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Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe for brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies was in dire need of a refresh (please peek at the original publish date).

With the extra time I’ve had at home lately, I’ve been playing around with quite a few cookie recipes. After a few batches I finally feel like I’ve got this recipe down!

image of stack of brown butter nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies, with the top cookie bitten into with nutella oozing out

This recipe was originally adapted from the Ambitious Kitchen! Her mouth-watering photos inspired me to make these cookies in the first place.

Her recipe makes 2 dozen cookies, and I’ve modified it to make a smaller batch of 1 dozen cookies.

I do want to note that this cookie recipe takes a bit of time to make. The cookie dough must chill before you can fill it. It’s totally worth the time commitment but be sure you’re mentally prepared for that as you make them.

If you look on the bright side, a little delayed gratification makes them taste even more delicious!!

The Star Ingredient: Brown Butter

From the Nutella centers to the sea salt sprinkled cookie tops, there’s a lot going on with these cookies.

Despite what you might think, the real star of the show is the brown butter.

image of brown butter nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies, with the top cookie bitten into with nutella oozing out

The extra step of browning your butter gives these cookies so much depth of flavor and really takes them to the next level.

While you can make this recipe with regular unsalted butter, I highly recommend taking the extra time to brown your butter. You won’t regret it!

If you’ve never browned butter, fear not! It’s a pretty straight forward technique, and only takes about 5 minutes.

Place your butter in a large skillet, heated over a medium heat. Use a rubber spatula to stir the butter occasionally. The butter will gradually melt and start to bubble and foam.

Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan as the butter browns. This prevents the butter solids from burning.

They separate when the butter is melted and can burn if they’re left sitting at the bottom of the pan.

image of brown butter made in a large saucepan

After about 5 minutes, the butter will turn an amber and start to smell toasty.

Remove the pan from heat and pour the brown butter into a heat proof bowl to cool. It’s important you do this immediately, so that the butter doesn’t burn.

I like to let pop my brown butter into the fridge to speed up the cooling process. I let the butter chill for 30 minutes before using it.

This helps it cool down and solidify a bit, so that it has a consistency similar to room temperature butter.

The Trick to Filling These Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you’ve ever eaten Nutella, you know how thick and creamy it is! While its unique texture is part of what makes it so tasty, it also can make it hard to use a filling.

My favorite way around this is to make dollops of Nutella (or peanut butter if you have a tree nut allergy) on parchment paper and freeze them.

image of nutella being scooped onto a lined pan to chill before being used to fill cookies

That way you can pick up each chilled scoop of Nutella, place it in the middle of your flattened cookie dough, and easily wrap the dough around it.

The Nutella will start to soften after about 5 minutes, so you want to work quickly as you fill your cookies.

Another tip I’ve found that makes it a lot easier to hand the cookie dough and wrap it around the Nutella is to lightly moisten your hands with water.

It prevents the dough from sticking to your palms and makes it easier to shape the cookies.

Substitutions and Swaps

While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know some of you might not have all these ingredients on hand.

Below are some swaps and modifications that can be made in this recipe.

image of ingredients laid out to make salted brown butter nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies
  • Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter in this recipe. Just be sure to omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place.
  • Nutella – If you don’t have any on hand or aren’t a fan of Nutella, you can also use peanut butter or any nut butter! I just recommend you use a relatively thick nut butter. If it’s too thin / oily, it will be hard to use as a filling and will cause the cookies to spread a lot more as they bake.
  • Brown Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar in this recipe. I prefer it with light brown sugar, but either type works. The brown sugar prevents these cookies from spreading too much and adds another layer of flavor. If you only have granulated sugar on hand, you can use it instead but the cookies will spread more as they bake.
image of brown butter and brown sugar cream together in a pink kitchenaid stand mixer
  • Large Egg – You can use a flaxseed egg in its place to make eggless or vegan variations of this chocolate chip cookie recipe.
  • Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt: This might catch you off-guard, since not many cookie recipes include sour cream or Greek yogurt! But this adds a lot to the flavor and texture of the cookies, in the same way they make cakes taste deliciously moist. You can also use full fat yogurt, or alternative yogurt (almond, soy, oat) if you’re dairy free.
  • All-Purpose Flour – I haven’t tested this recipe out with gluten free flour, but it should work if you use a good blend like King Arthur’s GF flour. Just be sure to mix the dough a bit longer, to help give it structure.
  • Chocolate – This part is up to you! I prefer these chocolate chip cookies with dark chocolate chips, but milk or semi-sweet would work great too. You can use either chocolate chips or chunks, and I suggest using whatever type is your favorite!
image of stack of brown butter nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies, with the top cookie bitten into with nutella oozing out

