Nutella Stuffed Cookies. Yes, they are as naughty and indulgent as they look. But so much easier to make than you think! No electric beater, just a wooden spoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods in your mouth…. send help!
Nutella Stuffed Cookies
This is no ordinary cookie.
This is a cookie that is sinfully decadent, and makes no apology for it.
I feel like the photos tell you everything you need to know to do a run to the grocery shop so you can make these immediately…
But just in case you’re one of those sensible people who thinks before they act (what is life like that, I wonder? 🤔), this is what you’re in for: a soft baked, buttery chocolate chip cookie with beautiful caramel undertones that’s chewy on the inside and just the right amount of crispiness on the edges.
Oh, and it’s stuffed with Nutella. In case you missed that part!! 😂
I love how it looks so innocent when you pull it out of the oven. Just another chocolate chip cookie…
…then you break it open and BOOM! In-your-face-melty decadence!
Are you ready to be shocked how straightforward this is to make? Let’s do this!
SPOILER: It involves frozen discs of Nutella that are buried inside cookie dough.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these Nutella Stuffed Cookies.
1. Nutella
Shocking. I know. 😂
In theory, this recipe will work with any spread that you want to see oozing out of a chocolate chip cookie as long as it will freeze so it can be wrapped with the cookie dough. Immediate thoughts that come to mind:
Nut-free and other chocolate spreads
Non Nutella-brand hazelnut spread
Peanut butter
Biscoff spread (I know Biscoff is having a moment!)
2. EVERYTHING ELSE
The ingredients are simple. But there’s some chatter below for fellow baking nerds, interested in things like why are you using baking soda instead of baking powder? What’s with that smidge of honey? There is logic behind everything!
Flour – Just regular plain / all-purpose flour. Don’t use self-raising flour for this cookie, the amount of built in baking powder is too much.
Brown sugar rather than white sugar, for better flavour and colour.
Unsalted butter, melted – This is the fat in this recipe, to give these cookies a lovely buttery flavour. If you only have salted, leave out the salt.
Baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) – This is the leavening agent that makes the cookies rise a bit so they aren’t dense and hard. I use baking soda rather than baking powder for these cookies because baking soda makes things brown faster in the oven which we need for these cookies to have an appealing golden colour and lovely crisp edges in the short 12 minute baking time.
Baking powder will work, if that’s all you’ve got, and they will still be delicious (I mean, Nutella! Choc chips! Butter!). But expect your cookies to be paler and a little less chewy, and they lose the chewy texture over the next few days. You’ll need to use 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder.
Honey – Baking science at work here! Just 1 teaspoon of honey keeps these cookies moist and chewy inside rather than becoming “cakey” or dry. The honey also makes the cookies colour faster so they aren’t pale (same point above for baking soda).
Because we only need so little, you can’t taste it at all. Substitute with corn syrup (it serves the same purpose). Maple syrup and other sweet liquids won’t work. It’s fine to leave it out (it’s not a big deal), just expect the cookies to be a little paler and they will lose freshness faster in the days to come.
Large egg at room temperature – An egg around 55 grams / 2 ounces that has been out of the fridge for around 30 minutes so it is not fridge cold.
If your egg is a bit larger than 60g / 2.1 oz in the shell, I would feel better if you cracked, whisked, then measured out 2 1/2 tablespoons of egg. Note: Normally I am not so pedantic, even in most cake recipes. But cookies can be a little temperamental and these ones spread a fair bit (you’ll see below), and I worry if your egg is too big then your cookies might spread too much. See here for more information about why the size and temperature of eggs for baking matters.
Chocolate chips – Because it didn’t feel right not having choc chips as well as Nutella. 😂 I would’ve used Nutella chips if such a thing existed!
Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract is better than vanilla essence which is imitation.
Salt – To bring out the flavours. Standard baking practice these days, to add a bit of salt. It doesn’t taste salty at all, we only use a very small amount.
How to make Nutella Stuffed Cookies
1. Cookie dough
The cookie dough takes about 1 1/2 hours to firm up in the fridge while the Nutella discs take 1 hour. So we’ll make the cookie dough first.
Mix dry – Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
Barely melted butter – Microwave the butter in a heatproof bowl for 30 seconds on high or until it is not quite melted. Then mix with a rubber spatula to finish melting the butter. It will be “milky” / cloudy rather than clear yellow oil (ie when butter is fully melted) which is what we want. It makes the cookies taste a little more buttery.
