Nutella Essssplosionssss

So, okay, this wasn't a total disaster. But it was close.  Really close.

Lately (the last 2 years?) I've been hearing about Nutella this, Nutella that.  It all started with Nigella Lawson waxing poetic (Have you heard that woman talk? O-M-G. Her words need an NC-17 rating.) about this Italian hazelnut & chocolate spread.  And, since she seems to eat it on everything and still manages to look ah-may-zing, I decided to give it a try.  I bought some - well, I bought the Kroger brand, they seemed to be out of a non-industrial size of the "real" Nutella - and treated myself to a spoonful the minute I was able.  Wow. Completely not what I expected.  Far more chocolaty and less sweet than I expected, and in a good way.  I'm not a fan of the actual raw hazelnuts or hazelnut flavored coffee creamers and nor am I a fan of overly sweet things.  Well, alright!  Me likey!! Yay!! Now, what to make?!?!

Well, puff pastry was on hand, so were some bananas, butter and brown sugar so, here's what I did.  And due to the end result (this go round at least), I'm calling them Nutella Bombs!  Here we go...

The Goods:

Next I rolled out the puff pastry in order to get nine squares.

(Note: I did a very sloppy job of cutting these and did not get equal squares. 

This will come back to haunt me in a few minutes.)

Next comes the nutella.  I placed about a tablespoon into the middle of each square, added some egg wash to all four sides and gathered them to make a little peak in the middle.

I then put them in a 350 degree oven on a pan that I've sprayed with a  nonstick spray and brushed them with a little egg wash. I set the timer  for 10 minutes, knowing they won't be done but better safe than burnt.

Next I added some butter (3 TBSP) and dark brown sugar (1/4 c) to a nonstick skillet and melted them on med-low heat.  Next some 'nanners were sliced (not too thin!) and added to the yummy sugary goodness.  I added a splash of vanilla and some heavy cream because, well, it was in the fridge.

Soooo, okay. The little buggers opened up.  A lot. I know what happened (I think) - I left the puff pastry out for too long and when I went to seal the edges with the egg wash, they dough was just too soft to stick together properly. Also, not having the squares cut equally made the pyramids harder to close. Next time I'll mind the puff better.

(These were not the best of the bunch. I forgot to take a picture of the best 

ones before I served them. My bad.)

Next I plated one, and drizzled it with the caramel sauce and bananas.  This was not my prettiest dish but OH MY GOODNESS did it taste good!  Wow. Once I get the technique down, this will be a major winner.