Nutella Cornetti for World Nutella Day 2010

It's that time of the year again.
Which one you might ask?

 World Nutella Day 

(of course, silly)

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso 

solemnly declared Friday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2010″ 

 A day to celebrate and get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.

Heck, why not?

We live in the region of Piedmont, where Nutella was born, (over in Alba), so we take our nutella consumption very seriously. We also love to sample all the other home grown varieties that you'll find through out our area, made by local chocolatiers. Ferrero aren't the only ones making a tasty chocolate hazelnut confection. They may have been first and it may be good, but it's worth trying a few for comparison. We know a few places to try do some serious tasting and research....

If stay with us at Bella Baita for a few days, you are more than likely to come across these little crescents on the breakfast table. This nutella filled pastry strikes a delicious balance of not too flaky and a slight chewy texture after the initial crispy bite. They are a perrenial favorite around our house and make an appearance regularly along with our home made apricot preserves tucked inside some too, just in case, gasp, someone might not like nutella.

Nutella filled Cornetti
based on a recipe by Anna Moroni
of "La Prova del Cuoco" fame, an Italian cooking show
(for 12 small cornetti)

Ingredients for the dough:

• 125 g butter (8.7 TB/ 4.4 oz)*
• 125 g yogurt (1/2c)*
• 1 T sugar 
• 250-300 g flour (2 1/2-3 c)*
• 2 tsp baking powder
•  pinch salt

*I haven't actually made these with the American measurements and have only looked up the conversions on line to convert the amounts, so proced with caution. I find that conversions for the weight of flour is wildly variable, so if you  have a metric scale, I would reccomend weighing everything at least the first time. I will try and update this in the future to secure American measurements. so stay tuned.

The filling:
Nutella 
or anything that strikes your fancy
marmalade/ fruit preserves
or ricotta or cream(sweetened with 1 Tbsp sugar)
with mini chocolate chips or
nuts with cinnamon and other spices


Pre-heat the oven at 200C (400F)
Melt the butter
Add the yogurt  and butter along with the sugar and  blend well
Add  the flour, pinch of salt, and baking powder and gingerly make the dough.
Try not to handle to much, but do combine all thoroughly. I find that at 250g it is quite sticky, so I add the other 50g more or less around the edges of the bowl to make the dough more manageable without losing any tenderness.
Split the dough into 2 pieces and cover with a towel or plastic shower cap
Let rest for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator if it is really warm
Roll one ball out into a circle about 12cm or so (6-7" across)
Cut into 6 slices with three cuts across the circle(triangle shape).
Put a generous dollop of Nutella on each slice  at the wide end of the dough
Roll it to make a little "cornetto" (which in Italian means "small horn" for the shape) or crescent
Repeat with the other dough ball.
(I have also refrigerated the second dough ball over night and had good results the next day as well)
Place on baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or till golden brown
Let them cool down and then sprinkle with icing/powdered sugar or cocao powder
Watch them disappear.