Chefs Share

Welcome to the first Chefs Share of 2021! Each month, we’re highlighting restaurant recipes from your favorite chefs – no professional kitchen experience required. Best of all, you can find all the ingredients at your local grocery store or market.

This month’s recipe comes from Monica “Mika” Leon, owner of Caja Caliente. Mika opened the original Caja Caliente food truck in 2016 and it quickly became known for its delicious Cuban tacos. While that Wynwood location is gone, Caja Caliente has moved on with a brick-and-mortar eatery in the Gables and a new permanent food truck location in the Design District.

January tends to be all about healthy resolutions, so if you’re looking for a cheat day dessert, these Nutella blondies from Mika will hit the spot. And while the recipe does call for that hazelnut cocoa spread, you can swap in whatever substitution you like. She makes them with guava and cream cheese at Caja Caliente, and also tops them with ice cream and crushed Frosted Flakes (as pictured). Be creative – just be careful not to overbake! 

NUTELLA BLONDIE CUPS

Yield: 11-12 medium-sized blondies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

• 1 stick butter, melted and cooled

• 1/3 cup + 4 tablespoons Nutella

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350º F. In a stand mixer bowl using a paddle attachment, add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract and eggs and mix for a minute or two. (You can also make this in a mixing bowl using a handheld electric mixer.)

• With mixer on low, slowly add butter. Once incorporated, bring speed up to medium for another 30 seconds, then add 1/3 cup Nutella. 

• Once all ingredients are incorporated, use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix it all together manually; the batter at the bottom of the bowl sometimes needs a little TLC. You want your batter to be thick and shiny.

• Spoon batter into a nonstick muffin pan, evenly filling each cup about 3/4 of the way up. Add a small dollop of Nutella atop each one and swirl with a toothpick. 

• Place muffin pan in the middle rack of the oven (very important!) and set a timer for 13 minutes. (That seems to be my magic number, but not all ovens are the same. Keep an eye on the blondies; if at 13 minutes they seem way too soft, just bake a minute or two longer. I like mine gooey, so I take them out around the 13-minute mark.)

• Remove blondies from oven and let them sit. Because the pan is still hot, they will continue to cook even outside of the oven, so don’t get stressed out if they seem too soft. Once cooled, place on plate and top off with your fave ice cream and toppings!

Find this recipe and more on Mika’s official website, mikaleon.com.