Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

You will love these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies stuffed to the brim with molten Nutella filling. The buttery and crispy edge of my classic chocolate chip cookies combined with that sweet, hazelnut flavor is unbeatable. Serve with a cold glass of milk or a scoop of ice cream and it makes for the perfect cozy-day treat.

First, we need to make the "stuff" for our stuffed cookies. I'm using Nutella because I love how that classic, hazelnut flavor combines with buttery chocolate chip cookies. You can stuff a cookie with anything, though! You can use marshmallows to make a s'mores cookie, Reese's for a peanut butter cookie, or even Oreos for a cookies and cream cookie.

Heads up, there is some chilling required in this recipe, but you wouldn't want your Nutella oozing out the sides of your cookie and making a sad mess, right? We want gorgeous, gooey lava centers for our stuffed cookies. Make sure you read this recipe all the way through before beginning. This will help you plan out your time accordingly. If you are in a hurry and don't have time to do the proper chilling, the cookies could possibly not have the desired outcome.

Ingredients

Nutella/Hazelnut spread: You can use any brand of hazelnut chocolate spread at your local store. This spread has different additives than just a regular ganache has, so it could behave differently if you choose to replace the Nutella with a homemade ganache.

Eggs: Cold eggs work best for this recipe to prevent spreading, to learn more about the science of the chocolate chip cookie, check out my master chocolate chip recipe. Also, depending on where you live in the world, your eggs might be larger or smaller. I'm using an egg that weighs about 1.6 ounces.

How to make Nutella stuffed cookies step-by-step

Nutella Prep

1. Line a cookie sheet that fits in your freezer with parchment paper.
2. Scoop the Nutella into 2 teaspoon size dollops. This recipe will make about 20 cookies.
3. Place them in the freezer for about an hour (or overnight) before beginning the cookie process. They soften very quickly so it is easiest to have the Nutella portions frozen and work quickly.

Making The Cookie Dough

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add in the butter and mix until smooth. I'm using my Bosch Universal Plus mixer, but you can use a KitchenAid, or hand mixer as well.
3. Add in both the brown sugar and white sugar and cream together on medium speed until pale and fluffy, this could take about 2-4 minutes or more depending on your mixer.
4. While mixing on low, add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated before adding the next.
5. Add the teaspoon of vanilla and mix briefly until combined. Your mixture should look homogenous and not curdled.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
7. Finally, add in the chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed. Save a few to add to the tops of the cookies for decoration.

How To Stuff The Cookies

1. Using a #20 size scoop (roughly 3 Tablespoons), scoop the cookie dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. It's okay if all of the dough balls are on one sheet pan, you will not be baking them all together at this point.
2. Refrigerate the dough balls for at least 30 minutes. The dough will be easier to work with once it's cold and it will allow the flour to absorb the moisture in the batter, which prevents spreading!
3. Once your dough balls have chilled, and the Nutella balls are frozen, you'll want to stuff your cookies.
4. Divide your dough ball into 2 even pieces.
5. Flatten the pieces slightly.
6. Sandwich the frozen nutella in between the two flattened pieces of cookie dough and press the dough around the nutella so it's totally covered.
7. Place all of the stuffed cookies back on the tray and refrigerate for another hour, or overnight. This will give the dough and Nutella time to come to the same temperature, resulting in a more even bake.
8. An hour before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375°F and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Place 6 cookies onto the pan and top with a few extra chocolate chips so they look extra pinterest worthy after baking. (optional)
10. Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Check the progress of the cookie at 10 minutes, the center may appear to be underdone, but it should look baked, and not "wet". If it does appear wet and shiny over the Nutella ball, continue to bake for an extra 2 minutes at a time until it is finished baking.
11. Cool the cookies on the tray for 5-10 minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling rack. The molten center will make it weak and could possible crack the cookie when you try to move it. Also, let it cool a bit before biting into it so the lava center doesn't burn the skin in your mouth. Ouch!
12. After cooling you can store the cookies at room temperature for up to 1 week. Nutella is shelf-stable, but if you're stuffing your cookies with other ingredients be sure to check if they need refrigeration such as cream cheese filling.

FAQ

More Cookie Recipes You'll Love

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2. Authentic Snickerdoodle Cookies
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4. Lofthouse Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
5. Chocolate Macarons
6. Red Velvet Cookies

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