My Summer Survival Secret: Nutella

I love me a good recipe. On a weekly basis, I am subjecting the family to new experiments. For the most part, they turn out well enough and some are even added to permanent rotation. Then there are the miserable failures that have us scraping off our plates and snacking on grapes and crackers the rest of the evening.

It's far too hard to be flawless all the time. Really, I need to lower the expectations every now and then or there's just no way I can keep up with the demands.

So it was very unfortunately that I came across perfection in baked form. I'll never be able to top this one. Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes.

 Be Different…Act Normal was the first to mention these extraordinary beauties. Lorie has never steered me wrong in the past and these might just be my new favorite. And usually, frosting the cupcake is my favorite part but with these, it's sinking my teeth into a the next one that sends me over the moon.

When I moved to Happy Valley, the local grocery store did not carry any delicious chocolate hazelnut spread. The store manager was open to special requests so I made one. On my most recent visit, there were three spaces on the shelf dedicated to Nutella. Now, previously, my favorite form of Nutella was by the spoonful straight from the jar while making dinner, after the kids have gone to bed, or when there's fighting coming from the other room and I need to solidify my resolve to confront it.

After I make my next batch of these cupcakes, I'll have enough proofs of purchase for the spiffy Nutella Spreader.