Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies {my favorite cookie ever}

I know that the title of this recipe is a little absurd and dramatic, but I couldn’t think of any other way to present this cookie to you.

Quite frankly, this is a chocolate chip cookie that will change your life.

These cookies came about when my friend asked me to bake something that he could bring to an event he was going to. Of course, anytime someone asks me to make a dessert I usually end up baking my famous brown butter + sea salt chocolate chip cookies (because they are absolutely phenomenal); however, I wanted to do something a little different with the cookies that would be surprisingly unexpected and delicious.

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Updated: Here’s a fun video I made with Gold Medal Flour. This video doesn’t include the stuffing of the nutella, but it’s still fun to watch how they’re made.

So off to the grocery store I went, where I proceeded to pace the baking aisle for a good hour. I kept putting things in my basket and taking them out. No real surprise there, the grocery store is my sick obsession. I think I want to live there.

Then I realized that there is one delicious little nut butter that isn’t featured in any of my recipes: NUTELLA! I put a jar in my basket and ran to the check out lane absolutely giddy about what was going to take place. I mean, was I really going to stuff Nutella in the middle of a cookie?! I couldn’t wait! I’m not kidding… I really couldn’t wait; I ate some Nutella on the way home from the store. After all, taste testing is really important.

Once I got home, I popped the jar of Nutella in the fridge so that it would be easy to scoop out and place in the middle of the cookies. Next I begin to brown some butter. I should note that browning butter is a crucial part to the flavor of these cookies; it brings out a nutty, caramel flavor. The French even call brown butter beurre noisette, which translates to hazelnut butter. How perfect is that since these cookies are stuffed with a chocolate hazelnut butter!?

Curious about how to brown butter? If you aren’t familiar with how to brown butter, I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial for you.

After letting the brown butter cool, I mixed my cookie dough and let it chill for two hours in the refrigerator –another VERY important step when it comes to making cookies!

Now you are probably wondering why you have to wait so long when all you want to do is devour a cookie. I’ll explain: putting warm, gooey dough in the oven will result in a thin and crispy, spread out cookie. Also the longer the dough spends in the refrigerator, the longer it has to relax and absorb the flavors of the butter, which in turn will result in a better tasting, chewier cookie.

So here’s where it gets a tiny bit messy: wrapping the dough around the Nutella; it can be tricky! Some people have found that freezing the nutella in dollops first helps.

I rolled my dough into a 1 1/2 inch ball (top left photo), then I flattened it out very thin in the palm of my hand (top right). Next I took 1 teaspoon of the chilled nutella and placed it in the middle of the flattened dough (bottom left), finally I folded the edges over to enclose the Nutella and formed the dough back into a ball.

Then I placed them evenly on a baking sheet, and very gently pressed them down. Finally I baked them until the edges begin to slightly brown.

The best part? Sprinkling them with a little coarse sea salt for that sweet and salty flavor we all love.

Imagine: Warm. Gooey. Hazelnutty. Chocolaty. Sweet and salty. What more could you want in a cookie?

Basically I’m just saying they are the best thing evvaaaaaaaaaaa.

Believe me, I know they’re a little bit evil. Okay, and ridiculously unhealthy. But you know it’s sort of amazing at the same time. 

This is hands down the best cookie I’ve ever made. It’s also my number one most requested recipe. So… save these for the holidays or just indulge now; I promise it’s completely worth it.

I hope you’ll try them out! AND if you don’t want to stuff them with nutella, then simply leave it out of the recipe and bake the cookies. Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen. And of course be sure to follow Ambitious Kitchen on Instagram. xo!

If you like this chocolate chip cookie recipe, you might also like:

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Blondies

Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Deep Dish French Silk Pie with Hazelnut Oreo Cookie Crust

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Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies {The Best Cookies in The World}

4.85 from 113 votes

byby :Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com

Leave A Review Print Recipe

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

ServesServes 24 cookies

The best nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies made with nutty brown butter and sprinkle of sea salt. They're sweet, indulgent, and my favorite cookie ever! This incredible chocolate chip cookie recipe is guaranteed to wow a crowd.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon 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
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. 
• Make your brown butter: melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. 
• After a couple of 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 begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. 
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Slow add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low until well combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix again until just combined.
• Cover your bowl and chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 20-30 minutes if you are super eager, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. 
• Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball -- it doesn’t have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. 
• Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand VERY gently. (Really only the tops need to be flattened a bit!)
• 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 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.

Recipe Notes

If dough is hard once chilled, place out to thaw for 20-30 minutes or until you can work with it.