Don’t fret if you don’t quite hit the mark here, it is not the end of the world, it’s just one of those extra little touches the slightly improves a recipe. 🙂
Cookie dough – Add the sugar, vanilla and honey, and mix to combine. Then mix the egg in. It should look like a thick caramel! Lastly, add the flour and mix it in.
Chill to firm – The cookie dough will be quite loose at this stage, too sticky to roll into balls. And probably a bit warm. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours until it is firm enough to roll into a log.
2. frozen nutella discs
While the cookie dough is chilling, move onto the frozen Nutella discs.
Dollop 1 slightly heaped tablespoon of Nutella on a paper lined tray. Spread into ~8mm/ 1/3″thick rounds. Don’t make it too thin, else it seems to disappear when it melts inside the cookie!
Freeze for 1 hour or until they are firm enough to pick up.
3. cut
Log – Once chilled, the cookie dough should be firm enough to roll in your hands. Roll it out into a 18cm / 7″ log.
Then cut into 10 equal pieces.
Why a log? Because I find it faster to cut into equal pieces, plus once cut the pieces are ready-made for wrapping around the Nutella discs. Not need to fiddle with scooping and rolling balls, and pinching a bit of dough from here and there to make them all the same size!
4. stuff
Flatten the dough until it is about 5mm / 0.2″ thin (I do this on the lined tray).
Press a frozen Nutella disc in upside down (upside down = flat side ends up down when we flip the cookie).
Bundle and seal – Gather the cookie dough around the Nutella disc, then seal to enclose the Nutella.
Flip and shape – Turn the cookie upside down (so the gathered side is down and smooth side now faces up). Then shape the cookie into 1.5cm/ 3/5″ thick rounds.
Nutella sealing – It’s ok for Nutella to poke out on the surface but make sure the underside and sides are sealed else the Nutella will run out when baking.
Top with chocolate chips and lightly press them in. Do the sides as well, else you’ll end up with a naked ring around the border of the cookie!
PS Mixing chocolate into the dough makes it more difficult to enclose the Nutella disc with dough as the choc chips get in the way.
Ready for baking! Make sure the cookies are 8cm / 3″ apart, to allow sufficient room for spreading and air flow circulation.
5. BAKE & COOL
Bake both the trays at the same time for 12 minutes in a 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) oven. The cookies are done when the edges are golden and the surface is pale golden. The middle might look a little undercooked which is ok because they will finish cooking in the next step.
Cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the tray. They will finish cooking with the residual heat. Then transfer onto a cooling rack (so the underside doesn’t steam and go soggy) and let them cool for at least 5 minutes before you grab one!
15 Minute Molten Moment
I’ll let you in on a little secret. There is a small window at which these cookies are at their absolute peak.
The moment in question is the 15 minute mark out of the oven. This is the split second when the cookies have had just enough time for the edges to set so you can pick it up without collapsing into a warm gooey-mess (albeit a delicious one), the Nutella has cooled enough so you won’t get third degree burns on your chin but it’s still at melty perfection.
If you can sink your teeth into one of these cookies at that moment, it is an unmatched cookie experience.
Enjoy without guilt. Diet starts Monday! – Nagi x
Nutella Stuffed Cookies Testing
Baking recipes are always a pain when you’re creating from scratch! I was after a specific buttery soft-baked texture but I wanted it to be a bit chewy rather than cakey or doughy. I’ve bought stuffed cookies like that which I didn’t really enjoy.
I used a hybrid of my soft chocolate chip cookie dough and the brown butter oatmeal cookies to get the right texture. The technique of stuffing the dough with frozen discs of Nutella is a tried and proven one I came up with when I was on a mission to create Nutella stuffed pancakes.
Really, it was just about tweaking the ingredient quantities so it didn’t spread too much with the Nutella as it melted. But even the ones that didn’t quite turn out as hoped – the edges spread too thin, or the cookie didn’t spread enough – they still disappeared quickly!! 🙂
Oh, the one other thing I was playing with towards the end to finalise the recipe was shelf life. I have a massive hang up about any baked goods – cakes, muffins, cupcakes – that go stale or lose freshness in less than 2 – 3 days.
I wanted these cookies to stay moist and chewy on the inside, and for the edges to stay pretty crispy for at least 3 days. The trick, I found, was a smidge of honey and baking soda rather than baking powder. Baking science. See ingredients section above for an explanation of why these work! 🙂
Anything that can be frozen! See ingredients section above for ideas (eg peanut butter, other chocolate spreads).
Cup sizes differ slightly between the US (1 cup = 236ml) and the rest of the world (250 ml). While the difference is not enough to make a difference in most recipes, for some baking recipes it can mean the difference between success and failure. Especially with cookies that spread, like this one.
