What's better than a stuffed cookie? These Brown Butter Chocolate Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are chewy, decadent, with a gooey center that is filled with Chocolate Hazelnut spread. These cookies are made with brown butter, chopped hazelnuts, chopped chocolate, and a healthy amount of chocolate hazelnut spread. They're the ultimate gourmet cookie, and they'll please just about any crowd!
I've been on a kick with stuffed cookies, it seems. I will probably be stuffing more cookies with different fillings. Despite their appearance, they're actually INCREDIBLY easy to make, and take very little time. Browning the butter takes 8-10 minutes, but the real time sucker is the chilling, which is really not active time; you could set a load of laundry or do the dishes, or watch a couple episodes of your favorite sitcom while these babies chill in the fridge. But seriously, they're a must. Especially if you're a fan of chocolate or hazelnut.
If you're a fan of Nutella or Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, then these Chocolate Stuffed Cookies are made for you. They're made with brown butter for extra toasty and nutty flavors, dark chocolate, chopped hazelnut pieces, and filled with chocolate hazelnut spread. They're so easy to make and require no special equipment or mixers!
If you love stuffed cookies, try my Pistachio Stuffed Cookies or Biscoff Stuffed Cookies. Both feature an irresistible filling within a brown butter chocolate chip cookie.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread: These cookies are stuffed with Chocolate Hazelnut spread, making them so decadent. They create the most gooey centers. If you love chocolate hazelnut spread, try my Nutella Tart or Kinder Bueno Cupcakes.
Brown Butter: The addition of brown butter adds a depth of flavor. It gives these cookies a toffee, nutty flavor and works perfectly in this cookie recipe.
Chewy & Crispy: The cookies, like my brown butter pecan chocolate chip cookies have an outer crisp layer, but they're chewy in the center!
Large cookies: This recipe makes 8 large cookies. These cookies need to be large because of the amount of Hazelnut spread that is being stuffed into them. If you love a large cookie, try my small batch chocolate chip cookies!
Easy cookie recipe: I know it feels like browning butter and stuffing cookies can seem daunting, but don't let it scare you. Browning butter is so simple (more steps on that below), but these cookies require no special equipment and they're made without a mixer.
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Ingredient Notes
- Brown Butter: Using brown butter in this Chocolate Filled Cookies recipe gives the cookies an even greater nutty flavor. It really takes a chocolate chip cookie to new heights when you take that extra step and brown the butter!
- Flour: Best to use all purpose flour. Make sure to properly measure.
- Baking soda: Using only baking soda will result in a cookie that spreads a little more with crispy edges.
- Salt: To add flavor and balance.
- Sugar: I highly recommend dark brown instead of light because has more flavor and with these cookies, I am all in with the flavor!
- Egg: Make sure your egg is at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Use as much as you like. More flavor, the better.
- Chocolate: I use 70% chocolate, chopped. You can use dark or semi-sweet, and swap out the bar for chips.
- Chocolate Hazelnut Spread: You can use whatever brand of hazelnut spread you like. I am using Nocilla Chocolate Hazelnut Spread that I picked up mine from World Market.
- Chopped Hazelnuts: You can roast or toast your hazelnuts before adding them to the cookie dough if you like.
See recipe card for quantities.
Step-by-step instructions
These Chocolate Filled Cookies are relatively easy to make.
Brown the Butter
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.
You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring and remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly before continuing with recipe.
Make Chocolate Stuffed Cookies
Prep: scoop chocolate hazelnut spread into 8 tablespoon on a parchment-lined plate and place in the freezer until ready to use. I use a round 1 tablespoon measuring spoon.
Tip: Make sure to freeze the scooped chocolate hazelnut spread before stuffing the cookies. Then chill the stuffed cookies for at least an hour before baking. The longer you chill, the less the cookies spread.
Step 1: In a bowl, combine the brown butter and sugars and mix.
Step 2: Add the egg and vanilla extract and combine.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients, the chocolate, hazelnuts, and mix until combined.
Step 4: Form a hole in the center of each ball and drop the chilled hazelnut chocolate ball into the center.
Step 5: Form the dough around the chocolate hazelnut ball, then add chocolate chunks.
Step 6: Once chilled, place on a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
Hint: To get round cookies, use a spoon to scoot the edges inward RIGHT when you take them out of the oven. A cookie cutter won't work with these cookies because of the filling.
Substitutions
Brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar if you don't have any dark brown, but I highly recommend using dark brown sugar.
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread: You can use any different brand of hazelnut chocolate spread you like. The most famous is Nutella, but there are other off-brands that are great, and contain no palm oil.
