Brown Butter Nutella-Stuffed Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey there internet friends. I cannot tell you how much I love Sundays for catching up on things (including making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies)! Sometimes you just need it, you know?. I was able to do a little recipe development, laundry, cleaning and of course sit down and finally edit and write this post.

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But first, how was your weekend? On Friday, Tony and I attended a surprise party then celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Saturday thus we were busy, busy, busy! I got him a new TV and he brought me to Starved Rock, a beautiful national park in Illinois with miles of trails. We ended up hiking most of the day, something that he knows I absolutely love. I can’t believe we’ve been dating a year! Love really does surprise you when you least expect it to.

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Before I get super sappy and make myself cry blabbing over love and romance – we must talk cookies, because sometimes they can be just as wonderful.

It’s been a while since you’ve seen an indulgent cookie from me. My bad guys. In fact, many of you have emailed requesting pumpkin cookies and so of course I’m bringing you one to put in your recipe books and keep forever and ever. NUTELLA STUFFED PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

Pumpkin lovers, this one’s for you.

First I must tell you that it is INCREDIBLY difficult to make a chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. It is actually one of the most frustrating things when all you want is a regular cookie to have a little pumpkin flavor (which by the way I could totally do with pumpkin spice but then would feel like a cheat because the cookie wouldn’t actually contain any REAL pumpkin). So I made a few batches of these just to ensure that everything was perfect and that you wouldn’t get a big old soft cake cookie like most other pumpkin cookie recipes out there.

This recipe is chewy, rich, brown buttery and full of pumpkin flavor. And wait, it’s STUFFED with nutella too! I know I may have gone a little overboard but the holidays are coming and it’s time to indulge a little.

There are so many tips and tricks for this recipe and I really want to explain all of them so let’s do this! I figured you’d have some questions so I thought I’d start by answering them right here:

Why do you only use an egg white? Can I use the entire egg? Pumpkin is mostly water and therefore it is full of moisture. Using the egg white helps to dry it out a bit, bind the cookie to keep it together and also assists in producing a chewy result. The pumpkin itself also helps to bind the cookie so using the entire egg is unnecessary. Please know that if you do use the entire egg, you are adding more fat to the cookie (from the yolk) and as a result you will have cakey cookies.

Do I have to brown the butter? What does it do? Yes you should! The brown butter adds a rich caramel flavor and I believe it also adds to the cookie’s texture. I’ve noticed that it keeps the cookies soft in the middle but produces a nice crispy edge. Brown butter is the only way to go. If you haven’t browned butter before, I have created a super easy tutorial for you here!

Can I use a different kind of flour for this recipe? Sure! You could try white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry. If you’re gluten free I recommend an all-purpose gluten free blend flour (King Arthur has a nice blend). Please don’t use coconut flour or almond flour, the result will not be the same!

Do I really have to refrigerate the cookie dough?! Absolutely. This is a critical step. First off you’ll need the dough to be cold in order to easily stuff it with nutella. Otherwise your hands will be a completely sticky mess since this dough contains more moisture. If I’m in a hurry I usually put the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. You can also make the dough 24 hours in advance.

The nutella is a mess! How do I make it easier to make these cookies?! I got this question a lot when I first developed my nutella-stuffed brown butter chocolate chip cookie (AKA BEST COOKIE EVER). There are a few options; you can chill the nutella or put it in the freezer or many readers place nutella drops on parchment paper then freeze so that it’s super easy to put them in the middle of the dough. It’s up to you, but this is a great tip if you know that you will be making them ahead of time.

Can I double the recipe? I haven’t tried this, but I’m guessing it would work just fine. You might want to stick to just 1 egg white versus putting two in though.

Here’s a picture of how I normally stuff the cookies. Mmmmmm don’t forget a spoonful of nutella for your face.

I hope these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a hit at your house this year and that you can enjoy them for years to come. If you make the cookies, remember to tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram. xoxo!

More cookie recipes you’ll love:

The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat

Chocolate Dipped Brown Butter Tahini Cookies

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

Old Fashioned Iced Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies

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Brown Butter Nutella-Stuffed Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 2 votes

byby :Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen

Leave A Review Print Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

ServesServes 15 cookies

These Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are chewy, delicious, and stuffed with nutella for the ultimate indulgent treat. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg white (NOT THE FULL EGG)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 small jar of nutella (you use about 15 teaspoons), chilled

Instructions

• 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 (make sure you scrape all of it out of the pan - every last drop!). Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
• With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg white, vanilla and pumpkin puree until well combined.
• In a separate medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. 
• With electric mixer on low speed, slowly add in flour and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips. 
• Place plastic wrap over bowl and refrigerate dough for one hour so that the flavors meld together and the butter has a chance to solidify a bit. Alternatively you can place plastic wrap over the dough and place in your freezer for 20 minutes to speed up the process. Either way you want the dough to be fairly cold so that that it's easier to work with and stuff with nutella.
• Once dough is chilled, make your dough balls: 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 just a tiny bit!
• Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. 
• Cool on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes then remove and transfer to wire rack. 

Recipe Notes

If you happen to have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can sub 1 1/2 teaspoons for all of the spices called for in the recipe.

Because of the pumpkin, the cookies will stay soft for days. In fact they will soften up, so if you want your cookies to have crispy edges then it is best to enjoy them the first day you bake them (or bring them to a party!). Makes about 15 cookies.