I made this recipe using US cups, Australian cups and the weights I’ve provided and there was no difference in the end result. So you can make it as written, wherever you are in the world except Japan because the cups there are smaller (so please use the weights provided).
In fact, the reason why the butter measure in tablespoons (which is the American standard way of measuring butter as their butter comes in “sticks” with tablespoons marked) is so this recipe works for Americans making this recipe with US cups. ie 120 g butter = 8.5 tbsp butter. 8 tbsp = 113g which is the right amount for the flour used using US sized cups.
4 days. Even day 5 they are still good! The edges will stay crispy and the centre stays soft and chewy. The Nutella is molten when the cookies are warm out of the oven, and at room temperature it is not runny but still the texture like it is in the jar ie spreadable.
Watch how to make it
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Nutella Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 tbsp (slightly heaped) Nutella or other chocolate-nut spread
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or chopped 70% dark chocolate)
Cookie dough:
- 1 1/3 cups plain flour / all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda, Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 120g/ 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1 cm / 1/2″ cubes (fridge cold is fine)
- 2/3 cup (tightly packed) brown sugar (Note 2)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp honey or corn syrup (Note 3)
- 1 large egg (55g / 2 oz), at room temperature (Note 4)
Instructions
Abbreviated recipe (hand-mixed):
- Mix flour, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl, barely melt butter, mix to finish melting. Mix in vanilla, honey and sugar, then egg. Mix in flour, fridge 1.5 hrs. Freeze Nutella discs 1 hr. Enclose Nutella with dough, press in choc chips, bake 12 -13 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Cool 10 min on tray, then at least 5 min on rack. Attack!
Cookie dough:
- Mix dry – Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, set aside.
- Barely melt butter – Using a heatproof bowl, microwave the butter for 30 seconds on high until mostly but not fully melted, then stir with a rubber spatula to finish melting it so it's "milky" rather than clear yellow oil (Note 5).
- Wet mixture – Add the sugar, vanilla and honey, stir until combined. Add the egg and stir until combined, it should look like caramel.
- Chill dough 1 1/2 hours – Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. The mixture should be slightly warm and too soft to roll into balls. Cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours to cool and firm up enough to roll into a log.
Frozen Nutella mounds:
- Line a small tray with baking paper / parchment paper. Dollop Nutella on tray and spread to ~8mm/ 1/3"thick rounds. Freeze for 1 hour until firm enough to pick up.
Stuffing and baking:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Lightly grease 2 trays then line with paper.
- Cut dough – Scrape dough out and shape/roll into a ~18cm / 7" log. Cut into 10 equal pieces.
- Stuff – Flatten cookie dough, press in frozen Nutella, bundle dough up around it to enclose and seal. Flip upside down so the smooth side is facing up. Shape into ~1.5cm/ 3/5" thick rounds, press choc chips into the surface and sides. Repeat to make 10 cookies, 5 on each tray, 8cm/3" apart to allow for spreading (Note 6 working tips).
- Bake both trays at the same time for 12 – 13 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden, the centre is pale golden and just set (ie not raw melty dough).
- Cool & swoon – Remove from the oven and leave on the tray for 10 minutes (finish cooking / set). Transfer to a rack, cool for at least another 5 minutes. Grab, bite, swoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods into your mouth…..
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Coming to you live from Canberra with Dozer! Canberra is a 3 hour drive from where I live and I’m here for a book signing event. I’m staying in a dog friendly hotel – here we are, making ourselves at ohm in the hotel lounge!
And here is Dozer getting chauffeured to Canberra. To make the trip as comfortable as possible for him, I hauled his bed into the car which is so big, it almost takes up the entire boot with the rear seas folded down. I mean, I don’t need room for a bag. Who needs a change of clothes?! 😂
And the hotel breakfast situation. No dogs allowed!!
More next week! Time to make myself respectable for the book signing today! (Westfield Belconnen, 12-2pm. If you miss out because the line gets cut, don’t worry! Come back at 2pm for a quick photo and a signed book plate to stick in your book! – N x ❤️)
I’m a huge fan of Nagi Maehashi, I mean I adore her and dozer of course! All her recipes are so easy to follow and I love her personality that I see when I read through them. These cookies were perfect! Slight my crunchy, gooey and so chocolatey!!! So easy to make!
I may have gone a little over on the size of my Nutella discs but the dough forgave me and I had no spills. They turned out perfect and were EXACTLY the taste I hoped they would be. 6/5 stars!
