Nutella Shortbread Bars

So why not shortbread?

I remember the first time I ever tried Nutella. My parents had gone to Germany, and they first had it during their trip. They thought they had discovered the best thing in the world. They came home with a case full of the stuff. My sisters and I tried it and loved it too. And then a few days later, we discovered we could buy it in the grocery store…

I recently made these bars because we were having a couple friends over to watch the Atlanta United game. And it turns out one of them had never had Nutella before!! She has now been turned to the dark side 😊

The bars are actually very easy to make. Ingredient-wise, they contain items that most bakers will already have in the pantry, with the exception of Nutella. Needed items include: butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, salt, flour, Nutella, and powedered sugar I use the term "Nutella", because that's the brand everyone knows. But really, you can use any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread. I used the Publix brand because it was a little cheaper, and I honestly can't tell a difference in the taste between legitimate Nutella or the off-brand.

Here’s what you need to do:
In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. It is best to do this with a stand mixer, but a handheld electric mixer will work too. It’ll just work your arms more when the dough gets thicker later. Next, add in the vanilla and salt, and mix again until everything is mixed together well.

Finally, we need to add the flour. I highly recommend adding the flour slowly, and mixing between each addition. If you add all the flour at once and turn the mixer on, you will have flour flying out everywhere - trust me, I’ve done it. It’s not a fun mess to clean up. And then you have to try to estimate how much flour actually stayed in the bowl to determine how much more to add again. Not worth the effort. So, for the flour, measure out the amount needed and put it in a separate bowl. Then, I like to use a ¼ cup and add in a scoop at a time, mixing after each addition, until I have added it all. This vastly cuts down on the mess.

Once all the flour is added, the dough will be thick and a little crumbly. Next, divide the dough in half. We will use one half to create the bottom of the bars, and the remaining half will be saved for later to create the crumble topping. Press one half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. Place the remaining half in the fridge for later.

Bake the bars at 325°F for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown. Take the pan out of the oven. Next, it’s time to spread the Nutella. You need about 20 ounces of Nutella. It doesn’t have to be exact. The Publix brand chocolate hazelnut spread comes in a 13 ounce jar, and I used a jar and a half. You can add more or less, depending on your preferences. Spread your desired amount of Nutella onto the partially-baked bars.

Next, we need the remaining dough from the fridge. We want to crumble the rest of the dough on top of the Nutella layer. To do this, I grabbed a chunk of dough, and just pinched off pieces and spaced them around on top of the Nutella. Try to get as much coverage of the Nutella as possible, because the shortbread does not spread much when it's baked.

The fully assembled bars need to bake for another 30 minutes, or until the crumble topping turns a golden brown color. Let the shortbread cool completely. Finally, just before cutting into bars, lightly sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.