This morning I am writing to you all to ask for your forgiveness. I owe you the biggest of apologies. Like, the biggest ever. You see, I’ve been making these Nutella Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for a few years now. I know, I’m sorry! They are the most amazing cookie I’ve ever eaten and in fact, my absolute favorite dessert, but this is the first you’re hearing about it. It’s just every time I make them I want to eat and share them immediately so I never got around to taking decent photos for Lemon & Mocha. I’m hoping once you make and eat these cookies all will be forgiven. Unless that will just make you more angry with me when you taste how crazy delicious they are and realize you could have been enjoying them years sooner. So, for what it’s worth, I apologize.

The base of these cookies is my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. What makes them so perfect is that they have a rich flavor from the browned butter, a satisfying chewiness from the brown sugar and additional egg yolk and excellent chocolatey-ness from all the chocolate chips. When you’re dealing with such an exceptional cookie the only possible way to improve it is with Nutella.

There’s a secret little pocket of Nutella inside these cookies so when you get into the center, creamy and nutty Nutella oozes out of the warm cookie. Or, if you’re like me and eat cookies cold out of the fridge, then you get an extra rich pocket of Nutella that’s softer than the chocolate chip bites providing a nice chocolate texture contrast. One of the biggest questions I get with these cookies is how to get the Nutella inside so I’m going to share my not-so-secret secret with you all. I find it super exciting, but that may just be because I find anything that helps me stuff Nutella into something super exciting.

Take a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer and line it with wax or parchment paper. Then, use a spoon to scoop teaspoon size balls onto the baking sheet. It’s okay if they aren’t exactly the same size and it’s also okay if they aren’t well-formed balls since they definitely won’t be. Keep going, making sure they aren’t touching, until you have about seventeen Nutella balls. Pop the baking sheet in the freezer and let the Nutella balls firm up for at least twenty minutes. When your cookie dough is ready, scoop a tablespoon and a half of dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, keeping the dough balls about two inches apart. Slightly flatten each dough ball with your index and middle finger.

Now you’re ready for the firmed up Nutella blobs. Plop one onto each flattened cookie dough then scoop another tablespoon and a half of cookie dough on top of the Nutella balls.

Quickly bring the two dough halves together around the Nutella to form a cookie dough ball. Try not to touch any one cookie ball too much or they will get too warm.

While the cookies are baking, the Nutella melts, but stays in the center of the cookie. It’s like magic! The most delicious magic I’ve ever seen or tasted. I cannot wait until you try these Nutella Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! I know you will love them as much as we do!

Nutella Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

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Yield: 16-17 cookies

Ingredients

• Roughly ⅓ cup Nutella
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 cups semi-sweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet or sturdy cutting board that will fit in your freezer with wax or parchment paper. Use a spoon to scoop out scant teaspoon size blobs of Nutella onto the baking sheet. It’s okay if they aren’t exactly the same size or a completely round ball. Keep going, making sure the Nutella balls aren’t touching each other, until you have about 17. Put the baking sheet in the freezer and let the Nutella balls firm up, at least 20 minutes. Keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to use them.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking soda, then set aside.
4. In a small skillet over medium-high heat melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Keep cooking, making sure to continuously swirl the pan, until the butter is golden brown in color, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the browned butter into a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until melted. Let the butter cool slightly.
5. Add the sugar, brown sugar and vanilla to the large bowl with the browned butter. Whisk for 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk for 2 minutes. The dough should be smooth and shiny. Stir in the flour mixture until a few streaks remain. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be thick at this point so mixing in the chips will be a little hard, but do the best you can without over mixing.
6. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out a tablespoon and a half of dough onto the first prepared large baking sheet, keeping them about 2 inches apart. Lightly press with your index and middle finger to slightly flatten each dough ball then grab the Nutella baking sheet from the freezer and place one Nutella ball on top of each slightly flattened dough ball. Return the Nutella baking sheet to the freezer.
7. Scoop another tablespoon and a half of cookie dough on top of the Nutella balls. Return the other half of the cookie dough to the fridge. Bring the two dough halves together around the Nutella to form a cookie dough ball with the Nutella in the center. Try not to touch any one cookie dough ball too much or it will get too warm.
8. Bake the first cookie tray on the middle rack for 11-14 minutes. Cookies are done when they are golden brown and the edges have just started to set, but the centers are soft. Once removed from the oven let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then carefully remove to a wire cooling rack. When the first batch of cookies is 3-5 minutes away from being done, repeat the above steps to make the remaining half of the cookies on the second prepared baking sheet. Bake according to the same instructions below when the first batch is out of the oven.

