Milk chocolate hazelnut revel bars, peeps. And by “milk chocolate hazelnut” I hope you know I mean Nutella . . . I first learned about “revel” bars in the June/July issue of Cook’s Country and I was instantly smitten. I had never heard of such a bar, and was intrigued. Essentially a revel bar is a bar cookie made from oats and nuts.
It is one of those bars whereby the topping is merely a crumbled up version of the flattened and pressed base, resulting in an awfully quick assembly. The recipe in Cook’s Country called for a milk chocolate filling and for almonds in the crust and topping. But I wanted to fill my revel bars with Nutella – but any milk chocolate hazelnut spread will work – and so added ground hazelnuts to my crust/topping as well, for continuity and because hazelnuts are so delicious. I deeply toasted them to bring out even more flavor and my family went kind of bonkers. So, if you have not yet mailed or delivered all of your cookie boxes and you have a little room for one more tasty treat, look no further: the Nutella revel bar will not disappoint.
Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Revel Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups instant oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup hazelnuts toasted and chopped
- 1 1/4 tsps table salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 sticks unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups chocolate hazelnut spread such as Nutella, or two cups milk chocolate chips, melted
- 1 1/4 cups sweetened condensed milk (one 14 oz. can)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with softened butter or cooking spray. Line the bottom and two short sides with parchment. Set aside.
- Combine the oats, flour, nuts, salt, and soda in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- Add the melted butter and sugars to a large bowl and whisk to combine.Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, whisking after adding each.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold to combine with a rubber spatula. Reserve 1 3/4 cups of the dough for the topping and transfer the remainder of the dough to the prepared pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and press it flat with your hands until it evenly covers the bottom of the pan.
- In a small bowl, add the Nutella and sweetened condensed milk, and stir with a fork to combine. Place in the microwave on high and melt in 20 second bursts, stirring after each, until combined, about two minutes. The mixture may not be perfectly smooth, and that is fine.
- Spread the mixture over the dough in the pan and top with the remaining dough, by crumbling it into bits and scattering it over the fudgy layer. Sprinkle with the flaky sea salt.
- Bake for 25 minutes until the oat topping is browned. Let the bars setup, at least 4 hours on the counter or place the slightly cooled bars in the fridge for about two hour.
- To serve, run a paring knife around the edge of the pan and use the parchment paper to lift out the bars. Slice into 24 bars using a chef’s knife. Bars will keep tightly wrapped in plastic wrap on the counter for up to three days.