Nutella Stuffed Cookies

Nutella Stuffed Cookies. Yes, they are as naughty and indulgent as they look. But so much easier to make than you think! No electric beater, just a wooden spoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods in your mouth…. send help!

This is no ordinary cookie.

This is a cookie that is sinfully decadent, and makes no apology for it.

I feel like the photos tell you everything you need to know to do a run to the grocery shop so you can make these immediately…

But just in case you’re one of those sensible people who thinks before they act (what is life like that, I wonder? 🤔), this is what you’re in for: a soft baked, buttery chocolate chip cookie with beautiful caramel undertones that’s chewy on the inside and just the right amount of crispiness on the edges.

Oh, and it’s stuffed with Nutella. In case you missed that part!! 😂

I love how it looks so innocent when you pull it out of the oven. Just another chocolate chip cookie…

…then you break it open and BOOM! In-your-face-melty decadence!

Are you ready to be shocked how straightforward this is to make? Let’s do this!

SPOILER: It involves frozen discs of Nutella that are buried inside cookie dough.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make these Nutella Stuffed Cookies.

1. Nutella

Shocking. I know. 😂

In theory, this recipe will work with any spread that you want to see oozing out of a chocolate chip cookie as long as it will freeze so it can be wrapped with the cookie dough. Immediate thoughts that come to mind:

Nut-free and other chocolate spreads
Non Nutella-brand hazelnut spread
Peanut butter
Biscoff spread (I know Biscoff is having a moment!)

2. EVERYTHING ELSE

The ingredients are simple. But there’s some chatter below for fellow baking nerds, interested in things like why are you using baking soda instead of baking powder? What’s with that smidge of honey? There is logic behind everything!

Flour – Just regular plain / all-purpose flour. Don’t use self-raising flour for this cookie, the amount of built in baking powder is too much.
Brown sugar rather than white sugar, for better flavour and colour.
Unsalted butter, melted – This is the fat in this recipe, to give these cookies a lovely buttery flavour. If you only have salted, leave out the salt.
Baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) – This is the leavening agent that makes the cookies rise a bit so they aren’t dense and hard. I use baking soda rather than baking powder for these cookies because baking soda makes things brown faster in the oven which we need for these cookies to have an appealing golden colour and lovely crisp edges in the short 12 minute baking time.

Baking powder will work, if that’s all you’ve got, and they will still be delicious (I mean, Nutella! Choc chips! Butter!). But expect your cookies to be paler and a little less chewy, and they lose the chewy texture over the next few days. You’ll need to use 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder.
Honey – Baking science at work here! Just 1 teaspoon of honey keeps these cookies moist and chewy inside rather than becoming “cakey” or dry. The honey also makes the cookies colour faster so they aren’t pale (same point above for baking soda).

Because we only need so little, you can’t taste it at all. Substitute with corn syrup (it serves the same purpose). Maple syrup and other sweet liquids won’t work. It’s fine to leave it out (it’s not a big deal), just expect the cookies to be a little paler and they will lose freshness faster in the days to come.
Large egg at room temperature – An egg around 55 grams / 2 ounces that has been out of the fridge for around 30 minutes so it is not fridge cold.

If your egg is a bit larger than 60g / 2.1 oz in the shell, I would feel better if you cracked, whisked, then measured out 2 1/2 tablespoons of egg. Note: Normally I am not so pedantic, even in most cake recipes. But cookies can be a little temperamental and these ones spread a fair bit (you’ll see below), and I worry if your egg is too big then your cookies might spread too much. See here for more information about why the size and temperature of eggs for baking matters.
Chocolate chips – Because it didn’t feel right not having choc chips as well as Nutella. 😂 I would’ve used Nutella chips if such a thing existed!
Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract is better than vanilla essence which is imitation.
Salt – To bring out the flavours. Standard baking practice these days, to add a bit of salt. It doesn’t taste salty at all, we only use a very small amount.

How to make Nutella Stuffed Cookies

The cookie dough takes about 1 1/2 hours to firm up in the fridge while the Nutella discs take 1 hour. So we’ll make the cookie dough first.

Mix dry – Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
Barely melted butter – Microwave the butter in a heatproof bowl for 30 seconds on high or until it is not quite melted. Then mix with a rubber spatula to finish melting the butter. It will be “milky” / cloudy rather than clear yellow oil (ie when butter is fully melted) which is what we want. It makes the cookies taste a little more buttery.

Don’t fret if you don’t quite hit the mark here, it is not the end of the world, it’s just one of those extra little touches the slightly improves a recipe. 🙂

Cookie dough – Add the sugar, vanilla and honey, and mix to combine. Then mix the egg in. It should look like a thick caramel! Lastly, add the flour and mix it in.
Chill to firm – The cookie dough will be quite loose at this stage, too sticky to roll into balls. And probably a bit warm. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours until it is firm enough to roll into a log.

2. frozen nutella discs

While the cookie dough is chilling, move onto the frozen Nutella discs.

Dollop 1 slightly heaped tablespoon of Nutella on a paper lined tray. Spread into ~8mm/ 1/3″thick rounds. Don’t make it too thin, else it seems to disappear when it melts inside the cookie!
Freeze for 1 hour or until they are firm enough to pick up.

3. cut

Log – Once chilled, the cookie dough should be firm enough to roll in your hands. Roll it out into a 18cm / 7″ log.
Then cut into 10 equal pieces.

Why a log? Because I find it faster to cut into equal pieces, plus once cut the pieces are ready-made for wrapping around the Nutella discs. Not need to fiddle with scooping and rolling balls, and pinching a bit of dough from here and there to make them all the same size!

4. stuff

Flatten the dough until it is about 5mm / 0.2″ thin (I do this on the lined tray).
Press a frozen Nutella disc in upside down (upside down = flat side ends up down when we flip the cookie).

Bundle and seal – Gather the cookie dough around the Nutella disc, then seal to enclose the Nutella.
Flip and shape – Turn the cookie upside down (so the gathered side is down and smooth side now faces up). Then shape the cookie into 1.5cm/ 3/5″ thick rounds.

Nutella sealing – It’s ok for Nutella to poke out on the surface but make sure the underside and sides are sealed else the Nutella will run out when baking.

Top with chocolate chips and lightly press them in. Do the sides as well, else you’ll end up with a naked ring around the border of the cookie!

PS Mixing chocolate into the dough makes it more difficult to enclose the Nutella disc with dough as the choc chips get in the way.
Ready for baking! Make sure the cookies are 8cm / 3″ apart, to allow sufficient room for spreading and air flow circulation.

5. BAKE & COOL

Bake both the trays at the same time for 12 minutes in a 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) oven. The cookies are done when the edges are golden and the surface is pale golden. The middle might look a little undercooked which is ok because they will finish cooking in the next step.
Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the tray. They will finish cooking with the residual heat. Then transfer onto a cooling rack (so the underside doesn’t steam and go soggy) and let them cool for at least 5 minutes before you grab one!

15 Minute Molten Moment

I’ll let you in on a little secret. There is a small window at which these cookies are at their absolute peak.

The moment in question is the 15 minute mark out of the oven. This is the split second when the cookies have had just enough time for the edges to set so you can pick it up without collapsing into a warm gooey-mess (albeit a delicious one), the Nutella has cooled enough so you won’t get third degree burns on your chin but it’s still at melty perfection.

If you can sink your teeth into one of these cookies at that moment, it is an unmatched cookie experience.

Enjoy without guilt. Diet starts Monday! – Nagi x