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.
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Amanda
Hi there!
I’ve made these cookies twice now and while they taste delicious, my cookie dough is crumbly and my cookies don’t really spread much. What could be causing this??
Thanks,
Amanda
Sam
Hi Amanda! I’m so sorry this is happening! It sounds like there may be a little too much flour in the cookie dough.
Francine
Hi Sam! I tried your recipe and absolutely love the taste! But my nutella just doesn’t seem to melt. When I halved the cookie the nutella was in its original spread texture rather than runny? Any idea why? 🙁
Sam
Hi Francine! The nutella will firm up a bit after the cookies cool. If you want that melty center you can just microwave them for a few seconds before eating. 🙂
Kia
Can I use Caster sugar instead of brown sugar alongside regular sugar? I cannot find brown sugar anywhere in my area.
Thank you
Kia
Sam
Hi Kia! You can just substitute the brown sugar for more regular sugar. Enjoy!
Lucy
Hi! I don’t know why my cookies are much finner than yours. What should I change if I want my cookies to be more chubby, although they taste really well, i love them!!
Sam
Hi Lucy! I am so glad you enjoyed them! They may need just a little more flour. You can always check my post on how to measure flour if you think you may be not getting enough in the batter. I hope this helps! 🙂
Lesley K
This is the first recipe I tried of yours at the beginning, have repeated many times and never fails, tweaked to also do biscoff spread stuffed and now keep supply in freezer to bake when sweet cravings hit.. Just wanted to say big thanks xxx
Sam
I am so glad you have enjoyed them so much, Lesley! 🙂
Bea
I don’t have baking powder but I do have baking soda. Can I just use baking powder? If so what measurement do you suggest.
Sam
Hi Bea! I would not recommend doing that here. I would wait until you are able to get the baking powder.
Fisa
The best Nutella Stuffed Cookies recipe ever! The combination of browned butter and soft cookies texture is to die for 😍
I doubled the recipe and made it for a birthday party last week. As you expected everyone loves it 🤗
Thanks for sharing!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cookies so much! 🙂
Charmz
Hi, I was wondering if it was ok to use choc chips instead of chopped chocolate bar?
Sam
That should work just fine here. 🙂
Damjana
Hi there!
I recently made these and they were AMAZING! I was just wondering, can they be frozen? If so, is it best to do it before or after it’s baked?
Sam
Hi Damjana! These can be frozen. For me it’s best to stuff the cookies roll them, wrap them individually and store in a freezer bag. This way you can have fresh baked cookies whenever you’d like. 🙂
Damjana
Thank you so much! 🙂 would you recommend leaving them out for a little after taking them out of the freezer or can they go directly into the oven?
Sam
They can go directly into the oven, but they will need a few more minutes to bake. If you want to let them thaw it’s probably best to do it in the refrigerator. 🙂
Nancy
How long should they be thawed for in the fridge if you decide to freeze them for a later date? Thanks! Can’t wait to try.
Sam
I have never actually thawed them in the refrigerator. I have always baked them from frozen so I am not sure how long they would take to thaw.
Hema Saminathan
Hi I am Hema… My kids love your recipe, thanks alot… I am a vegetarian. Is that OK if I don’t put eggs?
Sam
Hi Hema! Unfortunately they won’t turn out properly if you skip the eggs. 🙁
Cecilia
Super yummy!!
Instead of using a flat pan I used the cupcake pan and put the rolled dough in each little circle and they turned out like cupcake shaped cookies 🍪
Nutella filled so ooey gooey
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Cecilia! 🙂
Shelly
Hello I want to give these cookies a try but I’m allergic to eggs. Can I substitute eggs in this recipe with something?
Sam
Hi Shelly! Unfortunately I don’t know of a good substitute for eggs here. 🙁
Priya
Hello 🙂
Once you get to the position of stuffing and freezing the cookie dough balls, can I keep half of them frozen to bake at a later date?
Thanks in advance x
Sam
Hi Priya! You only need to freeze the nutella, the cookie dough needs to go in the freezer, but yes after you stick the filling in the cookie dough you could wrap those up individually and store them in a freezer bag in the freezer for later 🙂
Grace
You can use applesauce, mashed bananas, arrowroot powder and many more things to substitute as eggs
Alyssa
These came out so good!! My family keeps asking me for more! I had left over dough and used it for regular chocolate chip cookies and they were so yummy! This is the best cookie recipe. I browned the butter exactly as you said and it was perfect!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Alyssa! 🙂
Jen
Very time consuming and mine look nothing like the pic….mine are huge and not presentable. Tasted very buttery and hands were very oily after eating. Kids enjoyed them. I made 20 exactly.
Gayatri
Omg! These turn out to be really giant cookies. Finished in no time. Super delicious and indulgent.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Gayatri! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