Nutella Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Happy wedding day to my little brother and his beautiful fiancé! I'm so excited to celebrate this special occasion with them today. Also a very happy Memorial Day and THANK YOU to all of those who have served our country!

I wanted to share something sweet and delicious today, so these cookies are what you get! They contain peanut butter, Nutella and chocolate. What else could you want in a sweet treat? You should definitely make these ASAP. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use natural or homemade)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl and hand mixer), combine the egg, Nutella, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat on high power to cream ingredients, about 5 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. The dough will go from very granular, gritty, and loose to smooth, oily, and well-formed in a large mound. If your dough has not come together or is at all gritty, continue to mix until it smooths out.

Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt and beat to incorporate. Dough will not look like normal cookie dough and will be tiny balls and flakes that seem almost feathery in the bowl. This is okay. Add the chocolate chunks and beat momentarily to incorporate.

Using a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) or your hands, scoop out 15 mounds of dough and place them on a large plate. Using your hands, gently squeeze and compact each mound so that it's tightly packed together. Dough will be both crumbly and oily, but when squeezed, it should stay together. Cover plate with plasticwrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days, before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking mats, parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Set aside. 

Space dough 2 inches apart (8 per tray) and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until top have just set, even if slightly underbaked in the center. It's difficult to discern if they're done or not because they're dark, but watch them very closely and don't overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool, and baking too long will result in cookies that set up too crisp and hard. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. 

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Source: Adapted from Averie Cooks