Chocolate Hazelnut & Raspberry Greek Yogurt Parfait

 

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Much like every other holiday since last March 2020, Valentine's day is kind of a bust this year!

Then again, we don't usually do much for V-Day anyway. Mr. V and I are not exactly what you would call romantic people.

Not that we don't love each other, of course!

It's just that our perfect movie date night would include something more along the lines of John Wick than The Notebook. No biggie.

"Hey girl.... I feel like there's not enough death & destruction in this movie for us."

(Remember those 'Hey girl' Ryan Gosling memes? Or am I just embarrassing/dating myself haha?)

Anyhow... what I have for you today is more of an idea than a recipe. But I will do my best to approximate amounts so you can replicate this deliciousness at home. 

I will never forget the day I went into the grocery store and saw Chobani was now making little containers of Greek yogurt mixed with nut butters, including chocolate hazelnut. 

It didn't stop me in my tracks because I thought it was a revolutionary idea, though. 

No, I had been making this at home for years and felt like I should definitely own the patent to that combo by then.

Robbed, I tell you. Robbed!

However, that didn't stop me from buying a few containers because, well, convenience.

But I can't say I've seen any of those in the stores by us recently? So I guess they weren't hot sellers, though I can't imagine why. 

Whatever the reason, that just means you'll have no choice other than to make it yourself at home!

For this, I like to do about a tablespoon of Nutella per half cup of plain Greek yogurt. That would honestly be pushing it on the sweetness for me as a lunch option.

But, you do you. This is your parfait.

"Hey girl... put as much Nutella in that yogurt as your beautiful heart desires."

(See, Ryan says it's cool- go nuts.)

After a while, I discovered that this delicious yogurt mixture is further complemented by fresh raspberries. Yum.

Then Santa brought me some chocolate granola in my stocking and boom. My parfait was born.

Yes, I'll admit we are definitely getting closer to dessert territory as opposed to lunch. So let's just go ahead and cross that line! 

Add a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate sauce because it's pretty.

And delicious. The perfect storm.

"Hey girl... you deserve nothing less than perfection."

Ok ok, I'll stop now.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Hazelnut & Raspberry Greek Yogurt Parfait

• 1 T. Nutella (or other chocolate hazelnut spread)
• 1/2 C. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 C. chocolate granola (or any other granola of your choosing)
• 1/4 C. fresh raspberries
• optional: whipped cream, chocolate syrup, mini chocolate chips

Mix Nutella and yogurt together in a small bowl, until well combined. 

Spoon half of yogurt mixture to a parfait cup or small mason jar. Sprinkle with granola. Add remaining yogurt and top with raspberries.

Top with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and/or mini chocolate chips if desired.

Original Recipe

Hazelnut Carmelitas

So call me crazy, but Pinterest is one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

To say that I'm obsessed with it is a serious understatement.  I have wasted spent hours upon hours on this website, scrolling through pins.  Salivating over delicious foods.  Simmering with jealousy over other people's fabulous sense of style.  Willing my pea brain to remember all the handy tips I've read.  And wishing I had more time to make all the neat crafts I've seen.

(In a more practical sense, I also love Pinterest because it has brought so many new visitors to my blog.  Yay! I like new friends!)

Now, I recently noticed a very popular Pinterest recipe, for Carmelitas from Lulu the Baker, that I have been dying to try.

I'm sure the original recipe is amazing, but I wanted to put a slightly different spin on it - so I added some Nutella and toasted hazelnuts.

Oh my word.  These things are dangerous.

My dad and stepmom had Mr. Vittles and I over for dinner, and we brought these for dessert.  My stepmom specifically asked to be quoted on V&B that she "thoroughly enjoyed" this dessert.  Which, might I add, is a lot coming from a person that doesn't much care for sweets.

My dad... well that's another story.  I only brought a few because they don't like to keep bad-for-you food in the house, but he quickly determined that the two leftover bars would definitely not be going home with us.

I did have a couple more left at our house though, so I brought one to my friend (and cube buddy) Joe at work.  He loves caramel, so I figured he would enjoy it.  It lasted until about 8:30AM on his desk, when I heard a muffled "These are amazing!" over my cubicle wall, amidst lots of chewing.

So please, do me a few favors.

One, get on Pinterest if you aren't already.  

And two, make some carmelitas.  Plain, hazelnut, whichever - just please make them!

I can't be the only one wearing pants with an elastic waist around here.

Hazelnut Carmelitas

• 16 caramel squares, unwrapped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 C. nutella spread
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C. chopped hazelnuts (I recommend toasting them first, but that's up to you)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, melt caramel squares with heavy cream and nutella in saucepan over low heat.  Stir until melted & smooth.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips and hazelnuts over baked crust. Pour caramel mixture evenly over pan. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.*

*The original recipe says you can put these in the fridge to speed up cooling if you are short on time. The bars shouldn't be served cold, but the caramel takes a long time to cool down.  I would wait until they are cooled a little bit though first if you used a glass pan (don't want it to crack).  Bars should be stored and served at room temperature.  Mine were good for about 5 days in an airtight container.  Makes 1 8x8 square pan.

Recipe Adapted from Lulu the Baker

Nutella Caramel Corn

So I don't know if anyone else has noticed this trend, but I feel like recipes using Nutella have been EVERYWHERE recently.

For anyone that doesn't know what that is - Nutella is a hazelnut & chocolate spread that's smooth, like creamy peanut butter.  It's sort of like a spreadable Ferrero Rocher candy. 

In other words- incredibly delicious.

I've been dying to get in on the Nutella action for a while now - I had a little bit left in the cabinet from some recipe I made months ago.  But I wanted to make something I haven't seen yet & nothing has really come to me.

Until now.

This week I had a serious hankering for popcorn... which, actually, happens on almost a daily basis... but this time I wanted caramel corn specifically.

Then I got to thinking - what if I made a Nutella caramel corn?  That could be awesome.

And... it is.

I only had a half of a cup of Nutella left, though, so be aware that caramel corn made from the recipe below only has a hint of the chocolate hazelnut.  Mr. V really liked it, and he said he could tell that it was not regular caramel corn - but he was not able to pick out the Nutella flavor specifically.

I think if you wanted a stronger flavor, you could probably increase the amount to 2/3 or even 3/4 of a cup and still have a caramel with the right consistency.

But hey - "experimenting" will just give you a good reason to eat a bunch of caramel corn.

What could be wrong with that?

Nutella Caramel Corn

• 4 quarts plain popped popcorn*
• 6 T. butter
• 1/2 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 C. Nutella spread (see note above)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Place popcorn in large roasting pan and preheat oven 250 degrees.  (I covered my pan in foil first to minimize cleanup).

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, Nutella, and salt, stirring to blend.  Bring to a boil, then boil five minutes while stirring constantly.  You will see large bubbles in the mixture.

Remove saucepan from heat, then stir in baking soda and vanilla until combined.  Mixture will become light and foamy.  Pour over popcorn, and mix with a spatula to coat.  You will be cooking & stirring the popcorn a few more times, so don't be too concerned with covering all the corn fully at this point.

Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Line your countertop with a few sheets of waxed paper and dump corn out onto paper.  Being careful not to burn your fingers, separate the pieces as desired.  Store in an airtight container.

*Note: 2/3 C. of unpopped popcorn should yield 4 quarts of popcorn for you.  You could also use microwave popcorn, but just make sure you get one that's plain NOT buttered.

Original Recipe