Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

These are probably the fattest cookies you’ll ever have. Really. But they’re also probably the most delicious. Nutella? Check. Decadent browned butter? Check. Gooey, moist chocolate chip cookies? Check. Sea salt sprinkled on top? Check, check, check! (But if we’re being honest, I was sold at Nutella.)

I discovered and was inspired by a similar recipe on Ambitious Kitchen about a year ago. After I made them for the first time, I was so excited about these cookies that I published the recipe here on my blog even though I only had one grainy photo and a description that couldn’t do them justice.

No description can.

Since then, I’ve made the cookies for several different occasions and they’ve been a hit every time. Which is why I’ve decided to improve the post with a better description and step-by-step photos.

These Nutella-stuffed nuggets are the perfect cookies if you’re:

  • Obsessed with Nutella.
  • Obsessed with chocolate.
  • Obsessed with cookies in general.
  • Headed to a holiday party.
  • Headed to any party.
  • Headed to a party of one on your couch to binge-watch Netflix.
  • Trying to woo a cute boy or girl.
  • Trying to woo a cute boy or girl’s family & friends.
  • Trying to balance out the healthy salad you ate for lunch.
  • Trying to eat a day’s worth of calories in one fell swoop.
  • [Insert any reason — or no reason — here and it will do, because really, they’re just the perfect cookies.]

So, friends, throw on your stretchiest pants, and get ready to bake and eat (a dozen of) these little bundles of chocolatey, hazelnutty joy.  I’ve included some step-by-step photos, followed by the full recipe below.  Enjoy!

First, take out all of your ingredients.  If you think they look cute hangin’ out together now, wait ’til they’re smushed into cookie form.

 

Lots of ingredients for Nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Next, combine your flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Flour mixture for the cookie dough

Now it’s time to get those sugars ready for some decadent brown butter.  Put them into a large bowl, as this bowl is ultimately going to hold all of your dough.

 

Prepping the sugars for some brown butter

Now it’s time to whisk, whisk, whisk your butter in a saucepan until it’s decadently brown and delicious.

 

Browning the butter for the Nutella chocolate chip cookies

Once you’ve browned your butter and let it cool for a bit, add it to the sugars and beat them together until just combined.

 

Don't melted brown butter and sugar go so well together?

Next you’ll add your egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until just combined.  Then it’s time for the dry ingredients.  As always, add this flour mixture slowly to prevent your entire kitchen from turning into a floury wonderland.

Finally, it’s time to add your chips!  Fold them in until they’re spread somewhat evenly throughout the batter.

Mixing the chips in with the cookie dough

This is also a great time to make sure your dough is up to snuff… not that I’m encouraging you to eat raw cookie dough… because that would be bad… (but so, so good!)

Once your dough is ready to go, cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

After your dough is chilled, it’s time to get stuffin’!  I create balls out of about 1.5T of dough…

Just chocolate chip cookie dough balls, no Nutella yet!

And then I flatten the living daylight out of ’em…

I flatten my dough to make it easier to stuff them with Nutella

Which makes it easier to add a dollop of Nutella.

What your Nutella-stuffed cookies should look like before you roll them into a ball

Then you close the dough around the Nutella — make sure none is squeaking out! — and pop those bad boys in the oven for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie balls, ready to bake!

And then, voilà!  You’ve got yourself some Nutella stuffed brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Don’t forget to sprinkle with sea salt!

Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1 small jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
  • Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
  2. Next, it’s time to brown the butter.  Over medium heat, melt butter in a saucepan — preferably a light-colored one so you can keep an eye on how brown the butter is getting.  Whisk the butter constantly during this process to prevent burning.  After several minutes, the butter will begin to foam.  After several MORE minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter is brown and giving off a nutty aroma.  Immediately transfer it to a separate bowl and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
  3. Once the butter has cooled a bit, use an electric mixer to mix the butter and sugars until just combined.  Then, beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt.
  4. Next, add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed until just combined.
  5. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.
  6. Cover and chill your dough for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
  7. Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. While the oven is warming up, it’s time to create your Nutella-stuffed cookie dough balls.  Grab your dough and Nutella from the fridge. Scoop about 1.5T of dough from the batch and roll into a ball.  Flatten the dough ball into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of Nutella in the middle and fold dough around it, gently rolling into a ball.  Make sure the Nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and gently flatten with your hand.
  9. Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets for at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
  10. ENJOY!