This 2-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Candy Couldn't Be Easier To Make

The sweet treat craze is alive and well thanks to social media. There are a slew of ways to get your fix with two simple components that also offer a variety of health benefits: Whole hazelnuts and dark chocolate. Even better, you may find these ingredients are already in your home (or just a short trip to the grocery store away). Once you have your materials, you need a double boiler to melt the chocolate and a parchment-lined baking sheet to pour your chocolate-hazlenut mixture into (so it's easy to remove once you take it out of the fridge after setting). It's as simple as that.

One of our favorite parts of this late-night fix is that it's endlessly customizable. All it takes is throwing something as simple as flaky salt on top to give it that added texture and flavor factor, but ultimately the toppings are up to you. Coconut flakes, raspberries, or even a white chocolate drizzle could really amplify this treat and make it more interesting to younger palates (if you have kids at home who are just as sugar-crazed as the rest of us). For those who want to add a bit of textural intrigue, there's one common ingredient that makes your chocolate smooth and rich: butter.

Hazelnuts may not be the first thing you add to your grocery list, less often grabbed for than a bag of peanuts or almonds. However, they offer a host of health benefits that add to the list of reasons to indulge in this decadent — and affordable — dessert. 

Hazelnuts are rife with vitamin E, necessary fats, protein, and dietary fiber, which makes hazlenuts useful for maintaining these day-to-day levels. They also, surprisingly, have a positive impact on heart health and assist in reducing inflammation. Paired with the myriad benefits of dark chocolate, which also happens to assist in heart maintenance and brain function, it gives you all the more reason to keep these ingredients stocked in your home kitchen.

As with many things in our modern, micro-trend world, there are usually much more robust roots to the foods we find ourselves indulging in. The iconic combination of hazelnut and chocolate is no different. As it turns out, universally loved brands Ferrero Rocher and Nutella have deep origins in Italian history books and trace to the city of Turin. 

Variations of these decadent treats were first created when chocolatiers took advantage of the Langhe hills' abundance of hazelnuts while working with a limited chocolate supply. With this combination came the name gianduja, which also happens to be the higher-grade 1800s hazelnut spread that beats Nutella at the nutty chocolate game (Nutella arose during World War II). Both sweet and nutty, the spread became a staple of the region and beyond. If you're wondering about the meaning of Ferrero Rocher and how it got its name, as you could assume, this chocolatey treat comes with it's own interesting history. It ties all the way back to the same Italian chocolatiers who first made gianduja, but Ferrero Rocher launched later down the line in 1982.