Imagine this . . . hazelnut core, nutella hazelnut wafers, chocolate hazelnut coating.  You with me?

Sound familiar?  Like a Ferrero Rocher you say?  Well, it is, but in GIANT form! 

I’ve been wanting to make a homemade ferrero rocher every since I made homemade nutella.  But, rather than making regular sized ones, I opted to go big.  “Go big or go home” is what my brother used to say.  He was referring to hockey and not chocolate, but that’s not important.  When I’m referring to chocolate, I’m always referring to going BIG.   

Hazelnuts are the main flavouring component to a ferrero.  I find it next to impossible to find hazelnuts already roasted.  To roast the hazelnuts, simply line a baking tray with parchment paper, and toast for 15-20 mins at 325F.  Once the hazelnuts are fragrant and toasted, allow them to cool, and peel the skins from the nuts.  They’re now ready to use!

To make the giant ferrero rocher, the general idea is to encase a hazelnut/hazelnut butter mixture, nutella wafers and coat the entire thing in chocolate and crushed hazelnuts. 

If you prefer to stick with the smaller, traditional size, you can definitely do that with this recipe too.  Instead of using the hazelnut butter and hazelnuts to make the core, simply use a single hazelnut.  Wrap the hazelnut in the nutella mixture, roll into a ball, roll in nuts and finally melted chocolate.   

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