Tips for Making the Best Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Wait to turn your oven on until your filled cookies are chilling. The dough takes a while to make, fill, and chill!
  • Freeze your scoops of Nutella for at least 20 minutes before trying to fill your cookies. It makes them way easier to stuff inside your cookie dough.
  • Let your brown butter cool in the fridge for 30 minutes before using, to make it easier to cream with the brown sugar.
  • Cream your brown butter and butter and brown sugar together at a medium high speed for at least 2-3 minutes, until the mixture becomes lighter in color.
  • Be sure to properly measure your flour (spoon into the cup measure and then level) or use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
  • Use a cookie scoop to make sure your cookies are uniformly sized.
  • Lightly wet your hands before flattening and filling your cookies. It prevents the dough from sticking to your hands and makes the cookie dough easier to handle.
  • Be sure to space your cookies about 2-3 inches apart before baking them! They spread a bit as they bake.
  • Press extra chunks of chocolate on top of the cookies before they’re baked. You can also garnish them with sea salt to make them look just as incredible as they taste.
image of brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies in a stack with the top cookie bitten into showing the warm, melting nutella

Making These Cookies in Advance and Storing Them

  • In the off chance that you have any leftover cookies, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
  • You can also freeze leftover cookies for up to a month. I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight. I heat them in the microwave for 15 seconds the next morning to make the centers gooey again.
  • If you make this cookie dough in advance, you can freeze stuffed cookies in an airtight container for up to a month. Let the cookies thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake as instructed.

Other Recipes You Might Like

image of stack of brown butter nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies with golden brown crispy edges

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies, please let me know what you think! Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts 🙂

Yield: 12

Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

image of brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies in a stack with the top cookie bitten into showing the warm, melting nutella

These brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies have golden brown edges and chewy centers that are filled Nutella! Top them with a bit of sea salt and they're completely irresistible!!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 3/4 cup or 6 oz. Nutella (170g)
  • 1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter (113g)
  • 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (150g)
  • 1 large egg, room temperature (56g)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (2ml)
  • 2 tsp sour cream or plain greek yogurt (8g)
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (160g)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda (4g)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (3g)
  • 1 cup dark or milk chocolate chips, chopped (175g)
  • Coarse sea salt to garnish

Instructions

    1. Begin by browning the butter. Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat, until it begins to foam. Make sure you stir and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan frequently during this process with a rubber spatula (you don't want the butter solids to burn at the bottom of the pan).
    2. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to stir and remove from heat as soon as the butter is visibly brown and gives off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a separate heat-proof bowl and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
    3. While the brown butter cools, prepare the Nutella centers for these cookies! Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and use two spoons to create 12 equal sized scoops of Nutella using about 1 Tbsp of Nutella per scoop. Place this pan in the freezer to allow them to firm up.
    4. With a hand or stand mixer, cream together the cooled brown butter and brown sugar for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture lightens in color. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
    5. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and sour cream or Greek yogurt on a medium high speed until the mixture is smooth.
    6. Add in the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed just until combined, you do not want to over-mix your dough! Gently fold in the chopped chocolate chips.
    7. The dough should be a bit sticky at this point. Chill the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes, until it's thicker and easier to handle. This also helps the dough to absorb the flavor of the brown butter, and prevents the cookies from overspreading while they bake.
    8. About 20 minutes before your cookies are done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
    9. Use a cookie scoop to make 12 equal sized cookie dough balls.
    10. Remove the chilled scoops of Nutella from the freezer.
    11. Flatten each ball of cookie dough in the palm of your hand, and place a frozen scoop of Nutella in the center. Fold the dough around the Nutella and shape into a hockey puck, being sure the Nutella is fully covered. Set aside and repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
    12. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, aluminum foil, or a silicone baking mat.
    13. Place the cookie dough balls 2-3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Top with a few extra bits of chocolate if desired.
    14. Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Rotate the pans halfway through to help the cookies bake evenly.
    15. Remove them from the oven and garnish with sea salt while they're still hot.
    16. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 15 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Notes

Making These Cookies in Advance and Storing Them

  • In the off chance that you have any leftover cookies, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
  • You can also freeze leftover cookies for up to a month. I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight, then heat them in the microwave for 15 seconds to make the centers gooey again.
  • If you make the cookie dough in advance, you can freeze stuffed cookies in an airtight container for up to a month. Let the cookies thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake as instructed.

Nutrition Information

Yield

12

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 341Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 40mgSodium 249mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 2gSugar 30gProtein 5g

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