I’ve made quite a few chocolate-peanut butter cookies in my day. But had yet to bake Nutella into cookies until now. What was I waiting for. They turned out moist, soft, chewy, and are some of the fudgiest, richest, and most intensely chocolaty cookies I’ve ever had. The Nutella is the star of the show, and trumps the peanut butter flavor, which is more subtle.
I got the inspiration from my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Those cookies don’t use any flour, butter, or white sugar. I was going to just swap Nutella for peanut butter, but realized that wouldn’t be a good idea. Nutella is about twice as runny as peanut butter, and I was afraid of spreading issues. It’s also sweeter than peanut butter. To compensate, I cut the brown sugar amount in half, added a bit of flour, and supplemented the Nutella-dominant dough with just one-quarter cup of peanut butter since it’s thicker and provides more structure. And there’s NO butter and NO white sugar used, and very little flour. I was so pleased when these came out of the oven and my strategies worked.
To make the cookies, cream together one egg, Nutella, peanut butter, dark brown sugar (or light if that’s what you have), vanilla, and let your mixer really work this dough over. In my stand mixer, I let this beat on high power for about 5 minutes. The batter goes from granular, gritty, and sloppy to smooth and oily-looking. It should look like a big, greasy ball of Play-Doh. If it’s not, keep beating and creaming until it is. Add the flour, baking soda, and this causes the mass of dough to separate into tiny balls about the size of larger non-pareils sprinkles. The dough is not pretty, not combined, and you’ll think you’re on the wrong track. You’re fine.
Add the chocolate chunks and beat momentarily. A tip when chopping chocolate is to put a piece of parchment on your cutting board before chopping it, which contains the chocolate sawdust, making cleanup a snap. The whole dusty mess slides easily off the parchment and into your mixing bowl. I used Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus Bar. Use your favorite level of chocolate intensity. I wanted something dark, rich, and very intense and it delivered.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form 15 mounds and place them on a large plate, or use your hands. If you’re using a cookie scoop, after the mounds are formed, squeeze and compact them in your hand. The dough comes together when squeezed, yet is crumbly and loose without pressure as it lays in the mixing bowl. It’s oily yet crumbly, all in one.
Cover the plate with plasticwrap and chill it for at least two hours, up to 5 days, before baking. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until tops have just set. Don’t overbake, which is easy to do with dark-colored cookies. They set up as they cool so don’t be afraid to pull these out when they’re still on the loose and jiggly side. Biting into one of these dark beauties, with a sea of melted chocolate chunks scattered throughout the rich, Nutella-based dough, is just pure bliss.
Nutella lends a fudgy, gooey quality to the cookies, unlike other types of chocolate cookies that are made with cocoa powder, which I find are prone to turning dry and cakey. Although there are hints of peanut butter flavor that come through, these are for chocolate lovers.
The edges are chewy, and the center is squishy soft, supremely moist, and ultra chocolaty. In comparison to some of my other chocolate cookie recipes, these are a slam dunk. There’s no chocolate to melt nor having to wait for it to cool before beating into the other dry ingredients, making them so much faster and more foolproof.
I’m glad the recipe only makes 15 small cookies. Having a big batch of these around would be dangerous.
Related Recipes
Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF) – No butter, No white sugar, and No flour used. They’re more peanut buttery than today’s cookies; however overall, much more of a chocolate-peanut butter cookie than a peanut butter-chocolate cookie. Rich and intense with old-fashioned charm Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies – A soft, scrumptious, and nearly flourless brownie-like batter is baked into cookies that are rich, decadent, and lined with hidden chunks of dark chocolate
Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies – For the ultimate chocolate lover and chocolate is used five times: Cocoa powder, melted bittersweet baking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, diced chocolate and caramel-filled truffles, and chocolate-filled Oreos. There’s no peanut butter in them, but hands down, my favorite chocolate cookie recipe of all time but today’s recipe gives these a run for their money, especially because it’s much faster and simpler to make
Mounds Bar Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookies – Chocolate and coconut is a winning combination and I baked both chocolate chips and Mounds Bar candy bars into these easy, goofproof chocolate cake mix cookies that turn out soft and moist every time
Dark Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies Stuffed with Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Any dried fruit may be used but there’s something about the combination of chocolate and chocolate-covered strawberries that is especially good
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge – Fast, easy, no-cook, foolproof fudge that’s as peanut buttery as it is chocolaty
Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter (vegan, GF) – No added sugar, oils, or anything other than peanuts and chocolate. Ready in 10 mins. Fudgy, rich, and comfort food by way of a spoon
Nutella Brownie Truffle Bites (no-bake with vegan and GF options) – All the flavor and decadence of truffles, minus the work of rolling into balls. These sliceable, no-bake, dense, rich bites come together in 5 minutes and are pressed into a pan and sliced, rather than rolled. Fudgy brownie, chocolate cookie dough, and truffle all in one. Rich, decadent, and easy
Nutella Chocolate Chip Baklava – Easy enough to make even if you’ve never made baklava. Layers of phyllo dough, Nutella, and chocolate chips that are drenched in a honey syrup
What’s your favorite way to eat Nutella? or Peanut Butter? Recipes links welcome. Thanks for the Odwalla Juices Giveaway entries!
