Homemade Nutella & Chocolate Stuffed Flapjacks

1. Welcome!: For decades, chocolate nutty spreads have captured the hearts and bellies of children and adults alike from across the world. But what if I told you you could make it better, crunchier, and healthier for both you and the environment? Well, in this class, I'll be showing you how to do exactly that from the comfort of your own kitchen. Hey, there. My name is Mosso, and I'm the owner of the Yeasti Boys Artisan Bakery and a professional sailing chef having worked on crossings throughout the Atlantic and the Equator. With that said, I am so incredibly excited to be back and bringing you a brandy recipe that is as easy to make as it is to eat. Making it even easier on your mind is that this bread contains zero palm oil, twice the amount of hazelnuts, and a quarter of the sugar content compared to most store bought brands. And by the end of this class, not only will you know how to make your own chocolate hazelnut bread, but also how to use it to make delicious chocolate stuffed flapjacks. Should you need to quickly double check the measurements or instructions of this class, then as always, you'll be able to do so through this course's written PDF guide, which comes included as an additional resource. This is the first of a six part series entirely focused on chocolate desserts, so be sure to hit the follow button above to no miss out on any upcoming recipes, such as the stunning chocolate tart and the ever elusive eclair or chocola. With that, out of the way, let's dump straight into the next lesson with our short list of six ingredients. 2. Homemade Nutella Introduction: So let's dive straight into the first recipe with our ingredient list, which will allow you to make 380 grams of chocolate hazelnut spread, which is roughly equivalent to one medium sized jar. I found that old glass jam jars we great as long as they still have their sealable lid, but BPA free plastic or stainless steel containers work just fine as substitutes, albeit without a nice, transparent sheen. You'll notice that we will be using blanched hazelnuts. If you don't know what that is, they are simply regular hazelnuts that have been boiled for a few minutes to help remove their bitter brown exterior. Most stores should offer them pre blanched, but if not available, you can find instructions on how to do it yourself in the additional resource for this recipe, or you can quickly pause the video for those details on screen. For the sweetness, powdered white sugar is my go to for this recipe because of how easy it is to dissolve into the mixture. But if you only have regular granulated sugar, then you're more than welcome to use that instead. As a final note, we'll also be using this chocolate spread in a few upcoming recipes. So if you want some extra just for yourself, you're more than welcome to double these measurements. Regardless, once you have all those ingredients ready, I'll be seeing you in the following lesson. 3. Make Your Hazelnut Butter: So using a small bowl, don't forget to zero out your scale before measuring your 150 grams of blanched hazelnuts. Just in case you're unfamiliar with my previous classes, I always recommend using a digital food scale to get the most precise measurements. Depending on the recipe, it's not going to be a deal breaker if you don't have one, but they're pretty cheap and are extremely useful when it comes to the more complicated recipes. So definitely a highly recommended tool to have in your kitchen. From this point, you have two options on how to proceed. The first is to blend your hazelnuts in a food processor until they form a paste, or you can blend for a short amount of time if you prefer a crunchier hazelnut spread. Is a quicker and easier way to do it. But for this class, I'll be showing you a more DIY approach. First, carefully place your hazelnuts into a strong plastic bag and seal it shut. Making sure all the nuts are flat against your work surface without any overlapping. Then using a preferably heavy rolling pin, you can begin crushing your hazelnuts. Feel free to also use a kitchen mallet if you find that any easier on your arms. Should your plastic bag break, you can also very easily wrap it in another and continue working from there. Your mileage may vary, but it should take you about five to 8 minutes to get the hazelnuts to a suitable consistency. Want it quite powdery, but don't worry if some of the bits are slightly larger, as this will just add to the texture of your chocolate spread. The key to look out for is a slightly wet texture which indicates your hazelnuts have started releasing their natural oils. Should you blend it, it will be easier to extract the oils, which will simply affect how smooth your final product will be. Either way, however, you're going to end with a delicious spread, so it's up to what you have available in your kitchen and your preference which method you use. 4. Mix Your Chocolate Spread: Once your hazel nuts have been sufficiently crushed, transfer their powdery remains into a large bowl if you haven't already. From there, you can measure out and molt 30 grams of unsalted butter by heating it in a microwave for 20 to 30 seconds or on a low heat stove pot. While waiting for that to finish, move your large bowl onto your scale before adding your melted butter and gently stir that mixture with a large spoon or spatula before your butter gets to cool down. Following that, zero out your scale in order to add 40 grams of cocoa powder, 56 grams of powdered sugar, and just 3 grams of salt. I'll explain why we're adding salt in the following lesson. But for now, just stir it all together for about 20 seconds. From this point, you may begin slowly mixing in 20 grams of water at a time until it reaches an almost honey like consistency. That said, do keep in mind that you might need less or more water, depending on how much of the oil you were able to blend or smack out of your hazelnuts. If you use the hand crushing method, you'll need approximately 100 grams of water in total. With a food processor, on the other hand, 40 grams might be all that's needed. That's why I recommend adding it bit by bit, stirring in between until you reach the right consistency. 