It’s something I’ve learned from my kids, but I’ve found it works on me too – food suddenly becomes much more appealing when it’s heart-shaped.

Of course, it hardly takes any convincing at all to get most of us to try a sandwich filled with dark chocolate spread. Dark Chocolate Sweetheart Panini are my homage to Valentine’s Day this year, along with a “sweet” giveaway: one lucky winner will receive a trio of Nudo Italia Dark Chocolate Spreads. Read on to see how I pulled together these panini and to enter the chocolate spread giveaway!

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Today marks something of a milestone in my food career…my first live TV cooking demo! A last minute spot opened up on a local show so I decided to give it a shot. Other than my necklace being tucked inside the neckline of my dress (next time I will remember to bring a mirror!) things went rather smoothly and it actually turned out to be a fun experience.

I showed up at the station lugging three bags full of food, cutting boards, cooking utensils and, of course, a grill. Having the chance to chat with some of the other show guests in the green room calmed my nerves a bit. Before I knew it, it was time to set up for my demo.

With it being the 4th of July and all the producer suggested a s’mores theme. Of course, my thing is the panini maker so I came up with an idea for Nutella S’mores Panini. Think classic s’mores meets the fluffernutter: Nutella and marshmallow cream on the inside, crunchy graham cracker crust on the outside. It’s oozy and over-the-top s’mores in sandwich form. I had to test these out after my kids had gone to bed because they definitely would be clamoring for them!

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When I was six years old my best friend’s family went away to Switzerland for several months. When she returned, the sandwiches her mom made for us on playdates at her house were upgraded to include an exciting new chocolate frosting-like ingredient. I could hardly believe we were allowed to have it. It came from a squat little jar with the letters “n-u-t-e-l-l-a” across the front.

To this day, I still feel…sly might be the word…whenever I dip into the little Nutella jar. It’s seriously okay to just eat spreadable chocolate like that?  It just seems so wrong…yet so right! I even go so far as to store it in the back of my pantry to avoid the temptation. I guess that’s why I’ve never shared a Nutella panini recipe until now (well, technically I have, but I haven’t made a true sandwich on sliced bread with it). Maybe I wasn’t ready to confess that a sandwich filled with chocolate spread was something in which I might, from time to time, delight.

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If you were to ask me what’s the very best thing I could think of to make with this Chocolate Bread I’ve been talking about all week, it would go something like this:

I’d grill a slice to get it nice and warm and a little bit toasted on the outside. Then I’d mound a generous scoop of Haagen-Dazs vanilla bean ice cream (or homemade if I had some) right in the middle, not minding in the least if some…or a lot…of it decided to melt on down the grilled ridges of the chocolate bread. After that I’d ladle on some caramelized bananas…and an extra ladle of that yummy caramel from the skillet. To finish it off, I’d sprinkle on some freshly toasted walnuts.

See, I told you I saved the best for last.

Thanks for joining me for Chocolate Bread Panini Week! If you missed them, check out my Brie & Basil Grilled Cheese on Chocolate Bread and Almond Butter & Raspberry Panini on Chocolate Bread recipes. I think we’ll have to go savory for a little while to counteract all this sugar.

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As I mentioned yesterday, it’s Chocolate Bread Panini Week on Panini Happy – one amazing homemade chocolate yeast bread plus three different panini made with it. Believe it or not, this Brie and basil grilled cheese was actually the very first panini idea that popped into my head to make with the chocolate bread. It’s based on the Panini with Chocolate and Brie that Giada De Laurentiis made a year or so ago on her Food Network show, Everyday Italian. Not surprisingly, there was a bit of online buzz about this unusual-sounding flavor combination. Especially the basil…doesn’t that seem kind of random? But people swore up and down that it was amazing, so I was intrigued.

Giada made hers on sourdough bread and added chocolate as a filling. Could I replace those ingredients with chocolate bread and still have a tasty result?

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It started with thoughts of gingerbread…

Could I make dessert panini with gingerbread?

Nice, semi-thick, cake-like gingerbread might really work on the grill. It would get all crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

I should do blondies. Is there a recipe for gingerbread blondies? Oh, thank God – Martha’s got one. Perfect.

Now I’m thinking s’mores. But s’mores with what?

Martha’s recipe calls for white chocolate, but if I put white chocolate next to marshmallow cream they’ll be indistinguishable in the photos. Plus, I kind of overdid white chocolate during that major Nestlé Alpine White kick of mine back in the ’80s.

The Flavor Bible says dark chocolate is also great with ginger. As is citrus.

Didn’t I just buy a whole palette of Cuties?

Thick, cakey gingerbread blondies filled with dark chocolate, marshmallow cream and clementine zest, grilled on the panini press…and cut into gingerbread men shapes!

I’m so doing this.

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