Chocolate Hazelnut Sticks

I found these over at Pioneer Woman's cooking blog a few weeks ago, and knew that I'd be including them in my tins of treats this holiday.

I made a few adjustments based on taste and scarfed down about 6 of them within the space of 45 seconds or so.

Oh yeah, they're good.

What's more, they're easy, and a great treat that kids can help you make.

Go crazy.

Chocolate Hazelnut Sticks

Ingredients:

• a package of the long thin, plain Italian breadsticks
• 1 cup meltable chocolate wafers or chocolate bark
• 2 heaping tablespoons Nutella
• very finely chopped hazelnuts
• sea salt
  

Directions:

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper.


2. Melt chocolate in the microwave, stopping every 30 seconds to stir and check on it. Stop microwaving it when the wafers start to look shiny.
   
   Trust me, you do not want to scorch the chocolate - I've said it before, let me say it again: Burned chocolate is an abomination.
   


3. Add the Nutella and stir well until it melts in with the chocolate.
   


4. Break the breadsticks in half and dip the broken half in the chocolate/Nutella mixture, swirling around and building up a lush and lovely coating of chocolate.
   


5. Lay them on the lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with chopped nuts.


6. Grind some fresh sea salt over the top.
   


7. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer and let them harden before removing to a plate or packaging in cellophane bags.
   

Notes:

• The original recipe did not call for salt, but when I ate the first tester this morning, they were just too sweet for me and I thought, "What the hell, let's put some salt on that bad boy," so I did.
  
  Of course, I have been craving chocolate-dipped potato chips lately, so perhaps I have just been longing for that salty-sweet combination.
  


• I also changed the procedure by putting them in the freezer to set faster. I was running way behind in getting these tins of treats ready and knew that the only way I'd be able to bag up these sticks was if they spent a stint in the freezer. It's a very handy trick to know.
  

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