The ultimate gourmet-style cookies, these Nutella stuffed cookies are made with browned butter, flecked with semisweet chocolate, lightly sprinkled with sea salt, and most importantly, bursting with a molten core of Nutella! Despite their gourmet-status and ingredients, they’re actually quite simple to make, and if you’ve never made browned butter before I’ll walk you through all of the steps in detail in the recipe!
I don’t like to think of myself as a bragger (braggart? I’ve thought about this for too long and the word is starting to lose all meaning to me).
I’m proud, sure, of many of my recipes and this little space that I’ve created, and I can get full-on impassioned when talking about egg yolks and butter and the importance of keeping a thermometer (or two) in your oven at all times.
But I don’t really like to boast about my recipes. Sure, here I talk about their best qualities, but in the real world it’s more of a “I thought this was good, and I hope you like it too”, and let the cookie/cake/etc. speak for itself.
But I have been full out bragging about these cookies. Everything short of stopping people in the halls of the hospital where I work and telling them about “these amazing Nutella stuffed cookies that I made”.
Maybe cutting drastically back on the amount of sugar that I’m consuming during Lent has sent my brain into a cookie-obsessed frenzy, but I’m full-on crazy about these Nutella-stuffed cookies, and I want everyone to try them.
They’re actually a Frankenstein of a cookie driven together by my newfound love of browned butter cookie dough (I used nearly the same exact dough in Friday’s recipe, shhh) and merged that with my love of stuffing desserts inside other desserts, and the half-empty jar of Nutella left over after making a video of these Nutella brownies. Rather than finish off the Nutella spoonful by shameful spoonful, I opted to instead stuff it inside my recent favorite cookie dough for these Nutella stuffed cookies.
Part of me wanted to wait a while before sharing this recipe since, as I mentioned, the base cookie dough was just used in my last recipe, but there was no waiting with these. I felt that it was my duty to the universe to release this recipe as soon as humanly possible, and so here we are 😉
Soft cookies flecked with real chocolate, infused with the golden browned butter in every delectable bite, and centers filled with sweet molten Nutella. There was no waiting with this recipe.
I’ve already talked here and here (and about a half dozen other places on the blog) about the joys of baking with browned butter.
If you haven’t browned butter yourself yet, that’s going to have to change because it is essential for the best possible cookie dough and flavor, and ultimate Nutella stuffed cookies. It’s amazing how such a simple technique can take a standard cookie dough and transform it into something amazing, but it can!
For those of you a little leery of toasting your butter, I include detailed notes and a photo in the recipe to make the process as smooth as possible. Just remember to not take your eyes off of it, because the second you turn your back it’s bound to burn.
Rather than use chocolate chips in this recipe, I opted for a single 4-oz bar of semisweet baking chocolate. I chopped it very finely so that there would be a bit in every bite without being overwhelming when paired with the chocolate flavor of the Nutella.
Enjoy!
And P.S.
If you live in my neighborhood you’re more than likely very aware that there’s a giant snowstorm headed our way tomorrow, and the likelihood of a snow day is strong. Do yourself a favor and skip the milk, toilet paper, and bread, and stock up on butter, Nutella and sea salt.
I can’t think of a better way to pass a snow day than with a batch of Nutella stuffed cookies (sure beats shoveling!).
Nutella Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (280 g) Nutella
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups + 2 Tbsp (362 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar very finely chopped
- sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
Portion the Nutella
- Prepare your Nutella filling first by lining a cookie sheet with wax paper and dropping Nutella by 2 teaspoon-sized dollops onto cookie sheet. Place in freezer to harden while you prepare your cookie dough.1 cup (280 g) Nutella
Brown the Butter:
- Cut your butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Once butter has melted, increase heat to just above medium heat.
- Swirl and scrape the sides of the pan frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will bubble and pop. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown, it will look like this once it's finished:
- Watch the butter very carefully at this point, and once it begins to brown and you smell the nutty aroma of browned butter, remove from heat quickly and pour into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Allow butter to cool for 25-30 minutes, until no longer warm to the touch, before proceeding with the recipe.
For the Cookie Dough
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add sugars into cooled browned butter, stir well.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.2 eggs room temperature preferred
- Add vanilla extract and stir.1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.2 ¾ cups + 2 Tbsp (362 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are completely combined.
- Add your finely chopped chocolate bar and stir well.4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar
- Chill dough in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove frozen Nutella from freezer and cookie dough from refrigerator (if at any point the Nutella becomes too sticky and hard to work with, return to freezer for at least 5-10 minutes)
- Scoop dough by heaping 1 ½ Tbsp-sized spoonful and press frozen Nutella dollop into the center. Form around Nutella until it is completely concealed (add more dough as needed).
