Strawberry Week: Nutella & Jelly Swirl Brownies

Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there!

Shoutout to my dad for always caring, keeping us together, and stocking the kitchen. I couldn’t ask for a better parent.

My dad is a purist, meaning no mix-ins or change-ups. The complete and utter opposite of me. So these brownies were not for him. I have a special Father’s Day gift lined up for him later, which I’m sure he’ll appreciate more than a few brownies.

These are some cool brownies, though. In honor of Strawberry Week, I swirled strawberry jelly into a boxed mix, and also added some Nutella, which is extremely popular in my family (no surprise there).

You can put absolutely anything into brownies. They’re so versatile. However, I have to admit that from-scratch brownies make me wary, because I can never get them quite right. Boxed brownies are a small tribute to my childhood of random Sundays baking with my dad, who, no matter how purist, has a chocolate addiction that comes close to my own.

Make the brownies as instructed on the box or use your favorite recipe. When I make brownies or bars, I always set up the pan with tin foil (or parchment paper if I’m lucky) and spray it with Pam, so they are easy to remove.

Pour your brownie batter into the pan. Microwave 1/4 cup Nutella for a minute and pour or drop it on top of the batter, then use a knife to marble.

A technique identical to the one used in these Banana Nutella Bars.

Heat 1/3 cup strawberry jelly in the same way and drop it on top of the Nutella, swirling it all together with a knife.

Bake them according to the package, and voila!

Nutella & Jelly Swirl Brownies

Ingredients

1 box brownie mix and ingredients called for on the box, or your favorite recipe
1/4 cup Nutella
1/3 cup strawberry jelly or jam (I don’t really know the difference so)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line and grease a 9×13 brownie pan.
Prepare the brownie batter as instructed on the box or recipe. Pour into the pan.
Heat the Nutella in a glass measuring cup in the microwave at 30 second intervals, until liquidy enough to be pourable. Pour the Nutella in lines over the batter and use a knife to swirl it in a marbled pattern.
Microwave and marble the strawberry jelly or jam in the same fashion.
Bake according to directions. Cool ten minutes in the pan, then use the tinfoil to transfer the brownies to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting with a bread knife.

Conclusions:

These brownies were very well-recieved. The Nutella made them kind of gooey, and the strawberry was there in bursts of flavor. At first I was going to make peanut butter and jelly swirl brownies, and then I had the thought to add Nutella, and eventually nixed the peanut butter. You can swirl just about anything into brownies and blondies, which is really cool. I should totally make brownies more often. Brownies are actually the ultimate chocolate dessert- fudgy and soft and warm. How do you like your brownies? Cakey? Chewy? Fudgy?

PS- Feel free to sub in other flavors, instead of strawberry. Don’t be boring.