Donut Chips

Aaaaaand to continue the theme of totally unhealthy and absurd desserts!  Yeah, I'm not stopping with chicken and waffles. I'm going straight up Paula Deen-style this week, minus the absurd amounts of butter. 

I've found myself sucked into the YouTube vortex way too often lately. Considering that all of my homework is done on the computer, procrastination is my absolute worst enemy. I can't even begin to count the amount of times I find myself sneaking in a study break and ending up far too deep into the vortex, usually watching some strange airplane crash documentary, this really creepy video of some Asian woman making cookies (seriously, what is going on in this video), or an episode of Telefrancais, despite the fact that the only words I know in French are food items. (If you have a favorite video I need to see immediately, throw it in the comments below!) 

Though YouTube is generally my procrastination tool of choice, there's also a huge food community that I'm way too obsessed with. There are SO many great accounts with a wealth of inspiration! I kiiinda want to start making baking vlogs; maybe one day! In the meantime, check out my favorite users: Sorted Food, Donal Skehan, Dulce Delight, Cupcake Jemma, and PopSugar Food. 

These donut chips come straight from the beautiful minds over at PopSugar Food. Think of these bad boys as America's version of the true Belgian Liege sugar waffles. Sure, a waffle is not a donut, but both have a sweet, yeasted dough base, so I think we can call them distant cousins. After a dusting of cinnamon sugar and a quick grill on the panini press, the glaze begins to caramelize into a crispy burnt sugar, just like the chunky Belgian pearl sugar in a liege waffle.

Seriously, these are the bomb and they couldn't be any simpler! Three steps and you're done. I used traditional glazed donuts to make these donut chips, but donut holes or any other flavored glazed yeasted donut should work. (Just make sure to stay away from cake donuts; I tried a few, but the crumb yielded a wonky texture.) The possibilities with these are endless. I covered them in Nutella and jam, but I'm already envisioning how great these would be with a giant scoop of ice cream. 

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Donut Chips 

• one dozen glazed donuts
• cinnamon sugar

Heat your panini press to 400F. 

Slice donuts in half, then coat in cinnamon sugar. Grill the donuts for about 30 seconds, until grill marks are present and the glaze begins to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let cool. The chips will crisp up as they cool. 

Serve with anything and everything, but I loved them slathered in Nutella and jam. 

Swirled White Chocolate + Nutella Brownies

Remember the White Chocolate Nutella that I totally fangirled over last week? Well, I hope so, because it was quite the moment. At first taste (smell & sight too), I knew that my spreadable concoction would become the base for many many delicious desserts. Immediately after making my homemade Nutella, I went to work with my stand mixer. I'm certain that there will be plenty of white chocolate hazelnut recipes in the future, but let's start with this one. If you're more of a regular Nutella fan, no fear! This recipe is the best of both world. Because there's nothing better than coupling white chocolate Nutella with straight up, regular Nutella. 

The swirled brownies came from one of my favorite recipes for fudgy and super moist Nutella brownies. This go around, I cut the recipe in half and mixed one bowl with regular Nutella and the other with my white chocolate version. Um, best decision ever? I think yes. 

These brownies are legit.  Like crazy delicious eat-the-whole-pan legit. For real —  these are a gift sent straight from the Nutella gods. I'm just imagining a group of Roman gods slowly churning away at a giant batch of Nutella. They'd be proud. For sure. 

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Nutella Batter

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 2 eggs 
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour

White Chocolate Batter

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/4 cup White Chocolate Nutella
• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x13 baking dish. 

1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Once melted, stir in sugar. Cooking the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. 
2. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella until smooth.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour. 
4. Pour in the butter mixture and mix until smooth. 
5. Set aside.

Repeat steps 1-5 with the white chocolate batter. 

Dollop spoonfuls of each batter into the prepared pan. Swirl them together gently. Add any extra Nutella/White Chocolate Nutella and swirl into top. 

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool and serve. 

White Chocolate Nutella

Yeah, you read that right.

After countless failed attempts to persuade the Ferrero brand to mass produce a white chocolate Nutella, I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

Making homemade Nutella is so stupidly simple that you'll question why you ever bought the real stuff. In addition to its simplicity, making the stuff at home gives you full control of each and every ingredient going into the jar, eliminating some of the guilt you'd normally experience after eating one too many spoonfuls. 

For this recipe, you'll need just five ingredients: hazelnuts, good-quality white chocolate, any mild/flavorless oil, vanilla, and salt. How those few ingredients come together and create something so much greater than the sum of all its parts is beyond me.

I can't even begin to explain how truly delicious this stuff is — no really, this is important. If you're any bit as big of a fan of white chocolate and Nutella as I am, you will find yourself repeatedly sneaking away into the pantry to grab a spoonful every 30 minutes. If jars of this aren't readily available on supermarket shelves in the next few months, I have no qualms with mass producing it myself. 

At first taste, I couldn't help but imagine the countless amazing flavor combinations that could come out of this. Banana and white chocolate crepes? Yes please. White chocolate hazelnut cake? Sign me up immediately. Don't even get me started on the dozens of cookies I could work this into. 

Seriously, make this immediately. You'll thank me later. 

White Chocolate Nutella 

• 6 oz. hazelnuts
• 10.6 oz. white chocolate
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt

In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the white chocolate until smooth. Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Roast hazelnuts in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Once cool, peel hazelnuts.

Grind hazelnuts in your food processor until small particles form. Continue pulsing and add the oil, vanilla extract, and salt. Grind until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently. Add the melted white chocolate and process until smooth.

Immediately pour the spread into jars. The mixture will be warm and liquidy, but will set up over time.