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Lauren Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday, Recipes 2 Comments

This post was originally published on 5/20/2014. It has been updated with new photos and content.

I would be surprised if there is anyone who doesn’t have some sort of special memory related to chocolate chip cookies. They are one of those foods that tend to remind you of home and comfort. My chocolate chip cookie memory has to do with my grandma, as most of my food memories do. She was known throughout my family and friend group as having delicious chocolate chip cookies, so much in fact that they were dubbed “Babu Cookies.” (Side note: we call my grandma Babu, which is short for Babushka, or grandmother in Russian).

The best part was that there was always a batch of them somewhere in the house. Whether they were stocked in the freezer or a fresh batch was sitting warm and gooey on the cooling racks in the kitchen, Babu made sure we were never lacking chocolate chip cookies. I have not been able to perfect the Babu cookie as I remember it – slightly cakey and chewy – and part of that is because sometimes the memories associated with foods can tend to elevate them in your mind. So instead, after much practice in the kitchen I now make my own delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Although I’m ice cream obsessed and have a very close relationship with my Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes, my favorite dessert is a chocolate chip cookie. If I’m going to be specific though, my absolute favorite dessert is my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know, it sounds so egotistical, which is not me at all, but they are my ideal chocolate chip cookie. Chewy, soft, rich flavor and loaded with chocolate chips. They are also my favorite cookies to bake because there’s no resting time for the dough! This is ideal for whenever you are having a cookie craving, which is my usual state of being.

Chewy Texture

Having a higher percentage of brown sugar rather than granulated sugar, as well as an additional egg yolk, is what gives the cookies that chewy texture. Now, the secret with these cookies is that they are actually Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Rich Flavor

Browning the butter gives them a rich, deep flavor, and as an added bonus you don’t have to remember to let your butter come to room temperature!

Loaded with Chocolate

Really good chocolate chips are key and bring this cookie to a straight-up heavenly status. I stick to Guittard or Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I’ve heard great reviews about Scharffen Berger as well. Sometimes I even mix it up and do half chocolate chips and half chocolate chunks – yum!

Even though it takes an enormous amount of willpower to not devour them as soon as they’re out of the oven, my favorite way to eat them is at room temperature, or sometimes even slightly chilled in the fridge. So make these Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies and make some food memories. Or at least make your taste-buds extremely happy.

Extra Tips

• If you don’t already have one, get a cookie scoop. I promise it will make your life 10,388,772 times easier. I also use mine for scooping muffin and cupcake batter. It helps make your cookies the perfect uniform size every time and the dough doesn’t get soft from you touching it with your warm hands to make dough balls, resulting in thinner cookies that spread.
• Chill the scooped cookies for just a few minutes. If you have room in your fridge for the cookie sheet, pop the scooped cookies in there for 5 minutes or so to help keep the cookies from spreading too much. If you don’t have room for the cookie sheet, just putting your mixing bowl of dough in the fridge for 5 minutes or so, particularly between the first and second batches, will help a little with spreading.
• Don’t overcook them! The cookies will be really soft when they come out of the oven and the centers will look not done. If you keep cooking them the cookies will get overcooked. You’ll know they’ve reached the optimum cook when the edges have juuuust started to get a little browner than the rest of the cookie. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet on a wire rack (not the stove-top, which is most likely warm from the oven) for 1-2 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire cooling rack. A cooling rack with grids is more stable for the cookies.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