Variations
Pistachio: If you love pistachio, you'll love my Pistachio Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're stuffed with pistachio cream and they make the best filling!
Biscoff: I have a delicious Biscoff Stuffed Cookie recipe filled with biscoff spread that I know you'll love!
Peanut Butter: These cookies would be excellent stuffed with peanut butter!
No Filling: You can completely leave out the filling all together.
Equipment
Cookie Scoop: I love using a large ice cream scoop to get the large cookies.
Tablespoon: I use a one tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the chocolate hazelnut spread. You can also use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop if you have one. I don't suggest buying equipment you don't already have, which is why I like the measuring spoon.
Baking Tray: A large half sheet baking pan to bake the cookies.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
Storage
Room temperature: These cookies will last at room temperature in an airtight container or ziploc bag for 3-4 days.
Freeze:
- Cookie dough: To freeze the cookie dough, scoop dough into balls, stuff with chocolate hazelnut spread, then place in the fridge for at least an hour. Transfer the cookies to a ziploc bag and allow all the air to escape before storing them in the freezer. When ready to bake, let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes and proceed with the recipe as instructed, or let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, you can lower the oven temperature by 20 degrees, and baked straight away. You may need to bake them a couple minutes longer.
- Baked cookies: To freeze baked cookies, wrap cookies individually and place them in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 2 months. To defrost frozen baked cookies, place them in the oven at 300 degrees F and bake for 5-8 minutes until warm and gooey.
Pro Tips
Measure Ingredients Correctly: As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don't burn the brown butter: Once the brown butter starts to pop, foam, and form specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it. Otherwise you could burn it and it will end up tasting bitter.
Don't over mix: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of over mixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Chill the dough: Make sure to chill the cookie balls once stuffed, otherwise they'll spread too much in the oven.
Don't over bake: These cookies are perfect at 12 minutes!
Parchment paper: To avoid sticking, make sure to line the pan with parchment paper.
Round cookies: To get round cookies, use a spoon to scoot the edges inward RIGHT when you take them out of the oven. A cookie cutter won't work with these cookies because of the filling.
Large cookies: For large cookies, use a large ice cream scoop.
High quality chocolate: I like using Ghirardelli, Lindt, or Guittard because I know they all taste wonderful in recipes. Here's more info on baking with the right chocolate.
FAQ
If your cookies spread too much, it's possible you didn't chill them enough. It's also possible you didn't measure the dry ingredients properly, or added too much butter.
To achieve those delicious pools of melted chocolate, use high quality bars of chocolate that you chop. Since chocolate chips contain less cocoa butter, they are made to keep their shape and they don’t melt very well in a cookie.
To get round cookies, use a spoon to scoot the edges inward RIGHT when you take them out of the oven. A cookie cutter won't work with these cookies because of the filling.
It's very important to scoop and chill the chocolate hazelnut spread before stuffing the cookies, then make sure to to chill the chocolate stuffed cookies for at least 1 hour, or longer if you're patient. The longer they chill, the less they'll ooze or spread.
📖 Recipe Card
Chocolate Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon Hazelnut Chocolate spread
- 10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (150g) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cup (180g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 3.5 oz. dark chocolate, chopped reserve some for top
- ¼ cup hazelnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Prep: Scoop Chocolate Hazelnut spread into 8 tablespoon on a parchment-lined plate and place in the freezer until ready to use.8 tablespoon Hazelnut Chocolate spread
For the Brown Butter
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter
- You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring and remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly before continuing with recipe. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.
For the Cookies
- Once brown butter is slightly cooled, add the sugars (both brown and granulated) into the bowl of the brown butter, and mix with a spatula. Add the egg and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, and stir.¾ cup (150g) dark brown sugar, ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1½ cup (180g) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pour in the chopped chocolate and chopped hazelnuts and mix until incorporated. Then scoop into 8 large balls.3.5 oz. dark chocolate, chopped, ¼ cup hazelnuts, chopped
- Form a hole in the center of each ball and drop the chilled chocolate hazelnut ball into the center and form the dough around it. Top with extra chocolate, then place in the fridge for at least 1 hour (longer if you're patient). The longer you chill the cookies, the less spreading will happen.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled cookie balls on the lined baking sheet, making sure to spread them quite a bit apart. These cookies are extra large and will touch each other if they're too close. Bake for 12 minutes. Once baked, I like to scoop the edges inward with a spoon to create round cookies.
- TIP: To get round cookies, use a spoon to scoot the edges inward RIGHT when you take them out of the oven. A cookie cutter won't work with these cookies because of the filling.
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