Nutella

Nutella is the best thing since sliced bread. Nutella on sliced bread is indescribable.
Unfortunately, the store-bought kind is less than 13% nuts. I don't mean to bash Nutella, but really, Ferrero? It's supposed to be a hazelnut spread. The first two ingredients are sugar and palm oil.
But it's just. So. Good.
I resolved to find a recipe for homemade Nutella. The moment I got my hands on some hazelnuts and almonds, I began.

Nutella (from worldplates.wordpress.com)
Makes about 10 ounces, which isn't as much as you might think.

Ingredients:


3/4 cups whole raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup whole raw almonds
1/3 cup powdered sugar

How can something so delicious have so few ingredients?

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil, chocolate milk, or Aunt Mona's Fudge Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread hazelnuts on one side of a baking pan and almonds on the other.

Toast for 12-15 minutes; until the hazelnut skins are almost black and you can smell the nuts. Stir nuts several times during toasting, keeping separate.

Allow nuts to cool on baking pan.

Sandwich hazelnuts in a clean dishtowel and rub off skins.

Remove as many remaining skins as you can with you fingers. Some skins will be embedded on the nut, and that's fine. Just be sure to get the majority.

Process nuts in a food processor until they turn into a nut butter. They go from a fine meal to the butter stage very quickly, so be sure to watch them.

The nuts can touch now.

Add sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla and whirl until combined.

If mixture forms a ball around the blade or seems otherwise too thick, add a little of your liquid of choice. (Use chocolate milk or fudge sauce for a more chocolately spread; use oil for a more nutty spread.) Don't thin it up too much, though.

Store in fridge for up to 2 months.


This spread is addicting. I've put it on graham crackers, bread, and I may have dipped a spoon in there once or twice. Don't judge me.

How can you resist something so delicious-looking?

It tastes like hazelnuts with a hint (well, more than a hint) of chocolate. I used oil, but it would be more chocolaty with chocolate milk or fudge sauce. I didn't think of using the chocolate milk/sauce until after I made it. My brain can be annoying like that.
By my calculations, this spread is 80% nuts. 60% of the spread is hazelnuts alone. Take THAT, Ferrero! The texture is a little grainy because the food processor couldn't quite break down the nuts completely, but I'm sure that if you run it for a bit it would be smoother. Despite that, everyone in my family loved my homemade Nutella. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before my brothers start putting it into their cereal instead of peanut butter...

P.S. My mom and I just got a new ice cream maker. And my brother is getting his wisdom teeth out soon... That means LOTS of ice cream! Yay!

Coconut Macaroons

Something very sad has happened in the blogger world. Kari, from Newlyweds on a Budget, was hit by a drunk driver, who then fled the scene. Thankfully, she was found and taken to the hospital and will recover, although she has many broken bones. Vanessa, from Our Thrifty Ideas, has started a collection to help with Kari's medical bills. If you'd like to help out, click here. Thank you for helping out!




The other day, my mom and I were at Fresh Market. The reason why I love going there is because they always have some sort of yummy sample.
That day, it was coconut macaroons.
I tasted one and thought, "Oh. My. God. These are amazing." It was a life-changing experience, an explosion of coconut flavor. My mom saw the expression on my face and said, "Haven't you had a coconut macaroon before?" I was shocked at her implication that coconut macaroons weren't that special. Immediately, I resolved to make amazing coconut macaroons at home.
I consulted The Joy of Cooking and found, to my delight, that they have a recipe for coconut macaroons. As soon as I got my hands on some sweetened coconut, I began.

Coconut Macaroons (From The Joy of Cooking):
Makes 18-24 macaroons


Ingredients:


2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg white
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt
3-1/2 cups flaked or shredded sweetened coconut (If you only have unsweetened, throw some sugar in with the coconut)

Instructions:


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix milk, egg white, vanilla, and salt until combined.

Add coconut and mix until blended.

At first, I misread the recipe as 2/3 cup coconut.

Because there's nothing better than coconut coated in sweetened condensed milk.

Drop dough by scant tablespoonfuls (or normal tablespoonfuls) onto two parchment-covered cookie sheets.

It's very difficult to get a scant tablespoonful of a mixture this thick.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until browned, 19-25 minutes.

Allow to cool and store at room temperature for up to 1 day or freeze.

