Chewy cookies with a sweet mix of Nutella and chocolate, these Chocolate Nutella Cookies are perfect for the Nutella fiends in your life.
Yesterday was World Nutella Day, but I believe it also happened to be the anniversary of my blog. I don’t even know how many years it has been since I started this, but I guess it’s still a good move to commemorate both occasions with these Chocolate Nutella Cookies. Although these cookies represent rather well the sweet blogging experiences of the past few years, I can’t deny how terrible I have been with the whole thing this year.
See, I had promised myself at the start of 2018 that it was about time I got back in touch with old friends and tried to enjoy my life a little bit more. I had noticed I was mostly doing nothing except alternating between work and my house nearly all seven days of the week last year. I didn’t even meet with my best friend all that much in 2017, which was sad considering our workplaces are like three blocks apart. I had this phase where I was working overtime almost everyday, and when Sunday rolled around sometimes I’d be too tired and lazy to go into the kitchen to bake or cook.
When I started having mood swings at work, I knew that things were becoming toxic for me. I was too burnt out to do any of my hobbies as well, so that was a major red flag. And so you can’t blame me for wanting to inject a bit of enjoyment in my life for a change. But now I think I might’ve gone somewhat overboard. It’s like I’m going through my teenage years all over again, except I never came home at 1 in the morning in my teens. NEVER. I really don’t plan to start making it a habit in my late 20’s, considering I don’t even like being out late at night anyway!
I’m going to give myself a little breathing room here if I practically spent the whole of January “playing hooky” since it was my birthday month, and I needed a little vacation I think. But now that February is here, it’s time for me to seriously sit down and FINALLY get to blog planning. I literally have no blogging plans for 2018 yet! My creative juices have been absent lately, but I can kind of feel them sitting there and waiting for me to call them out.
I have a lot of things I want to experiment on for the blog, starting with new photography styles and video styles, but all they are at the moment are ideas at the back of my head. I don’t believe that I have to pick just one between my hobbies and my rejuvenated social life to focus on because I know I can juggle both if only I manage my time wisely from here on out. I have done it before after all.
Anyway, I’m sure you guys have had enough of my monologue by now so let us talk about these cookies. They’re super basic cookies that feature a strong chocolate and Nutella taste, but the odd part about these cookies are that they kind of change fairly drastically as the days pass. They are really REALLY sweet fresh out of the oven, but once the flavors have had time to settle into the cookies a day or two after, they get so much better. The Nutella and the chocolate in the cookies begin to really show up with every bite, and they become more interesting rather than just plainly sweet.
These cookies are of the chewy kind, requiring a bit of refrigeration before baking, because the dough is rather soft. You don’t want them to spread into flat puddles; you want them to maintain a nice chubby shape to maximize their chewy texture. The original recipe does not use chocolate chips, but I wanted to add them in for a less plain look. I suggest going for semisweet choco chips or even bittersweet chunks to help control the sweetness of the cookies. And then just grab a cup of cold milk and you’re all set!
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
Ingredients
- 1-¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup baking cocoa*
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Nutella
- ⅓ cup milk
- Chocolate chips, for optional topping
Instructions
- 1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.
- 2. In a large bowl, beat the butter together with both sugars until smooth and creamy. (You can also use a stand mixer on medium speed. This method is faster as it will only take about 2 minutes.) Add the vanilla extract and the Nutella, then mix until batter is smooth.
- 3. Add half the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then mix just until combined. Pour in the milk, mix just until combined, then add in the last half of flour mixture. Make sure to mix the dough well. Chill dough at least 30 minutes before baking.**
- 4. Once ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) for at least 20 minutes. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 5. Take a tablespoon of cookie dough and quickly roll into a ball with your hands. Don't roll it for too long as your warm hands will make the dough soft! Place the cookie ball on the first lined baking sheet. Gently press down on the dough ball and top with some chocolate chip pieces, if desired. Repeat with the rest of the dough; leaving two inches in between cookies because these do spread nicely.
- 6. Bake cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 11 minutes, or until starting to set at the edges but still a bit soft in the center. (Make sure to put the other tray or any leftover dough in the fridge while waiting for the first batch to finish baking.) Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes. They will be very soft but will set as they cool. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Enjoy with milk, as always!
Notes
**This dough can be made a few days in advance. Just wrap in cling wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod blog
One Comment
Leslie Lidot
YUMMY NAMAN!! ♥♥