Nutella and Coconut Puffs

I’m all about making confessions here. I’ve already told you about my love affair with cheesecake, my obsession with pasta and the olive monster that I turned into when I was younger…just to name a few. Here’s another one: My newfound love for puff pastry is out of control and I’m pretty sure it doubled in size when I tasted one of these Nutella puffs.

I might as well call this “Puff Pastry Week” on How To: Simplify since it’s been one puff pastry recipe after another. My phobia of puff pastry soon morphed into Apple Cinnamon Puff Pastry Twists, Olive and Cheese Puff Pastry Squares, Mozzarella and Basil Puff Pastry Twists and now, the King of them all, Nutella and Coconut Puffs.

I was first introduced to Nutella many years ago when I was studying abroad in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. It was immediately love at first taste. However, I have to admit, I haven’t had Nutella since and every time I pass it while shopping at World Market I’ve always been tempted to grab a bunch of jars. You see, the reason why I didn’t want to buy it is because I know that I would devour an entire jar in one sitting. The temptation finally overcame me the other week and I finally bought a jar.

Since I had one puff pastry sheet leftover, I decided to experiment with my jar of Nutella and shredded coconut that I had on hand. The result was…well…Wow. Amazing. Delicious. Mouth-watering. Scrumdiddlyumptious. Nutella and I have reunited…and yes…it feels so good.

Nutella and Coconut Puffs

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 8 ounces of Nutella (approximately)
• Shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Unfold puff pastry dough onto a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll dough to stretch it out slightly.
3. Using a pastry scraper or a pizza cutter, cut dough into squares (approximately 2 in x 2 in). 
4. Whisk together the egg and water and brush the egg wash on each square of puff pastry dough (only on one side) and reserve the leftover egg wash.
5. Place about 1 teaspoon of Nutella on each square.
6. Fold each square into a triangle and, using the prongs of a fork, seal the edges of the dough.
7. Brush the egg wash over each triangle.
8. Melt a few tablespoons of Nutella and drizzle over each triangle.
9. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of shredded coconut on top of each triangle.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and the coconut is toasted.
11. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. These can be served either warm or after they have cooled.