This recipe for brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies was in dire need of a refresh (please peek at the original 2014 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 it just right!

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

I do want to note that this recipe takes a bit of time to make. The cookie dough and Nutella centers need to chill before the cookies can be filled. It’s totally worth the time commitment but be sure you give yourself enough time to account for this.

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 flakey sea salt garnish, these cookies have a lot going on. But he real star of the show is the brown butter.

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 straightforward 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.

After about 5 minutes, the butter will turn 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 solids don’t burn.

I like to pop the brown butter in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the cooling process. 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 as 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

• 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!

Tips for Making the Best Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Wait to turn the oven on until your filled cookies are chilling. The dough takes a while to make, chill, and fill!
• 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 the brown butter cool in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the cooling process.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Making These Cookies in Advance and Storing Them

Leftover cookies can sit at room temperature for 5 days in an airtight container.

You can also freeze baked cookies for up to a month. I like to thaw them overnight, then heat them in the microwave for 10 seconds to make the centers gooey again.

If you make the cookie dough in advance, you can freeze unbaked, stuffed cookies in an airtight container for up to a month. Let the cookies thaw in the fridge overnight, then come to room temperature the next day and bake as instructed.

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Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating below.

And if you share on social media, don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets so that I can see your delicious creations.