Nutella-stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt and Brown Butter

A classic with a classic-Can we call this a double classy cookie? 

Since I started baking I've always wondered about the secrets behind the school cafeteria cookies: the soft chewy inside and crunchy outside. Not too thick or thin like a cracker.

So I started a "perfect-cookie search". 

There are probably more than a million chocolate chip cookie recipes online, but the question is: "which one?"

A not super-sweet (the rot-your-teeth kind of sweet) with its addition of sea salt, and browned butter-> 2 "secret" ingredients to make those cookies at home.

Yes, it's the first time I've attempted at browning butter, and fortunately it was successful - no burnt or evaporating butter liquid everywhere. Constant stirring and keeping an eye on it  are the keys.

Check here for a quick tutorial on browning butter. 

The browned butter really stimulates the flavor of the whole cookie, try it :)

Nutella-stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt and Brown Butter

Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen (Thanks Coconut Crumpet for introducing the blog!)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
2. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.
3. Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are super eager, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball — it doesn’t have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand VERY gently. (Really only the tops need to be flattened a bit!)
5. Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Made them for the awesome volunteers at our school's Dessert Jazz Night

these cookies are perfect as thank-you gifts or just stuff to "lure" your friends ;)

Living well is the sweetest revenge.❤

-Papaya Crumpet