Nutella-stuffed browned butter cookies

Chocolate chip cookies + chocolate-hazelnut center

Today's the day! World Nutella Day. The day for which, next year, you'll be hearing from me as Nutella's Chief Ambassador, right? Of course right. Until then, I'm sharing a recipe that I finally — finally! — tried. I've had this one pinned for literal years, but I figured there's no time like the present. So let's brown some butter, whip up chocolate chip cookie dough, and stuff a delicious glob of Nutella in the middle of each cookie! Oh, and top each with a sprinkling of sea salt. Hi, I've died and gone to heaven.

P.S. I realize I don't have photographic evidence of the Nutella in the middle, but trust me: It's there and it's spectacular.

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NUTELLA-STUFFED BROWNED BUTTER COOKIES

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
2 and 1/4 cups flour
1 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TBS sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips* 
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips* 
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips* 
jar of Nutella, chilled in the fridge
coarse sea salt

*Note: I'm calling for half of the original amount of chocolate chips. I found that Ambitious Kitchen's amount made the dough really hard to work with. That said, you can always add more chocolate chips as you go. Also, the three different types of chocolate really did have an awesome effect — don't skip the three types.

WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. To brown the butter: Cut 2 sticks of butter into smaller pieces and place in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk as butter foams and begins to brown slightly and give off a nutty aroma (this can take several minutes). Once you smell and see a change in the butter, immediately pour into a bowl to stop the cooking and prevent burning. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

3. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and yogurt/sour cream until combined. Slowly add the flour mixer until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill dough for an hour in the fridge. 

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from fridge and see if you can work with it — if not, let it stand on the counter for a while. Scoop out about 1 and 1/2 TBS and roll into a ball. Use your palms to flatten the dough. Place about 1 tsp chilled Nutella in the middle of the flattened dough. Gently fold the dough around the Nutella and roll into a ball (it doesn't have to be perfect — just no cracks seeping with Nutella; add more dough if you need to). 

5. Place dough balls on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Gently press down the tops a bit. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges turn golden. It's okay if they're soft in the middle; they'll continue to cook out of the oven. Sprinkle with sea salt. After about 10 minutes, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough, chilling the dough/Nutella as needed so it's easier to work with. 

*Note: I got about 20 hefty cookies out of this recipe. Also note that Ambitious Kitchen offers really awesome step-by-step photos, so use her as a reference — I sure did!

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My cookies didn't come out as beautifully golden as the original recipe from Ambitious Kitchen. Maybe I should have used dark brown instead of light brown sugar? Maybe I need to brown the butter a tiny bit longer? But I figured, better safe than burnt butter. My cookies also varied in size somewhat, depending how cooperative the sticky Nutella center decided to be at any given moment. 

Despite all this, these cookies are insanely wonderful, especially on their first day out of the oven when the three kinds of chocolate chips are still gooey and the Nutella center is warm and molten. After day one, store in an airtight container and zap the cookies in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds before enjoying them with a glass of milk. Or skip the microwave — they're still out of this world.