Ooey Gooey Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Try this Ooey Gooey Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Cookies recipe
Try this Ooey Gooey Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Cookies recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 1/2 easpoon salt
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 16 tablespoons nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) slightly cold so that it's easy to scoop out
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (170 grams) softened
- 1 cup soft light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- Carbohydrate 23.6456416784971 g
- Cholesterol 42.7984375 mg
- Fat 7.67081239621261 g
- Fiber 0.764031266769409 g
- Protein 2.126253022645 g
- Saturated Fat 4.57747359391115 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (44g)
- Sodium 202.625062689971 mg
- Sugar 22.8816104117277 g
- Trans Fat 0.630563218808396 g
- Calories 168 calories
Step-by-step
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a round measuring tablespoon measuring, scoop out 16 rounded tablespoons of Nutella onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Freeze until solid, at least one hour or overnight.
- Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
- In a large bowl and using a hand mixer (you can also use a stand mixer), beat the butter on medium high speed until soft and slightly lightened in color, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add both sugars and beat together until lightened in both color and texture, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla until well blended.
- On low speed, mix in the cocoa powder.
- Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined, leaving a few streaks of flour behind. Do not over mix.
- Using a ¼ cup measure ice cream scoop, scoop out the dough onto the lined baking sheet, forming 16 equal dough balls.
- Using your thumb or the back of a spoon, make deep holes into the dough.
- Get the Nutella scoops out of the freezer and working quickly, peel the Nutella scoops from the baking sheet and place them in the middle of the dough holes. If you're working in a warm kitchen, you might want to keep them in the freezer, taking only one by one as you work, to avoid them melting.
- Gather the dough up over the Nutella scoops to completely cover them. Roll the dough into balls and place on the baking sheet.
- Loosely cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours, then either bake immediately (from frozen) or transfer to a large zipper lock bag and freeze until needed, overnight or up to 1 month.
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C and adjust oven rack to middle position.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 8 cookie balls per sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake until the cookies flatten with a slight dome, no longer have a hump in the middle, and the outer edges start to harden yet centers are soft and puffy, 11 to 14 minutes. Start checking at 11 minutes. The centers will feel undone, but they shouldn't be shiny or sticky. The cookies will continue to bake after they come out of the oven from the residual heat.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before serving. Or cool completely then store in an airtight container.
Standard measurements on a recipe card rarely reveal the physics required to keep a soft hazelnut filling contained inside a spreading dough, specifically the necessity of freezing the individual dollops of chocolate spread solid before assembly. Because ambient kitchen warmth quickly softens palm oil-based spreads, keeping the measured tablespoons in the freezer until the exact moment of encapsulation prevents premature melting and structural blowouts in the oven. Incorporating both a whole egg and an extra egg yolk provides the necessary lipids to yield a tender crumb, while cornstarch acts as a tenderizing agent that inhibits excessive gluten formation during the mixing phase.
Failure in this style of stuffed pastry typically originates from improper fat aeration during the initial creaming step, where rushing the butter and sugars leaves behind pockets of air that cause the structure to collapse unevenly. Beating the unsalted butter and sugars for a full five minutes until the mixture turns pale and fluffy creates a stable emulsion capable of supporting the heavy cocoa powder and flour additions without turning dense or greasy. When adding the dry ingredients, stop mixing the moment streaks of flour disappear to prevent the dough from developing tough gluten strands that ruin the soft texture.
Thermal management dictates the final success of the batch, requiring the assembled dough balls to spend a mandatory two hours in the freezer prior to baking on a preheated sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This chilling window solidifies the exterior fat barrier so the outer edges set before the interior spread boils over, ensuring the characteristic dome flattens slightly without losing its soft, puffy center. Pulling the pans between eleven and fourteen minutes prevents over-baking, leaving residual heat to finish the internal cooking process while the cookies rest undisturbed on the hot baking sheet for fifteen minutes.
Home bakers navigating specific dietary parameters can substitute standard all-purpose flour with a one-to-one gluten-free baking blend containing xanthan gum, though the chilling time must be extended by thirty minutes to let the alternative starches hydrate fully. Dairy sensitivities require swapping the traditional butter for a solid plant-based block and utilizing a vegan chocolate hazelnut spread, keeping in mind that alternative fats melt at lower thresholds and demand even stricter adherence to the freezing protocol.
