowl for about one minute. A stand mixer is the perfect tool for this task, although you can use a hand mixer instead if you’re keen to save space in your kitchen. Either way, you’ll need to fit your mixer with the paddle attachment to properly beat the butter. Once the butter is smooth and creamy, add the brown sugar and beat on high speed for another one to two minutes until the mixture is well combined, using a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed. 

Now it's time to switch your mixer down low so that you can add the eggs and vanilla extract (unless you want to spend the next week cleaning your kitchen ceiling!). Once the eggs ‘n extract are in the bowl, you can whack your mixer up to medium-high again to combine all the ingredients together. Once your ingredients are all mixed up, add 300g of Nutella and half a teaspoon of salt, then beat once again on medium-high until your mixture is smooth and fluffy.

Reduce the mixer’s speed back down to the low setting and slowly add the flour until it’s just combined. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend sifting the flour first to ensure you’re not left with any powdery lumps in your baked goods. If you over-mix at this stage, you’ll end up with brownies that are tough rather than chewy, so be careful not to overdo it! If your mixer is a little on the unruly side, it might be better to mix with a wooden spoon at this stage.

We’re almost done! Now, it's just a matter of transferring the batter into your baking tray, dipping the remaining Nutella over the top of the mix and popping the whole thing in the oven to bake for 32 to 36 minutes. You can check if it's done by stabbing the mixture with a toothpick. If a few moist crumbs are all that covers the toothpick, your brownies are ready to serve! Cool on a wire rack, cut them into squares (or just dig straight in!) and enjoy on their own or with a handful of raspberries.

If you can somehow restrain yourself from guzzling them all in one go, you can keep the remaining brownies for three to four days in an airtight container in the fridge. You can even freeze them for up to three months for when those chocolate cravings creep up on you! Just defrost them overnight in a fridge and allow them to come up to room temperature before tucking in.

Take the taste of freshly made Nutella brownies, combine it with the easy prep of a Nutella milkshake and what do you get? The splendiferous Nutella mug cake! This recipe creates a tasty treat for one person and you can whip it up in no time in your microwave!

Gently whisk the egg in a large microwaveable mug, add your gooey Nutella and continue whisking until they form a sticky mixture. Then add the flour and mix until you’re left with a smooth batter. After this, your Nutella mug cake is almost done! All you need to do is blitz it in the microwave anywhere between 45 seconds and a minute, depending on your microwave’s power. Be sure to keep an eye on the Nutella mug cake while it's cooking so it doesn’t overflow or overcook. Once it's set and firm on top, your cup of goodness is done! Let it cool for a few minutes and dig straight in with a spoon.

Our final choice for World Nutella Day isn’t typically regarded as a recipe that can stand alone, though we beg to differ! Instead, it’s more commonly used as a flavour-packed topping for other bakes. Experienced bakers probably know what we’re talking about already (and are salivating as they think of the possibilities), but for all those that are still unsure, we’re referring to Nutella buttercream!

First things first, cut the butter into cubes (make sure it’s at room temperature first) and beat it with a hand mixer until it’s soft. Slowly add the icing sugar and beat it with the mixer until it’s fully combined. To avoid mess, add the sugar a spoonful at a time and keep the mixer on its lowest setting. To finish off your buttercream, add all of the Nutella and beat until you’re left with a smooth, velvety and devilishly delicious mixture.

That sums up some of our favourite Nutella recipes, but if you’re looking for more ways to use this most versatile of spreads, make sure to browse through our range of cookbooks! Nutella is such a popular ingredient that many cookbooks, particularly ones focused on desserts, include at least one recipe that contains it. This nutty spread is such a favourite among bakers that there are even some cookbooks that are entirely devoted to it, like The Ultimate Nutella Cookbook, which would make a great gift to any Nutella fiend.

All that’s left to do now is wish you a very happy (and oh-so indulgent) World Nutella Day and, whatever delicious recipe you try, we hope your day is as sweet as the spread itself!