I was really big on Nutella the past couple of years. I've simmered down quite a bit. It's delicious stuff...and actually a healthy sweet (when used in moderation). But I do feel it's a bit overrated.
Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff. It's good. There's tons of stuff you can do with it like brownies, hot chocolate, pancakes, muffins, etc...but I'm not like super duper insane nutso about it like I used to be. I could definitely go without it for a period of time and not crave it.
So I guess I'm sort of indifferent to it. If you'd have asked me this a couple of years ago, I would have chosen the first option. Now I'm just sorta take it or leave it. Probably because of Nutella overkill. It's happened with lots of my favorite foods...well former favorite foods.
I had it a couple of times as a kid. It's a bit too sweet for me. I can understand the lure - it's like melting a chocolate bar on a piece of bread. It's just not something I crave or think of buying.
I like Nutella. Just not on bread. I prefer to add it when I make ice cream. It never quite freezes and it adds a nice texture. It's much nicer to swirl into it than chocolate chips which freeze into little rocks of chocolate that I can break a tooth on.
We must add that is quite a unique food item; a hazelnut spread similar to peanut butter but with cocoa added. It’s been imitated by a few companies, to my knowledge none ever came close. I grew up on Nutella and I would still enjoy it if it wasn’t for the sugar content. I have used in cakes, as a topping, in drinks and folded in ice cream. Just as a challenge, I even tried to make my own but just a healthier version.
The below recipes is quite good, in my opinion not a Nutella wannabe yet the flavor is richly complex. Worth a "taste". However do not need to be that elaborated. It’s fun to experiment and put any nuts in a food processor and pulse, or also add other ingredients as stevia (sweetener), cocoa and a liquid as milk or almond milk. Also vanilla or other essences for a quick spread.
The explosion of the stuff into popularity gives me the giggles, though. I can remember working at the grocery store and only getting a 6-pack case of it in maybe twice a year in the 90s.
Now I work in a facility that loads trucks, and it's nothing unusual for a single store to get 20-30 cases of the stuff per order, or a hundred of the Nutella&Go packs.
Hershey's attempt to make an extremely late jump on the bandwagon with a knockoff spread is sort of sad. From what I'm seeing, it's going over about as well as Nutella did back in the day.
It smells good. Lord knows I've been exposed to enough broken jars of it over the years to know that. I've just never been tempted to try it, and the popularity of it now makes me rebel against even considering it.
Plus I'm sick to death of seeing it when I'm helping to process pallet after pallet of it every day.
I can't stand the taste of hazelnuts anymore, so I'll pass on the Nutella. I think I might have OD'd on Ferrero Rocher candies one Christmas, so no more hazelnut anything for me.
I have a friend who is addicted to dipping her pretzels in Nutella.
I do like it. I'm not crazy about it though. I find myself craving salty things more often than sweet. I have only eaten it with a spoon before though I guess my Nutella philosophy is why ruin chocolate with bread?
Yes! But i have to say that the commercials are depicting it as a "healthy" choice when it is not what so ever. its chocolate hazelnut spread. i personally only use it/for desserts