Nutella Cookies
What I Love About This Cookie
Nutella and chocolate are a natural pair, since the hazelnut flavor in the spread deepens the cocoa instead of competing with it. If you’re as big a Nutella fan as I am, my Nutella stuffed brownie bites and easy Nutella tiramisu are worth trying too.
- Soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside. That texture comes from pulling the cookies out of the oven slightly before they look fully done.
- The hazelnut coating adds crunch and reinforces the chocolate-hazelnut flavor in every bite.
- One batch makes 24-26 cookies, and the dough freezes well, so it’s easy to make a double batch for gifting or holiday cookie trays.
Key Ingredient Notes
- Nutella – this is a hazelnut chocolate spread, you can use name brand of store brand. Bring it to room temperature before mixing. Cold Nutella straight from the fridge is much harder to beat smooth into the dough.
- Hazelnuts – if you can’t find hazelnuts, almonds are a good substitute. A few readers have also had success with pecans.
- Cocoa powder – gives the dough its deep chocolate color and flavor, on top of the chocolate already in the Nutella.
How to Make Soft Nutella Cookies
- Mix the dough – Cream the butter, then beat in the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the Nutella and vanilla, then stir in the sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt just until combined.
- Chill the dough – Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate for about 4 hours, or overnight. Chilling this long matters, since Nutella softens the dough more than a typical cookie dough, and it needs that time in the fridge to firm back up enough to scoop and hold its shape.
- Scoop and coat – Scoop the dough into balls and roll them quickly in the crushed hazelnuts, working fast so the dough doesn’t warm up too much in your hands.
- Bake – Place the coated dough balls about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes, pulling them while the centers still look slightly underdone. They’ll continue to set as they cool, which is what keeps the middle soft.
Storing Nutella Cookies
- Refrigerator: covered cookie dough keeps well for up to 4 hours or overnight before baking.
- Freezer: frozen dough balls keep for up to 3 months, following the notes above.
- Baked cookies: store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Nutella Cookies Recipe FAQs
Yes, almonds work well as a substitute. For a salty twist, use lightly salted almonds. A few readers have also used pecans with good results.
So there is a reason for using two sugars because each one does something different in the recipe. Brown sugar helps make the cookie smore soft and chewy, while white granulated sugar makes it more crispy. So the results of substituting would be more crispy or more chewy.
Yes. Since the dough already needs about 4 hours in the fridge, it holds up fine overnight too. Keep it tightly covered with plastic wrap the whole time.
Yes. Roll the dough into balls instead of refrigerating it, then freeze the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet for about 2 hours. Transfer them to a freezer bag, remove as much air as you can, and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, no need to thaw, just add a couple extra minutes to the bake time.
More Cookie Recipes From Me
- Maple Pecan Cream Cheese Cookies
- Vanilla Bean Orange Cookies
- Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
- Chewy Key Lime Coconut Cookies
- Glazed Lemon Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies
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Nutella Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup Nutella spread room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
Instructions
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat butter in an electric mixer on medium speed for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in sugar and beat butter and sugar for a couple more minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Beat in Nutella and vanilla extract. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add flour mixture on stir it in on low speed until just combined.
- Cover cookie dough tightly with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use cookie scoop to form cookie dough balls. (#30, #40, or #50 cookie scoop can be used. Just add or take away a minute or so of bake time for bigger or smaller cookie scoop.) I use #40 scoop and bake for 12-14 minutes.
- Scoop cookie dough and roll a ball quickly. Roll cookie balls in crushed hazelnuts and place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes.
Nutrition
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This is hilarious. I baked up some of these cookies tonight again and thought I just have to go comment on that recipe. So I commented above and realized that I had already left to come out in December. That’s how darn good these cookies are!
That is funny! Thank you, Darlene! I am so glad you like them so much! 🙂
These are the best cookies in the WHOLE world. We are totally addicted to them! They are so wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft on the inside,. The only change I made was to add dehydrated mini marshmallows. They make them a little chewier and are heaven about 3 minutes out of the oven. Those partially melted browned marshmallows take them up a notch! Thank you for such a fantastic recipe!! 🙂
I’m a huge Nutella fan! I’ve been poking around the internet looking at cookie recipes and this one sounded the best. Oh my word!! These are the most fantastic cookies! Like other reviewers said, soft center with a crispy outside. I can’t imagine anything more delicious! I did add dehydrated marshmallow pieces. I was hoping the dehydrated marshmallows would stay crisp. They didn’t but they are still SO good! Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe!
I am glad that you liked them and they still turned out well!
Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.. I just made this cookie today and omg it’s perfect! My family loves it. I didn’t have hazelnuts or almonds so I used pecan instead and still perfect.
Letty, I love hearing that! 🙂
Can I use everything without brown sugar as we haven’t got any and shops are closed?
Ella, I am so sorry for the late response. You could use replace the brown sugar with white sugar.
My 9 year old son was inspired by the Kids Baking Championship and wanted to practice some baking at home. We scrollled through Pinterest when your recipe caught his attention. We made these right away and they are a new family favorite! The perfect chewy middle with crisp outside; a rich chocolate flavor that are not overly sweet and have just the right saltiness from the nuts (we used almonds) on the outside. Thank you so much for a great recipe that we will make over and over again.
That is SO awesome!! Thank you so much for coming to tell me.
I’ve been trying to get my son to get the interest in baking too but he just prefers to eat the end result 😉