Vanilla Gelato Bites with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Ingredients

• 1 pint vanilla gelato or ice cream
• 1 (12-ounce) bag chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts (about 5 ounces)

Directions

Special equipment: bite-sized ice cream scoop and wooden popsticks

Place a small tray or a plate in the freezer. Remove the gelato from the freezer to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove the chilled tray from the freezer. Scoop out 16 bite-sized balls of gelato and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and quickly insert a wooden popstick into each gelato ball. Return them to the freezer for at least 1 hour.

When the gelato balls have frozen with their sticks in place, place the chocolate in a double-boiler over very gently simmering water until melted. Next to the pot of chocolate, place the toasted, chopped hazelnuts in a shallow bowl.

Remove the gelato balls from the freezer, 4 at a time. Working quickly, hold the gelato ball by the stick and dip into the melted chocolate, then dredge it in the hazelnuts. Return them to the freezer and continue with 4 more gelato balls, until all the gelato balls are covered in chocolate and nuts. Freeze the chocolate-and-nut-covered gelato for at least 1 hour.

These are very fun, festive, and tasty. The ice cream scoop I used is a number 40 (holds 1 tablespoon, is 1 1/2 inches in diameter.)