Roxana's Dinner Rolls

MY BROTHER IS HERE MY BROTHER IS HERE! Yippee skippy! My little brother (not so little...he towers over me at 5'9" but still, he's 2.5 years younger than I) hasn't visited me in like...3 years, and he's never visited by himself! We're gonna have so much fun! Yay yay yay!

When we first talked about what he'd want to do when he's here, all he said was, "I just want you to make me food." Ha! He was unlucky enough that I didn't really get into cooking until after I moved out, so he tends to get mightily jealous whenever I post yumminess that he can't have. This week(end) we are gonna remedy that.

Anyway, in the spirit of tasty food and celebration, I thought today would be the perfect time to share these dinner rolls. I made them for Easter because when Roxana says these rolls are the best, well, I had to try. That woman knows her breads. Essentially these rolls are somewhere in between a classic dinner roll and brioche. They're gorgeously golden on the outside, and fabulously fluffy inside. They're also not super difficult to make-it's nice to have a stand mixer but I made these fine by hand. 

And ahhh, they smell amazing.

Now, do these replace my current favorite dinner roll recipe?

No.

But that's me. I prefer that kind of roll. I still really loved these, and Michael raved about them. They're better for if you're looking for a more classy and classic roll. Seriously, if you're having a dinner party-serve these rolls.

Oh! And a major bonus-they freeze awesomely. I made these the day before needing them and froze em. They worked wonderfully. You can also make a double batch and just keep these babies frozen until a major roll craving strikes.

And let's face it, who doesn't get hit with the occasional roll craving?

(Unrelated note: Ooooh look! The blog looks all different! The blog redesign is finished people! Yayyyy! Do you like it? I hope you like it!)

Nutella Crack Pie

Soooo remember that homemade Nutella we made Monday?

Well...then I put it in a pie.

A crazy addictive*, potentially dangerous pie.

Crack pie.

That's right. Nutella crack pie.

*(people, don't do drugs. Just eat pie.)

Just in case you didn't know-I can't take ownership of the crack pie idea, crack pie is one of the big desserts over at Momofuku Milk Bar. And then some crazy amazing people on the interwebs put a new spin on it-adding Nutella. Essentially what we have is an oatmeal cookie crust (WHICH OMG IS PROBABLY THE BEST PART, I WAS OFTEN TEMPTED TO JUST EAT IT! SUCH BROWN SUGARY GOODNESS) and then a gooey, brown sugar-y filling (which in this case also has the addition of some chocolate hazelnut-y goodness).

Since I used the homemade Nutella, the hazelnut flavor really came through, but you can absolutely just use storebought. Whatever. You won't hurt my feelings.

This pie is traditionally served at room temperature (or even possibly slightly warm?), but I actually preferred it chilled (a rare thing for me). I thought it just really helped the flavors of the filling come through and still...that crust....*drool*.

He'll deny this, but when I tried to explain the pie to him Michael didn't seem to optimistic about it. Then he tried it. And loved it. Duh. Who wouldn't?

Homemade Nutella (Chocolate Hazelnut Butter)

They said it couldn't be done.

They said I was crazy.

BUT I DID IT!

buahahahaaaaaa!

I made homemade Nutella with only 2 ingredients:
hazelnuts.
chocolate.

There are a lot of homemade Nutella recipes out there, and to be fair-most of them are actually probably closer to the store-bought. But I really just wanted a simple, healthier, chocolate hazelnut version. I asked various people about if I couldn't just make it the way I make any other chocolate nut butter, but I was told it wouldn't work, I needed to use cocoa powder, etc.

Well ta-da! I did it! I just took some roasted, skinned, hazelnuts and processed them. Then I threw in some dark chocolate chips and a dash of salt. Process until smooth, refrigerate, and done! YUM.

You know those Nutella commercials where the mom is spreading it on toast and talking about how it's a healthier option for her kids (you know, the kind of stuff that got them sued)? Well...this is actually pretty healthy (I mean..dark chocolate is kindaaaa healthy). And I spread it on whole wheat toast and ate it for breakfast. Just like those kids in the commercial.

Oddly enough, I had been meaning to try this for awhile but one day, while babysitting, I made myself a toasted Nutella and peanut butter sandwich...and it was just so good I knew I needed to make some for myself ASAP.

More good news=in addition to being able to just eat this on toast, with a spoon, etc. you can even use it in (some) recipes. I have a few coming to the blog soon :)

In summary, this is a spread full of amazing hazelnut-chocolate flavor, you're gonna love it, and to all who doubted me: nananananaaaa.

hehehehe.