These are amazing and perfect! Crunch, gooeyness perfection! 👌🏼 Thank you Nagi for this wonderful recipe and all the trouble you go to testing and perfecting each recipe that you do! One of my teenager sons said “they look cartoonish” I took that as a compliment 🥰… and They are delicious 😋 thank you again for feeding and pleasing me, and my family… Now to attempt your Doner Kebab recipe! 🥰
I have fallen off your mailing list. Haven’t received an email since November. I miss you and dozer. Please reinstate me
Amazing recipe turned out great, I used milk chocolate instead of nuttela but still tasted amazing. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I like that idea because I’m not really into Nutella
I made these divine Nutella cookies to take on Boxing Day for the family but forgot (genuinely) to open the tin. My lovely husband packed the tin with our stuff and so they came back home with us. Do you think I can freeze them? Lovely as they are we can’t scoff them all.
I tried to reduce the size (made 16 instead of 10, with t rather than T of nutella, and even so they were ginormous). I topped them with chopped hazelnuts rather than choc chips. My dough was too soft to work with even after three hours of chilling, so I had to flour it a lot, and they were — sorry, Nagi! — a pig to assemble. But my partner purely swooned at the first bite, so I guess I’ll be making them again! Just not on a scorching hot summer day ;P
So fantastic. I was worried they might be difficult-and was not at all.
Hi Nagi I made this cookies with pistachio cream and it was so good!!!! The kids and my friend loved that!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe with us!!!
Hi! I was wondering, could you make these Nutella cookies with Gluten-Free Flour?
https://www.recipetineats.com/nutella-stuffed-cookies/
Could I go as far as the stuffing stage then freeze the Nutella-stuffed cookies? So I could bake them off at a later date?
I left the cookie dough and nuttella in the fridge/freezer overnight and it turned out great
I was planning on making your shortbread cookies for my team at work’s KK party but then I saw this…. How will I ever choose?!
This! More statement 😈
In case you did not know Nutella has palm oil in it which is not good for human consumption. It is also contributing to the extinction of the orangutans by using it. I use alternatives like the Kirkland for my cookies and there of course are many more out there. I check everything I purchase to make sure there is no palm or any kind in what I purchase.
Thanks for raising that Lesley. I’d love to hear how people go with alternative hazelnut spreads 🙂 N x
There are many alternatives to Nutella that do not have palm oil. Kirkland at Costco has one. You just need to look on any of these products to make sure they have not added it in. I look at all food products now to make sure it is not there. I am sad that I cannot find a German Stollen without it. My husband was from Germany and we always had it at Christmas. Thank you for getting back to me and have a wonderful day. I hope this reply helps.
You are so welcome Nagi. We are here to help one another as we do and I was not sure if you knew about the palm in the Nutella and it’s effects on humans and the orangutans Have a wonderful day and I so love your recipes. Made your mac and cheese on Sunday for guests they just loved it. Make it ongoing for my great granddaughter for our get togethers. The first thing she asks for when she arrives. I make so many more of your recipes as well. So love getting them in my e-mails. Thank you so much for sharing them over the top amazing.
Unfortunately, in addition, there are still worse problems since in addition to 70% sugar/fat it contains soy lecithin and vanillin (no, not vanilla but this dangerous substance!) . . . not Nagi’s fault – if the taste appeals DO make your own!!!
Of course it has nothing to do with Nagi if your read it was giving her a heads up in case she did not know which she did not and anyone else that did not know the harmful effects of palm.
Sorry, Leslie – I put what I said badly! I just meant that I did not ‘blame’ her for using the stuff since it is so popular but wondered whether she knew all the facts behind the product. I am a still-studying professional so write from that viewpoint. best . . .
No problem have a nice day….
It was great to see that you were allowed to Dozer with you Nagi, again that has put a smile on my dial; being a devoted dog lover myself 🙂
I am so gonna make your Nutella Stuffed Cookies, they look absolutely gorgeous and very decadent 🙂
I’m going to make them for the CMC Construction crew that I do Traffic Control for.
However, I’ll make them around the 9th or 10th of December. I finish my ‘two weeks on’, on the 11th December inclusive, so I will surprise them with a treat.
I made your yummy blueberry muffins for them my last ‘two weeks on’, and a few weeks further back I made your yummy gingerbread dudes for them.
I like spoiling the fellas, they’re hard working and deserve a surprise treat.
