Italian Dessert Week – Baci Brownies

Baci chocolates are one of my all-time favourite treats. Not only do I get a mouthful of a beloved flavour combination — chocolate and hazelnut — each candy comes with a little love note. How wonderfully Italian.

So when I saw the recipe for Baci Brownies in Lisa Zwirn’s Christmas Cookies: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday Season, I didn’t care that Halloween was still a month away. And when I read the recipe’s intro with her gelato-to-miles-walked ratio? Right then and there I knew she was my kind of foodie.

Yesterday, cheese lovers had their fill. Today, chocoholics will have to watch their caffeine and sugar intake. I’m sharing a decadent chocolate truffle cake for serious dark chocolate lovers only at Accidental Hedonist. And here? Lisa’s given me permission to post the recipe for her chewy, hazelnut-laced brownie.

This recipe is sure to please Nutella lovers and brownie fanatics alike. And if that isn’t enough, my sister, who diligently agreed to be part of my taste testing panel, says these are even better the next day. Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen…

Baci Brownies
Printable recipe

Makes 32 bars (or more)

Lisa writes: Touring around Italy many years ago, I figured that a few miles of daily walking warranted two gelatos a day. One of those was always the flavor called baci. Not only did baci sound romantic (it means “Kisses”), but the gelato paired the chocolate and hazelnut that I loved so much in the rich little candies of the same name. These fudgy brownies with a swirl of Nutella, the hazelnut-cocoa spread from Italy, plus a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts will have everyone wanting to kiss the cook.

Ingredients

• 1 cup hazelnuts (about 4 1/2 ounces)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Nutella swirl

• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with foil, making sure there’s at least a 2-inch overhang on both of the short sides. Gently press the foil into the corners. Butter the foil.
2. Place the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until lightly golden. Spill the nuts onto a dish towel and rub them with the towel to loosen and remove most of the skin. Transfer the nuts to a cutting board and chop coarsely.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
4. Melt the butter and chocolate in a large saucepan over very low heat, stirring often, until smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture until fully incorporated, then stir in one-third of the toasted hazelnuts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
5. For the Nutella Swirl: Combine the Nutella, egg and flour in a glass measuring cup and stir with a fork until thoroughly blended. Drop small spoonfuls of the Nutella mixture evenly over the brownie batter. Use a knife to gently swirl it through the batter.
6. Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts on top. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35 to 38 minutes or until the top is set and the edges have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don’t overbake or the edges will be dry. Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 2 hours.
7. Holding onto the two foil ends, lift the brownie up and onto a cutting board. Peel the foil away from the sides of the brownie. Cut lengthwise into quarters, then cut crosswise into 8 strips to yield 32 bars. Because these are so rich, you can also cut them into 10 or 12 strips to make 40 or 48 bars, respectively.
8. Store layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container for up to 4 days; or refrigerate, tightly wrapped for up to 1 week; or freeze for up to 2 months.

Brownie slicing tip: A thin-bladed knife dipped in hot water and then dried will make slicing the brownies easier. Wipe the knife clean of sticky, fudgy crumbs after each slice.