- Roll into an even ball and place on a wax-paper lined sheet. Repeat until all Nutella dollops are concealed in cookie dough, and freeze cookie dough balls for 15 minutes.
- Place cookie dough at least 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined sheet, and bake on 375F (190C) for 12-13 minutes, or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Sprinkle immediately with sea salt. Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before removing (they'll be quite fragile when warm, but will become more sturdy as they cool).sea salt
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
You Might Also Like:
Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Cookies
Funfetti Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amanda
These cookies sound amazing!!! I don’t have a bar of chocolate I do have plenty of chocolate chips, would the chips work or is the bar nessacary?
Thanks!!!
Sam
the chocolate chips will definitely work, enjoy! 🙂
Cheryl
These cookies were AMAZING!!! My daughter and I were looking for a Nutella recipe for “National Nutella Day” and these were Perfect!! Her friends and teachers loved it! We just made a second batch for our family!
Thank you for sharing this!!!
Aya
I can start a business out of these cookies! Hahaha! They are so so so good! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe with us, but I need one advice, the Nutella isn’t melted, it became a part of the cookies, what did I do wrong?
Cassie
I was feeling ambitious and tried to make these for a work cookie contest.
I messed up the flour measurements and the dough was dry so I had to add extra butter and some milk… I was really worried but they were still delicious.
Even with me screwing up the recipe, I still won the competition!
I am sure that if you make this recipe the way it is written and don’t mess up like I did, they will be even better!!
Thank you so much for this yummy recipe… I cant wait to try it again 🙂
Sam
I am so happy to hear this!! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, Cassie!!! 🙂
Bea
I made this once and it was a hit in my family! Kids loved it and adults loved it even more! The browned butter definitely makes it different. I have one question though, can I freeze the finished cookie dough (with the mutely dollop inside) overnight and bake the next day? Thank you for the recipe!
Sam
So glad to hear this! I don’t think it would be a problem to freeze the cookie dough, I would just wrap each cookie dough ball tightly in cling wrap or store them in an airtight container in the freezer and then bake them the next day. They may need an extra minute or so just because they’ll be frozen solid, but that shouldn’t be a problem 🙂
Juju
Thank you Sam for this lovely recipe! I’ve had many trial and errors with certain cookie recipes, but I think I found the one! *Heart eyes* I made a batch last night and it turned out so beautifully~ The dough was so easy to work with and baked perfectly. The browned butter definitely makes all the difference. What a game changer! I can’t wait to bake more for the holidays!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear that it was such a hit! Doesn’t the browned butter really just make the cookies!?! Thank you for coming back and letting me know how you liked the recipe! 🙂
Christine Reyes
Would browned butter work for shortbread nicely?
Sam
I haven’t tried it but it sounds delicious to me!
Jenny Mc
These cookies have become my go to recipe. Super easy to make. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe 😘
Kathy
I am not a baker whatsoever, I even find that when I follow a recipe it never comes out as it’s suppose to! However, I decided to try this recipe because my boyfriend is obsessed with nutella. Let me say…this is the BEST cookie recipe!!!! These cookies came out perfectly, oozing with nutella in every bite!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed, Kathy!!! 🙂
Shah
Hi! Amazing recipe. I really cant wait to try it myself. However I prefer crispy cookies with a crunch. The recipe above is for soft cookies am I right?
Do you have any suggestions how I could make the cookies more crispy instead of soft?
Sam
I would just try baking them longer 🙂
Megan
Hi there! Is there any harm in leaving the dough in the fridge for 48 hours? I know other recipes for chocolate chip cookies call for this, but I”m not sure what the purpose is so I don’t know how it would effect a recipe that didn’t call for it. It would be really helpful with my schedule to make the dough on Wednesday and bake them on Friday.
Sam
I think that would be fine! The only thing is that the dough can get really hard in the fridge, so you may need to let it soften a bit at room temperature before it’s easy to scoop again. Another option is to pre-scoop the dough, then cover and refrigerate the cookie dough balls for 48 hours, that would work too! I hope that helps!
Joanne
My chocolate-Nutella loving family will love these cookies!
Sues
Yumm!! These remind me of Magic Middles, one of my fave childhood cookies 🙂 And yes, these are the perfect blizzard food!!
Sam
I have never heard of Magic Middles before but I’m looking into them now! Thanks, Sues!! 🙂
Mikaru86
Already another cookie recipe that I have to try out immediately XD
But I think I’ll substitute the pure Nutella filling with my Nutella cream with cappuccino powder (that I used for the chocolate candies). That is way easier to work with (basically not at all sticky) and tastes even better than Nutella on its own.
This time I’ll also be a bit more adventurous with the browned butter, hopefully I won’t burn it XD
Medha
These would make the best snow day cookies ever! And I am loving how pillowy these look… so delicious. Pinning!