These were just as good, if not better, than the ones at Fresh Market. One caveat, though: The macaroons get slightly soggy and the flavor of the condensed milk intensifies the longer they sit out. Either freeze them or eat them right away (it shouldn't be hard). However, when less than a day old, the balance between coconut and condensed milk is perfect. The macaroons are perfect alone, but for a really decadent treat, drizzle them with Aunt Mona's Fudge Sauce.
Stay tuned for a special Fourth of July post!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream

When browsing the library the other day, I found a book called The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book. My brothers love peanut butter (so do I, but I don't put it in my cereal. They do.) I paged through it and honed in on the recipe for peanut butter ice cream. Yes, peanut butter ice cream. I decided to swirl in Aunt Mona's Hot Fudge Sauce for a chocolate kick.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream:




Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1-1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
Aunt Mona's Fudge Sauce (Not pictured. Sorry.)

Instructions:


Beat both sugars, eggs, and yolks with electric mixer at medium speed until thick and yellow.

Set aside. Heat milk over medium heat in a medium saucepan on a medium burner until small bubbles pop up around edges.

Beat half the hot milk into egg mixture on medium speed, then beat that mixture into the remaining milk in the saucepan.

Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until a thin layer of the custard coats the back of a spoon and holds its shape when you run a finger through it.

Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter.

Strain through a fine sieve to catch any bits of scrambled egg.

Stir in heavy cream, vanilla, and salt.

Cover and place mixture in fridge to chill for at least four hours or overnight.

If you want the chocolate to be fully incorporated, stir in fudge sauce and freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Otherwise, scoop half the finished ice cream into a container, scoop the rest on top, and pour more sauce over it.

This ice cream tastes like Ming's Peanut Butter Frosting, but in ice cream form and with the added benefit of chocolate. The peanut butter part is very sweet and balances perfectly with the chocolate. It's very creamy compared to other ice creams made in our ice cream maker, although it does harden up when kept in the freezer for an extended period of time. (But then, all ice creams do.)

For once, the emphasis wasn't on the "ice".

If you want a more defined peanut butter taste, reduce the sugar a little. Be sure to whisk the peanut butter in very well, because I wound up with a thick peanut butter/cream mixture on the bottom of the strainer. I scraped it in, and it turned out fine. The fudge doesn't freeze solid, as I feared it would. It has pretty much the same texture as the ice cream itself. All in all, this was a delicious use of peanut butter. (So much better than putting it in cereal. Really, brothers?)

Vegan Banana-Chocolate Soft Serve

My mom first found this recipe on Pintrest, one of the greatest sites ever made. She said we should make it, but we didn't have an opportunity until I learned that one of my friends on the sailing team was allergic to dairy. I can't imagine living without dairy, without ice cream, chocolate, or milk. Since he loves bananas, I decided to make this for him with my Aunt Mona's hot fudge sauce swirled in. I had to modify it, since we don't own half the extracts originally required (butter, almond, and maple) or agave nectar.

Vegan Banana-Chocolate Soft Serve (adapted from sheknows.com):


Ingredients:


5 bananas, cut into small pieces and frozen
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar

Being an idiot, I didn't slice the bananas before freezing them.

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (optional)
2 tablespoons sprinkles (optional)
As much of Aunt Mona's Hot Fudge Sauce (made with oil) as you want


Instructions:


Put banana chunks into a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides if necessary.

Starting to blend...

A little more...

Almost there...

Perfect!

Add vanilla extract, sugar, and baking soda and pulse until well combined.

The whirlpool of vanilla death!

Add sprinkles (if using) and pulse until distributed evenly. Scoop half into a bowl or container and drizzle fudge sauce over top.

Add other half, pour sauce over top, and swirl with a spoon or spatula.

When I first heard about this, I was positive that it would be terrible. It seemed way too easy–just whirl frozen bananas in a food processor and you get soft serve?
Well, guess what? I was wrong. Yes, it's easy, but no, it isn't terrible. It's actually really good! It tastes very banana-y, being composed mostly of bananas, but if you like bananas and chocolate, it's great. The bittersweet fudge sauce is the perfect complement to the sweet bananas. Don't keep it in the freezer too long, though, or it won't be soft serve anymore. It'll still be delicious, though. The whole sailing team liked it, as did my family.
A perfect guilt-free summer treat!