Nutella Dessert Takoyaki (2024)

Published August 7, 2018 / Last modified August 7, 2018 By Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles / 42 Comments

These mini, bite-sized dessert takoyaki filled with Nutella are delicious and cute! They're a sweet twist on the classic Japanese dish, Takoyaki!

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Have you ever thought about Takoyaki shaped Nutella dessert? Takoyaki is a Japanese street food made from fried batter shaped in small round balls with octopus bits in them. Japanese people and other people around the world love this snack but I know not everyone likes octopus. So I decided to make a dessert version with Nutella!

Savoury to Sweets

Takoyaki was invented in the 1930s in the Kansai region of Japan. The Kansai region is famous for street food called Kona-mono (flour-things) such as Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. Nowadays, Japanese people are experimenting with different fillings of takoyaki and incorporating sweet ingredients.

Why is it called ‘Nutella Dessert Takoyaki’?

“Tako” means octopus but Nutella Dessert Takoyaki is still called Takoyaki even though it does not contain any octopus. It is made out of a different batter but its shape looks just like Takoyaki and is made in the takoyaki pan. Any kind of sweets made in the takoyaki pan are called “Dessert Takoyaki”. It is a trend to use the special takoyaki pan to make not only takoyaki but sweets too because of its cute round shape.

Is the same takoyaki batter used for Nutella Dessert Takoyaki?

No, Takoyaki batter is very thin and watery. That type of batter is only suitable for savoury Takoyaki. The batter to make Nutella Dessert Takoyaki is more like pancake batter. I use Morinaga brand Japanese “Hot Cake” mix. If you can get “Japanese Hot Cake mix” this is very easy to make fluffy popcake like dessert. Otherwise you can use your own pancake recipe.

But, I don’t have Takoyaki Pan…

Well, If you really really love Japanese food, I recommend to purchase a Takoyaki Pan. As I mentioned, you can make real Takoyaki which is delicious too. If you don’t want to spend money on this special pan, then there are another options. You probably have seen those Dutch mini pancakes called “Poffertjes”. You can use those pans but they are shallower than Takoyaki Pan so therefore, you can not make completely round Takoyaki. You could also try using cakepop tins.

Filling options

The filling options are endless so let your imagination run wild. I choose Nutella because my daughter loves Nutella and, well, who doesn’t like Nutella? Because this is a sweet pancake-like dessert, really anything will go well. My suggestions are custard, peanut butter, chocolate chips, jam, sweet bean paste, and fruit like blueberries. And also you can decorate by topping with drizzled nutella, powdered sugar icing, etc.

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These mini, bite-sized dessert takoyaki filled with Nutella are delicious and cute! They’re a sweet twist on the classic Japanese dish, Takoyaki!

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Japanese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup self raising flour
▢ 1/4 cup caster sugar
▢ 1/4 tsp baking powder
▢ 1 egg + milk to make up 1 and 1/2 cups altogether
▢ 15 g melted butter
▢ Nutella 1 mini spoon size per pancake pop- about 15 tsp

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

Spoon 1 tsp of Nutella onto a tray lined with baking paper to make about 15 Nutella balls. Cover the tray with cling wrap and place it in the freezer until it is ready to be used.
Sift the flour, sugar, and baking powder together into a large bowl.
Break the egg into a measuring jug and whisk it then add the milk to make 1.5 cups of liquid and mix it together.
Add it to the dry ingredients and mix together.
Add the melted butter and combine the ingredients until it makes a smooth batter.
Heat a Takoyaki maker or a profiterole maker (these are a bit more shallow though) on medium heat and spray a little oil then pour the batter into each hole about 80% full (so a bit below the top).
Once the outside of each pancake pop is a bit more firm, add about 1 tsp of Nutella in the centre of each.
Use a kebab stick or skewer to scoop the pancake pops and flip them over.
Continuously keep spinning them around until they form a round circle and are evenly lightly brown.
Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

*1 You could use commercially made Hotcake mix. If you use those, follow the packet instructions.

*2 If you are using fillings that are a little runny, I suggest freezing it in portions of 1 tsp size each beforehand.

Nutrition

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