I’m going to admit up front that I’m stretching what could be a single post into two.  But really, this first part should stand alone.  And, since Septemberish appears to have become the month of crunches (rainbow and cinnamon toast crunch crunch), why stop now?

We begin with good quality bittersweet chocolate.  And while it is gently melting with some butter, go ahead and bust out the…

Nutella.

Oh that’s right, I went there.  Nutella has made several appearances on this blog.  In fact, Nutella is to the Misanthropic Hostess what is Alec Baldwin is to hosting SNL; always a really good idea (the same could be said of Steve Martin and Christopher Walken).

Do you want to hear a confession?  Nutella is the singular foodstuff not allowed in our house on a casual basis.  I have pounds of varying varieties of chocolate stored in the pantry and at least three kinds of peanut butter in there as well.  No problemo.  However, introduce this little elliptical tub of chocolate hazelnut manna into our household and I swear, I can hear it whispering to me while I’m at work.  So, sadly, I’ve learned that I can only buy it when I have an immediate use for it.

Once the chocolate and butter are melted and combined, the nutella is added and the whole mess is whisked until smooth.

And here is where the crunch comes in.

Once the crispy rice is incorporated everything goes into the freezer for a pause.  Then, break the mass into smaller pieces and let your imagination run wild.  On top of ice cream?  Yes!  Yogurt?  Yup!  As a fancy add-in to granola?  You betcha!

My only suggestion is that you store the crunch in a sealed zip-lock in the fridge or freezer.  The recipe doesn’t include any stabilizers and so the melt-point is very low (read: if you store it in the pantry and think you’re going to be able to sneak bites here and there, think again, your chocolately fingertips will give you away).

While all the suggestions for use provided above are equally tantalizing, I had other plans for this crunch.  Here is a hint.

If you like this, you might like these

Nutella Cookies

The Bella Bar

Soundtrack

Give this young lady a listen:

L.A. Girlfriend

Hazelnut Crunch

Bon Appetit, September 2012

Ingredients

• 1/4 C  hazelnuts
• 2 oz (about 1/3 C) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 2 TBS (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 C Nutella
• 3 C toasted rice cereal

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line baking pan or a dish that will fit in your freezer with parchment.
3. Spread hazelnuts out on sheet pan and toast until fragrant (6-8 minutes).
4. Coursely chop nuts, set aside to let cool.
5. Add chocolate and butter to medium heatproof bowl (or smaller heatproof pan).  Set over large saucepan of simmering water.  Heat mixture stirring often until butter and chocolate are melted and smooth.
6. Remove bowl or smaller pan from over larger saucepan. Stir-in Nutella and then hazelnuts.  Fold-in rice cereal.
7. Spread mixture into prepared parchment lined pan or dish, freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
8. When set, break into smaller pieces with hands.  Crunch can be made in advance and store in the freezer in a airtight container.
9. Try not to eat it all before using it on or with something.