3-Ingredient Nutella Brownie Recipe

We love a batch of soft, fudgy brownies, and we can't stop ourselves from eating Nutella (even if it's straight from the jar). So when we learned you could make 3-ingredient Nutella brownies in only 30 minutes, we were pretty excited to give it a try. It sounded like the easiest brownie recipe we'd ever encountered, and if it tasted anything like Nutella, we would definitely fall in love.

To see if this incredible Nutella creation was too good to be true, we picked up an extra-large jar and made the original 3-ingredient Nutella brownies recipe. We also made a second batch with an expanded ingredients list that added two optional ingredients (baking soda and salt). We don't want to spoil the surprise, but let's just say that — even after baking so many brownies — we didn't end up with any leftovers in the end! Read on to learn how this recipe works and if the optional additions make much of a difference in the end result.

The thing we love most about this 3-ingredient Nutella brownies recipe is how simple it is. If you have a jar of Nutella in the pantry, you probably have everything you need to make a delicious batch of brownies. Other than the Nutella, the only other ingredients you'll need are eggs and all-purpose flour. Mix the ingredients together, pop them into an 8x8 baking dish, and bake the brownies for about 30 minutes. You can also add a pinch of salt to deepen the chocolate flavor, and a little baking soda goes a long way to creating fluffier, more cake-like brownies.

We normally love to make ingredient swap suggestions to help you customize our recipes, but this one has very little wiggle room. It is pretty easy to make gluten-free 3-ingredient Nutella brownies, though. According to their nutrition information, Nutella is naturally gluten-free. So, if you use almond flour or one-to-one gluten-free all-purpose flour, you'll end up with gluten-free brownies. It's harder to make them dairy-free, though. Nutella contains milk, so you'd have to make a homemade version of the spread (we'll offer more instruction on how to pull that off in a minute). Unfortunately, the recipe doesn't work without eggs, so don't try to make it with egg substitutes like fruit puree or flaxseed.

You'll find the complete list of the ingredients, their quantities, and step-by-step baking instructions, at the end of this article.

Nutella is one of those magical ingredients that makes everything better. It's rich and chocolatey, with a fudgy texture and a sweet — but not too sweet — finish. According to The Boar, one of the reasons Nutella tastes so good is because it's actually addictive. The chocolate contains tryptophan and phenylethylamine, amino acids that can lead to feelings of elation, excitement, and attraction. But Nutella's addictive nature is not what makes it the perfect ingredient for making 3-ingredient brownies.

In addition to hazelnuts and cocoa, Nutella contains high levels of sugar. Sugar is the first ingredient on the label, and every two-tablespoon serving of Nutella contains a whopping 21 grams (or 5 teaspoons) of sugar. While that doesn't exactly make Nutella healthy, it does make it perfect for baking brownies. You see, sugar works as a tenderizer in baked good recipes, and it keeps these brownies soft, tender, and moist as they bake. When we tried to swap-in another type of nut butter, we found that this recipe simply didn't work. Nut butters don't contain that level of added sugar, and our test batch made with peanut butter turned out oily, soggy, and dense.

Making Nutella at home easier than you'd think, and doing so would allow you to make a dairy-free version of Nutella. Start by toasting eight ounces of hazelnuts in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven. After about 10 to 15 minutes, they should be evenly browned and smelling fantastic. Let the nuts cool before rubbing them with a towel to remove the skins. You can also buy peeled hazelnuts to make this process so much easier!

When the nuts are cooled, puree the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor or a high-powered blender, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. After about five minutes, the nuts should start to resemble nut butter. Add one cup of powdered sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, continuing to puree until the mixture is well combined. Drizzle in two tablespoons of melted coconut oil (or canola oil, if you prefer), one teaspoon of vanilla, and a teaspoon of kosher salt. If the mixture isn't super smooth, melt 1/4 cup of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and puree it into the hazelnut mixture. You can also add additional oil, as needed.

Store your homemade Nutella in the refrigerator for up to a month.

If you forgot to pull the eggs out of the refrigerator ahead of time, you could skip the room-temperature-egg step. It is definitely possible to make these 3-ingredient Nutella brownies with cold eggs, but you might be disappointed with the results. According to The Incredible Egg, cold eggs can harden the fat in a batter. That could cause the Nutella to seize up, making it much more difficult to incorporate the eggs and flour into the chocolate-hazelnut spread. You might then accidentally overmix the batter, which can lead to denser, chewier brownies.

It should only take about an hour for the eggs to come up to room temperature, and Cooks Illustrated has a great hack if you need to speed up the time. Simply place the eggs in a small bowl of warm water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit). After five minutes, remove the eggs and get ready to mix your brownie batter.

Before you mix these 3-ingredient Nutella brownies, start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll also want to grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter or nonstick cooking spray to make it easier to release the brownies later. While the oven is preheating, grab a large bowl and combine the Nutella, beaten eggs, and sifted flour. If you're using the optional baking soda or salt, you can add it with the other ingredients. The mixture will be thick and heavy.

If your Nutella is stiff — which can happen if you store it in the refrigerator — you can soften the spread by microwaving it for 30 seconds. You'll want to wait a few minutes before mixing the ingredients together to avoid scrambling the eggs, though. When the mixture is smooth and doesn't contain any flour clumps, pour it into the prepared baking dish. Smooth out the top with a rubber spatula and pop the brownies into the oven.

Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the baking dish comes out clean. You want to avoid overbaking the brownies, which will cause them to dry out, but you don't want undercooked brownies that can taste like raw flour, either. Look for a few visual signs in addition to the toothpick test. The edges of the brownies should be firm, the center should be shiny, and nothing should wiggle when you shake the pan. You may also see some signs of cracking on the top.

Let the brownies cool for a few minutes before slicing them into nine pieces. When the brownies are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can reheat the brownies in the microwave, if you like, before serving the leftovers. For long-term storage, freeze the brownies for up to three months, letting them thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

We've read some mediocre reviews for this recipe on other sites that claimed these brownies turn out bland and dull-tasting. Luckily for our taste buds, we couldn't disagree more. We thought the chocolate-hazelnut flavor came through boldly, especially in the batch that included the optional salt. When it came to texture, we had similarly few complaints. These 3-ingredient Nutella brownies turned out fudgy, gooey, and soft brownies, and they were perfectly cooked in 30 minutes.

The next time we make these 3-ingredient Nutella brownies, we might consider adding chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. They had a ton of chocolate flavor, but we'll never say no to more chocolate!