Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.88 from 33 ratings

Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

These brown butter Nutella chocolate chip cookies bake up with golden brown edges, perfectly chewy centers, and are filled with gooey Nutella!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Additional Time1

Total Time1 25

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Calories: 291kcal

Author: Chelsey White

Ingredients

Brown Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter 140g
3/4 cup or 6 oz. Nutella 170g
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 150g
1 large egg, room temperature 56g
1 Tbsp full-fat sour cream, room temperature 12g
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 5g
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 160g
1/2 tsp baking soda 4g
1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
1 cup dark or milk chocolate chips, chopped 175g

Garnish - Optional

flakey sea salt - garnish

Instructions

Brown Butter

The first step is to brown the butter. Get a heat-proof bowl out to pour the butter into once it's done being browned. Set aside.
Place 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp of unsalted butter in a large, light-colored pan (to make it easier to see) over medium heat. Stir the butter the entire time with a rubber spatula to prevent the milk solids from burning!
Once melted, the butter will begin to foam and sizzle around the edges. Keep stirring!! The butter should turn golden brown after a few minutes and be topped with a foamy layer of bubbles. Shortly after this the foam should kind of fade away and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will be a perfectly toasted brown. It should have a strong, nutty aroma.
Immediately remove the pan from heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process. If left in the hot pan, the milk solids will burn. It can happen in a flash, trust me!! Place the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool.

Brown Butter Nutella Cookies

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.
Use a hand or stand mixer and paddle attachment to cream together the cooled brown butter (it should be partially solidified at this point and no longer warm to the touch) and 3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar for a couple of minutes, until the mixture lightens in color. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Mix in 1 large egg, 1 Tbsp sour cream or Greek yogurt, and 1 tsp vanilla extract on a medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth.
Then add 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp fine salt. Mix on low speed just until combined. Gently fold in 1 cup of roughly chopped chocolate chips.
The dough should be a bit sticky at this point. Use a cookie scoop to make 12 equal-sized cookie dough balls and place them on a parchment-lined sheet.
Chill the cookie dough balls for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. This also helps the dough absorb the brown butter flavor, hydrates the flour, and prevents the cookies from overspreading while they bake.
About 20 minutes before your cookies are done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.
Once the dough is chilled, remove it and the chilled scoops of Nutella from the freezer.
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 it into a hockey puck, doing your best to fully cover the Nutella. Set aside and repeat with the remaining cookie dough. If the Nutella gets too soft to handle or the cookie dough starts sticking to your hands, pop them back into the freezer and/or fridge until they're easier to handle.
Then line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Place the cookie dough balls 2-3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Top with a few extra bits of chocolate if desired.
Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges just begin to brown. Rotate the pans halfway through to help the cookies bake evenly. Remove them from the oven and garnish with flakey sea salt while they're still hot.
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!

Video

Notes

If you have any questions about substitutions in this recipe, please check out the "Substitutions and Swaps" section in the post above.

How Many Cookies Does this Recipe Make?

This recipe makes about 12 cookies (3 Tbsp of dough per cookie). However, you can also make mini Nutella-stuffed cookies that are half the size!

Scoop 24 cookie dough balls (about 1.5 Tbsp each) and 24 Nutella dollops (2 tsp each) and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 F / 175 C.

Tips for Making the Best Brown Butter Nutella Cookies

Use a cookie scoop to make sure the cookies are uniformly sized.
If you have warm hands, flatten the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper.
Don't worry if there's a little bit of Nutella filling peeking through a small crack in the cookie dough. It will bake up just fine!
Don't over-bake your cookies! Even if they seem a bit soft coming out of the oven, they will continue to bake and set on the tray once they're out of the oven.

Making These Brown Butter Nutella 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.

Nutrition