5. Homemade Nutella Conclusion: From now on, all that's needed to do is to fill and seal your jars with your delicious homemade chocolate hazelnut bread. While you're getting all of that done, you may be wondering, like I have in the past, what is the point of adding salt when you're trying to make something sweet? So there are a few reasons. If you're baking something with yeast like the soon to be covered chocolate Bubka bread, for example, then salt will actively control the amount of rice in the bread to make sure it doesn't overflow. This happens because salt kills yeast, so too much salt will be a bad thing for proper fermentation. At low amounts, it works just right for what we needed to do. Our chocolate spread, on the other hand, doesn't contain yeast nor needs to ferment. So what gives? In this case, we're adding a little bit of salt because it helps enhance the flavor of everything in our mixture without actually making it taste salty. Salt amplifies the taste receptors on our tongue, which simply means it makes food taste better, even when it's sweet. Circling back from that tangent, I do hope that you have enjoyed making this really simple but delicious recipe. It is obviously amazing as a spread and straight out the jar. But what if I told you you could also use it to make really delicious chocolate stuff flapjacks? Well, that is exactly what you'll be learning in the second section of this class, so I look forward to seeing you there. 6. Chocolate Stuffed Flapjacks Introduction: So for your chocolate stuff lap jacks, these are the ingredients you're going to need in order to make four medium size servings. For the flour, I'd recommend using all purpose or alternatively, cake wheat is an equally good choice. Adding sugar in this recipe is optional, as we'll be sweetening our flapjacks already with the chocolate filling, but the choice is there if you so choose. A final ingredient to note is your raising agent. As you can see, you may use baking powder or alternatively a white flour sourdoter. If you don't already have your own, do be sure to check out my dedicated sourdoter class, which you can find on my teacher profile or through the search tab above. Quick reminder if you decide to use sud or starter, you'll need to prepare it at least 8 hours before use and have an extra 10 grams so that you can refresh and use it again at a later date. With that, out of the way, let's jump straight into the recipe proper. 7. Mix Your Flapjack Batter : To get started, you're going to want to place a large bowl in your scale and zero it out to measure 250 grams of all purpose flour. From there, add in 5 grams of salt, as well as the optional 50 grams of sugar and give that a quick mix with your spoon to break up any clumps in your flour. We're now going to be adding our liquids with equal parts water and milk. For each, you may pour in 130 grams for a total of 260. And at this point, you may add your raising agent of choice, either 12 grams of baking powder or 120 grams of sourdos da. Then, once you've given your mixture a quick stir, you can melt your 20 grams of unsalted butter and pour it in before stirring again. When that's roughly incorporated, mix in your eggs one at a time until you form a smooth batter. If you've used sourdosrter for your flapjacks, I'd recommend covering your bowl with a damp cloth and letting the batter rest overnight in the fridge to develop some really delicious flavor. Alternatively, if you use baking powder, I strongly recommend you start cooking your flapjacks as soon as possible as the rising action is sensitive to moisture. Baking powder is double acting, which means it reacts when heated and when added to a liquid. So if you end up leaving it overnight, even if cooled, you're going to miss out on some of the rice. It's not going to ruin your pancakes, but it might just make them slightly less fluffy, and nobody wants that. So with that in mind, I'll be seeing you in the next lesson. 8. Cook Your Flapjacks: For me, it's now the following day, good morning. You can now take your batter out of the fridge if you choose to do so. And just before you start cooking your flapjacks, be sure to have both a single tablespoon and a half a cup measurement for your chocolate and batter respectively. For this recipe, you should be able to eyeball it with a ladle and spoon, but this will just make measuring out each ingredient as quick and easy as possible while cooking. So let's begin with a non stick frying pan on medium heat and evenly coating it with about 10 grams or two teaspoons of butter. Do note that I said teaspoons and not tablespoons unless you want to end up deep frying your flapjacks. Once your pan has been heated, you can use your half cup measurement to pull out your first flap jack, using a spoon to get as much of the batter onto the pan as possible. Just before a minute has passed, scoop out one tablespoon of your chocolate hazelnut spread onto the uncooked side of your flap jack and using the spoon, flatten it out as best you can. This is going to make the following step just a bit easier, so you can now pour an extra quarter cup of batter over the chocolate, making sure the majority is covered to prevent burning. Gently flip that over and continue cooking for an extra minute or until both sides are a nice golden brown. From there, you can repeat those steps for all of your remaining batter and remember to grease your pan when needed. 9. Chocolate Stuffed Flapjacks Conclusion: I do think it's going to be quite hard to top these chocolate stuffed flapjacks at any breakfast, especially when they look and taste this good. Once you've let them cool for a bit, you can then add all of your favourite toppings. I already find these quite rich, so I usually opt for just a bit of extra butter. The whipped cream and crush walnuts are also an excellent choice. Speaking of nuts, I hope you haven't yet finished your chocolate spread just yet, because we'll also be using it in the following class to make these amazing cookies, and you definitely don't want to miss out. You have enjoyed this class, please do feel free to leave a review with your thoughts. And before you leave, don't forget to share pictures of your own chocolate creations in the project section below.