Nutella Truffles

I found this delicious recipe for Nutella truffles with Frangelico on My Baking Addiction's blog a couple of weeks ago.  I had hoped to post this for Valentine's Day dessert inspiration, but didn't have the time to make them until the day of.  Valentine's Day or not, these homemade truffles are rich, nutty, and perfect for any time of the year.

This recipe calls for toasted hazelnuts.  The grocery store had none in stock, so I bought raw hazelnuts instead and toasted them at home.  Raw hazelnuts have a dark skin, which you can choose to remove before toasting them or not.  I chose to remove the skins and followed a very helpful tip on how to peel hazelnuts.  It's incredibly easy to do and all you need is boiling water and baking soda.

Bring two cups of water to boil, add 3 tablespoons of baking soda (the water will foam up), and put the hazelnuts in the boiling solution for 4 minutes.  The water will turn black from the pigment in the hazelnut skins, but that's ok.  When the timer's up use a slotted spoon to put the hazelnuts into a bowl of ice water.  Peeling the skins off should be fairly easy at this point.  For any stubborn ones just rub the skins off with a dish towel.

At this point the hazelnuts are ready for toasting.  Like the peeling, this is also very easy.  Put the hazelnuts on some aluminum foil in a baking pan and toast in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the hazelnuts are toasting in the oven is a perfect time to melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips, Nutella, butter, and heavy cream in a double boiler on low heat.  If you don't have a double boiler or anything to use as a makeshift one, use a small pot like I did.  Just remember to constantly stir to make sure none of the ingredients burn!

Once everything is melted and a smooth consistency, remove the mixture from the stove and let it cool for 10 minutes.  Then stir in the Frangelico and vanilla extract.  I didn't have any Frangelico, so I used Disaronno instead; next time I'll probably use more than 3 tbsp to add more amaretto flavor.  Pour the mixture into a shallow pan (I used an 8x8 Pyrex dish) and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Before removing the dish from the fridge, use a food processor to chop the hazelnuts.  Use a melon ball scoop (all I had on hand was an ice cream scoop) to scoop out the mixture, roll it into a ball, and coat it with chopped hazelnuts.  This gets a little messy as the chocolate starts melting in your hands, so make sure you have everything you need in front of you before you start this step.

Lastly, refrigerate until ready to eat.  You're definitely going to want more than one! ;)