Next year when we come back I’m going to make them your chocolate fudge 🙂 I was going to make it this time, but when I saw your Nutella cookies I though “Nah, I’m making them instead 🙂
Your crew are LUCKY!!! You spoil them so much, I hope they look after YOU!!! 😉 – N x
Hey Nagi! Hopefully you don’t see this message again because i tried sending a comment earlier but i think it was deleted or something but i live in Canberra and yesterday my dad and i really wanted to see you because i am only 11 and have known your website for a few months. I have gotten addicted to it i like it so much i even decided to favourite about 1400 of the stuff you post on here crazy right? Yes so my dad and i really wanted to see you at the meet and greet because i have never been to a meet and greet but we tried coming early but were unfortunately only about 5 minutes late! I was pretty dissapointed but i still love this website and your cooking so i was like nuh uh were getting a cookbook atleast even if it cant get signed. we did! i have already seen a few recipes for each of the cookbooks but its going to be a Christmas present for me and i prefer dinners recipes more. I have also made 2 of your recipes Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast and Beef Stroganoff and it was so sad we were not able to meet you so sadly we didn’t but i still saw you so saw a famous celebrity cook in person atleast! i hope you had fun signing cookbooks and meeting fans with Dozer. Your Nutella stuffed cookies also look great by the way!
Oh no Blake! I’m so sorry we didn’t get to meet 😢 Didn’t they tell you to come back at 2 pm so we could have a photo? I did a photo with everyone who was still there at the end of the signing time!! I hope you at least got a chance to give Dozer a pat 🙂 N x
OMG THIS IS CRAZY THANK YOU SO MUCH AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SHOUT OUT MY TEACHER MS AITCHISON SHE SHOWED ME THE WEBSITE AND HAS BOTH OF YOUR COOKBOOKS AND BEFORE I GOT DINNER A FEW DAYS AGO AS A EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHE SHOWED ME DINNERS RECIPE’S AND THEY LOOK AMAZING AND I WAS SO EXCITED BECAUSE SHE LOVES YOUR WEBSITE AND COOK BOOK ASWELL TO SHOW HER IT BECAUSE I BRANG IT TODAY
OMG SORRY THAT I AM FREAKING OUT BUT I NEVER EXPECTED THIS MY BROTHER JUST SHOWED ME THIS AND THANK THE TEACHER AT MY SCHOOL THAT SHOWED ME THE WEBSITE
Also your Nutella biscuits look amazingly good!
You need to make them Blake!! I feel like they have your name written all over them 🙂 – N x
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH AND HOPE YOU AND DOZER ARE DOING WELL I’M ALSO HAVE BEEN HOPING FOR A FEW MONTHS TO MAKE THE PAVLOVA CHRISTMAS TREE ON CHRISTMAS THANK YOU SO SO MUCH GOODNIGHT
SORRY THAT I WAS KIND OF BEGGING FOR YOU TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO MS AITCHISON BUT I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD PLEASE!? SOZ FOR CAPS AND BECAUSE SBE WAS HOPING TO MEET YOU BUT SHE COULDNT BECAUSE SHE WAS BUSY
OMG NO WAYYYYYYYYY
Hey Nagi! Yesterday my dad and i really wanted to see you at the meet and greet and we tried coming early but were unfortunately 5 minutes late for the queue 🙁 but i’m only 11 and have known your website for only a few months but i have gotten addicted to it now and i was like even though we missed the queue we came here for something so we are still getting that cookbook. Its a Christmas present for me because we unfortunately missed out on my first meet and greet for anything but i got your old cookbook dinner because i have seen recipes in both and i think i like dinners recipes better. I have already made 2 of your recipes Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast and i have had Beef Stroganoff before but saw Beef Stroganoff so it was a reminder and we had that too! I hope you and Dozer are going well thank you!
Blake, you sound like a really great kid. Keep cooking, young man!
Thanks for the inspiration aswell!
Thank you so much Samantha i really appreciate it!
Made these cookies today, worked an absolute treat. Left them a little too long before eating so they were not quite as runny but still tasted amazing. I also used Gluten-free flour (plus the xanthan gum) and still worked out perfectly when following the recipe. Not surprisingly my husband and toddler also enjoyed them. Thanks for the great recipe, I love the butter trick.
YAAAAYY!!!!! I’m so glad you loved them Emily, and extra please to hear they worked with GF flour and xanthum gum! N x
Someone definitely needs to invent nutella choc chips!
Right!!!??
Made these when Nagi released the test batch and again when the full recipe was released. They’re yet to make it to the lunchboxes for the kids, they have them out of the oven and they’re gone!!!
Ha ha!! I just had a vision of how quickly they disappear in your household!!