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Yield: 24-28 cookies

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 12-ounce package of semisweet Guittard chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking soda, then set aside.
3. In a small skillet over medium-high heat melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking, making sure to continuously swirl the pan, until the butter is golden brown in color, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the browned butter into a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until melted. Let the butter cool slightly.
4. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla to the large bowl with the browned butter. Whisk for 2 minutes on medium then medium high speed, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the egg, whisk for 1 minute on medium speed, then add the egg yolk and whisk for 1 minute on medium speed. The dough should be smooth and shiny. If using a stand mixer, switch to a paddle attachment. Stir in the flour mixture on low speed until a few flour streaks remain. Leaving a small handful of chocolate chips aside, pour the rest of the chocolate chips into the dough. The dough will be thick at this point so mixing in the chips will be a little hard, but just barely mix them in as you don't want to overmix the dough. If using a stand mixer, I usually do just 2-3 rotations on low.
5. Use a medium cookie scoop to arrange dough balls, about 1½ tablespoons each, 2 inches apart on the first prepared baking sheet. Using the chocolate chips you set aside, lightly nestle one on to the top of each dough ball to get the "pretty chocolate chip cookie" look. See note below about chilling dough.
6. Bake the cookies one cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes. Cookies are done when they are starting to get golden brown and the edges have just started to set, but the centers are soft. Once removed from the oven let cool on the baking sheet on a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes, then carefully remove the cookies from the pan to a wire cooling rack.

Notes

If you have room in your fridge for the cookie sheet, pop the scooped cookies in there for 5 minutes or so before putting in the oven to help keep the cookies from spreading too much. If you don't have room for the cookie sheet, just putting your mixing bowl of dough in the fridge for 5 minutes or so before scooping the cookies and putting right into the oven will help a little with spreading, particularly between the first and second batch

If you prefer larger cookies, use a large cookie scoop to make dough balls of 3 tablespoons each. You will probably need to add some baking time.

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Lauren Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday, Recipes 0 Comments

I ultimately settled on Soft Gingersnap Cookies, but I wasn’t really sure what to name these cookies. Technically they aren’t ginger“snap” cookies since they have none of the crunchy “snappy” texture that the traditional cookies have. Some people refer to the soft version of a gingersnap cookie as a molasses cookie, but since those typically have less ground ginger than these cookies, I felt Soft Gingersnap Cookies would do the trick.

I first made these cookies for the Lemon S’mores with Soft Gingersnap Cookies. Side note: If you are missing summer right now use some of these Soft Gingersnap Cookies to make yourself some Lemon S’mores and you will be feeling all the summer vibes. Normally, even with Christmas cookies I am all about the chocolate, but when I first made these Soft Gingersnap Cookies they kind of stole the show. Here I was sneaking into the kitchen to grab another cookie and thinking, who is this person dying to eat another cookie that’s not chocolate or lemon?

There’s a few factors in play here that account for my bizarre behavior. One, these cookies are so soft and chewy, which to me is the best kind of cookie. Two, the ginger, cinnamon, cloves and molasses all work together to make it taste like you’re literally taking a bite out of the holiday season. Finally, the cookies are rolled in sugar before being baked giving them that sweet crunch on the outside that is irresistible.

This recipe makes nice big cookies and like most drop cookies, they freeze really well. You could either freeze them baked in freezer bags or you could freeze the dough balls to make freshly baked Soft Gingersnap Cookies all December long.

To freeze dough balls, form the balls of dough, skipping the sugar rolling step, and place them on a parchment or wax paper lined tray that will fit in your freezer. Once firm, put the dough balls in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to bake them that is when you can roll them in the sugar. Use the recipe’s oven temperature and time and just add a couple more minutes to account for them being frozen. Do you ever freeze cookies or freeze cookie dough?

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

 

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Yield: 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, plus additional for rolling the dough
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup molasses

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the egg and molasses and beat to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Use a medium cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon of dough; roll into a ball then roll in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet. Continue, placing the cookie dough balls about 2” apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and the edges have started to lightly brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet then carefully move the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool.

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Lauren Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday, Recipes 0 Comments