Nutella Chip Cookies

I have been craving chocolate chip cookies for over a week but indecision kept me from choosing a recipe and actually making some.  I have this thing about making recipes more than once.  Sure, we repeat a lot of savory items but it’s hard for me to make the same desserts over and over when there are so many I want to try.  I’ve baked many of the obvious go-to chocolate chip cookie recipes (NY Times, Alton Brown, Cook’s Illustrated, etc…) so I needed to come up with a different idea.  Just when I was about ready to cave and repeat a favorite, I remembered these Nutella chip cookies I’d seen over on Love and Olive Oil.  I like Nutella but not so much that you’ll find me eating it out of the jar with a spoon so it tends to last a while here unless I remember to bake with it occasionally.

My favorite cookies are generally the ones that are thick and chewy (what is it with me and my preference for thick over thin?).  In all of the photos I’d seen of these cookies on other blogs, they’d always looked really thin so that was my only real worry about this recipe.  I wound up refrigerating the dough for about an hour before baking hoping that might keep them from spreading too much, but I still wound up with pretty thin cookies.  Not to worry, they were still awesome!  They’re soft and chewy (even on the second day) with the caramel notes often found in my favorite chocolate chip cookies.  Honestly, I thought they tasted a lot like regular chocolate chip cookies with just a little something extra from the Nutella. To be clear, that’s a good thing, not a complaint – these are definitely one of the best cookies I’ve made in the past few months – especially if we’re judging based on how many I ate within the first few hours after baking them 🙂

Nutella Chip Cookies
adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody via Love and Olive Oil

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.  Add both sugars and cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.  Mix in the Nutella until the dough is smooth.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the mixer a little at a time.  Beat just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the chocolate chips.  Beat briefly just to distribute the chips.  (I refrigerated the dough for about an hour here, but it’s not necessary.)

Use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them.  Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set (the tops may still be soft).  Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to the racks to cool completely.

Makes about 36 cookies