Valentine's Day Strawberry Nutella Dumplings

Ingredients:

  • 1 tube of crescent rolls (I bought the brand Immaculate from Whole Foods)
  • 1 jar of nutella
  • 1 case of strawberry
  • 10 raspberries (if you like a little tart)
  • 1 jar coconut oil
  • confectioner sugar

Directions:

  1. Start by dicing your strawberries.  I like to do this by cutting an X in the strawberry from the tip to the stem.
  2. Then I turn it sideways and cut horizontally so four small pieces fall off on each slice.
  3. Place all your strawberries into a bowl and set aside.  
  4. If you like a tart in your dumpling, if you are sweet with a kick, mush the 10 raspberries and add to your strawberries.  You definitely don't want the tart to overpower the sweet so feel free to scale back on the raspberries if it seems like too much.
  5. Empty your coconut oil into a small sauce pan and place on low heat to let it melt and heat up
  6. Open your crescent roll container.  Nothing is more satisfying than the terror and the "Pop!" as the tube explodes open.  
  7. Take all of the dough and mush it all together.  Break into small tablespoon size balls to be rolled out.
  8. Cut one of your balls in half. (The dough one please... I know V-Day is stressful...) Roll the two halves out into large circular discs.  Shoot for about a 3 inch diameter.
  9. Scoop about 1 teaspoon of Nutella into the center of one of the discs.
  10. Add about 1 teaspoon of the fruit
  11. Place the second disc on top and press down all of the edges so it fully seals.
  12. Using your fingers flatten the edges a bit more so there is about an inch of dough surrounding your filling
  13. Now taking a knife and cut two diagonal lines meeting at a point to make the base of the heart
  14. Cut a small triangle out of the opposite side of the dumpling and then use your hands to fold over the two large and rounded sides to complete the heart shape.
  15. If you feel lazy, just resort to the classic fold.  Take one disc, place the filling in the middle, fold in half and seal all the edges.  No shame in that!
  16. Continue this process until you have your desired number of dumplings
  17. Now carefully put the dumplings into the hot oil in small groups
  18. Be sure not to put so many that they touch.  This is ONE part of this holiday where we are NOT promoting touching ;)
  19. Cook until you see the edges start to brown and flip. (usually about 2-3 minutes)
  20. After the second side has browned evenly remove and place on a paper towel to drain.
  21. Sprinkle with a bit of confectioner sugar and enjoy your sweet treat with your sweet!

French Toast Dumpling

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of cinnamon rolls
  • ~ 12 strawberries
  • 1/2 container raspberries
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used sheep's milk ricotta)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 jar coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Wash and dry the strawberries and raspberries
  2. Using the back of a fork, mush the raspberries into a bowl
  3. Holding the strawberry at the stem, slice in a "x" from the end of the berry to the white portion.  The turn the strawberry and slice horizontally over the bowl so the small pieces of strawberry will cover the maroon of the raspberries.
  4. Add the ricotta cheese and stir all together until it's creamy.
  5. In a small bowl whisk the egg until it is a smooth yellow
  6. Open your container of cinnamon rolls (this is always my favorite part with the satisfying *pop* when the container bursts open)
  7. Cut a thin slice horizontally from the roll so you see the swirl of dough and cinnamon.
  8. Using your hands, mush and mold the dough into a flat piece
  9. Spoon a dollop of the fruit mixture into the center of the dough and seal the dough around it.  Try not to let the filling seep out, but don't worry too much -- the egg will seal it. 
  10. Continue making dumplings like this until your dough or filling runs out.  
  11. Once you get close to finishing wrapping, empty your jar of coconut oil into a sauce pan and allow to heat up on medium while you finish the last few.
  12. Dip a morsel into the egg and drop into the hot oil, repeat for 3-4 more dumplings until the sauce pan is full but none are not touching.
  13. Cook for 2-3 minutes flipping occasionally to be sure each side is cooked.
  14. Remove from the oil and set on a paper towel to cool.
  15. Continue the process until all of your dumplings have been fried
  16. Swirl the maple syrup into the frosting included in your cinnamon roll package and set onto a plate for dipping.
  17. Dip a dumpling and enjoy!

Nutella And... Dumpling

The fact is, there is nothing surprising about this "recipe".  Seems almost silly to call it a recipe.  Every crepe maker in the world knows it... Warm nutella with just about anything tastes awesome.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Jar of Nutella
  • Equal parts of whatever other filling you'd like (Strawberry, banana, pumpkin pie, peanut butter, etc)
  • 1 cup sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Other Ingredients:

  • ~40 wraps
  • Cup of warm waterr
  • Deep Fryer or Sauce pan
  • Cooking oil (I prefer peanut oil or coconut oil) 

Note: If you are using a deep fryer you will need a large amount of oil, and coconut oil doesn't agree with deep fryers.  If using Coconut oil, use about one jar in a sauce pan

Directions:

  1. Smear a spoonful of Nutella on your wrap
  2. Add the same amount of your filling on top
  3. For Nutella dumplings I prefer the "pillow fold"
  4. If you have a square wrap, grab one corner and fold it about 60 percent across towards the opposite corner (if you have a round wrap, just choose any part)
  5. Dab that corner with water and fold it over the top
  6. Then repeat with the other two corners
  7. Be sure to seal the edges to prevent leaks
  8. Either crank up your deep fryer, or add a jar of coconut oil to a sauce pan
  9. Add the dumplings in batches to the oil
  10. Cook until golden brown and then place on a paper towel to drain
  11. Toss in sugar and cinnamon if you like, and Enjoy!