This chocolate quesadilla recipe makes a fun dessert

A flour tortilla slathered with chocolate-hazelnut spread (aka Nutella), topped with a layer of banana slices and drizzled with dulce de leche or caramel sauce is everything. It tastes like sweet-luscious heaven, looks like a dream, and is incredibly simple to throw together.

Oh, and say you don’t like bananas, or you are deeply, madly in love with s’mores — we’ve got you covered. Swap out the bananas for a layer of marshmallow fluff or a sprinkling of tiny marshmallows.

The recipe below calls for homemade dulce de leche sauce, which simmers unattended for about an hour and a half. I could make a vat of this sauce and not a drop would go to waste: it keeps in the fridge for at least a week, though it rarely lasts that long. We use it on ice cream, as a dipping sauce for doughnuts, and my favorite — drizzled over grilled slices of pound cake. (My husband believes the sauce’s true calling is as a dip for pretzels). But should a dessert emergency arise where you don’t have 1 ½ hours to wait, you can substitute bottled caramel sauce for the dulce de leche in the recipe below. 

This recipe makes 12 wedges, which can serve anywhere from 6 to 12 people. You can halve the recipe.

Dessert Quesadilla

6 8-inch flour tortillas

3/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread

4 medium bananas, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted

1 recipe dulce de leche sauce (below)

1. Arrange the tortillas on a work surface. Spread the top of each tortilla with 2 tablespoons of the chocolate-hazelnut spread, leaving a 1/4-inch border free around the edges. Arrange the banana slices on top of the spread and sprinkle with the nuts. Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filling to form a half circle.

2. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 quesadillas to the skillet and cook until golden brown on the underside, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the quesadillas over and again cook until the underside is golden brown, another 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and repeat with the remaining quesadillas.

3. Cut each quesadilla in half and drizzle with the dulce de leche. Serve additional sauce on the side for dipping if desired.

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Dulce de leche:

2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the dulce de leche, combine the milk, sugar, and baking soda in a 3-quart nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and thickened, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and strain through a fine sieve.