It's World Nutella Day

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Grab a spoon and prepare to celebrate!

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso solemnly declare Sunday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2013″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella!

My submission to this fun event are these cute and delicious Nutella Meringue Cookies. This recipe comes from Cream Puffs in Venice one of the bloggers that first inspired me to join into the food blogging world and start a blog of my own. Thanks Ivonne! That was way back in 2007.  Which is also about the same time that Sara and Michelle started World Nutella Day. A day for flooding the internet with all things Nutella. Thanks ladies for making the internet more delicious! 

Happy World Nutella Day!

Crispy on the outside, chewy chocolaty on the inside, divine!

Nutella Meringues
Source: Cream Puffs in Venice

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup Nutella
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon, granulated sugar

METHOD:
Heat oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Warm the Nutella in a microwave safe bowl in 15 second intervals until just barely melted.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, place the egg whites. Beat on medium-high speed until they are completely foamy.
Add the cream of tartar and the salt and continue whipping at medium-high speed until when you lift the whisk attachment, soft peaks form. This will take a few minutes.
Once you have reached the soft peak stage, increase the speed to high. At this point, start adding the sugar, slowly,  a few spoonfuls at a time.
Once all the sugar is in, the meringue should be very thick. When you lift  the whisk stiff  peaks should remain.

Drizzle in the Nutella. Gently fold the Nutella into the meringue three or four times. You want the meringue to to be streaky and not to deflate, so don't so over-mix.
You can either pipe the meringues onto the parchment-lined trays using a pastry bag fitted with a large open round tip or using two spoons, drop the meringue onto the baking sheets in large dollops.
Place in the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, immediately lower the heat to 200°F and rotate the trays. Bake for one hour.
After an hour, check the meringues. They should look and feel dry. If you see any shine or moisture on them, continue baking them for another 10 minutes. Shut off the oven and leave the meringues to cool with the oven for a few hours or overnight. When you remove them from the baking sheet, they should release easily from the parchment and sound dry when you tap them.
The meringues will keep in an airtight container for about a week.

Feel free to make these into sandwich cookies with more nutella!