Nutella-Filled Strawberries

Whoever invented Nutella was a genius. Seriously, is there a more perfect spread than the combination of creamy chocolate and decadent hazelnut butter? I’m happy to just eat Nutella out of the jar, but it turns out that it’s even more amazing when paired with fresh strawberries. Last week, I saw this pin (what did home cooks do before Pinterest?!) for Nutella-filled strawberries and was struck by its simplicity and cuteness. I thought they would make a terrific Valentine’s Day dessert and made a mental note to try them out soon.

Strawberries filled with Nutella - so simple, yet so delicious!

When I saw that strawberries were on sale at the grocery store over the weekend, I took it as a sign that I needed to make this. It took less than 10 minutes to throw together, and it took all my willpower (and then some) to resist eating the whole batch by myself. All you need are strawberries, a jar of Nutella, and either a small ziploc bag or a disposable pastry decorating bag. Because the volume of strawberries is pretty small, you don’t even need that much Nutella, which means that if you eat only one or two (good luck with that!), these aren’t that bad.

Nutella-Filled Strawberries

Ingredients

• Strawberries
• Nutella
• Small ziploc bag or disposable pastry decorating bag (found in the baking aisle at the grocery store)

Instructions

Rinse the strawberries, then pat them dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp paring knife, hull the berries by cutting a circle around the leaves/stem, making sure to insert the knife about a third to halfway into the berry. You can cut a little bit wider of a circle than you might normally cut around the leaves to make extra room for the Nutella.

Hulled strawberries, ready to be filled with Nutella

Once all the berries have been hulled, fill your ziploc bag or decorating bag with a small amount of Nutella (maybe just a couple of tablespoons to start; you can always add more if it’s not enough to fill the berries). Snip off the tip of the decorating bag (or a corner of the closed ziploc bag), then fill the hollow of each strawberry with Nutella, swirling at the top. Repeat until you’ve filled all the strawberries.

Fresh strawberries filled with creamy chocolatey, hazelnut-y goodness ....

Imagine pairing these with flutes of champagne for a fun Valentine’s Day treat! Yum!

p.s. Happy Chinese New Year to my Asian readers! I realized too late that I should have planned a CNY-related post. With my mom out of town, I’m afraid I’ve temporarily lost my best source of traditional recipes. We gave the boys some red envelopes, though — the part of CNY kids care about most, anyway. 😉 Next year, I’ll have post some fun CNY recipes!