Every year I like to browse different blogs looking for new Christmas cookie recipes. Do I really need to say anything else after reading the title of this post? I mean, really?!?!?! This is now my all time favorite cookie EVER. I found it on a blog called Cookin' Canuck. When you have some time, browse her site...she's got some cool stuff. Once I saw this recipe I kind of stopped in my tracks and didn't get any farther.
Now, lets get down to business. There is a bit of prep you need to do before you actually make the cookie dough.
You need to freeze some nutella. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Plop some nutella on the wax paper in 1 tsp. size blobs. (You'll need 1/2 cup nutella divided into 1 tsp. blobs.) I doubled the cookie recipe, so I froze double the nutella. Why not, right?! I froze it for half an hour or so. It thaws very quickly once you start handling it to stuff the cookies, so if you want to freeze it the night before to make sure it's nice and hard, it won't hurt anything. And I also stuck it back in the freezer between cookie batches because it seriously softens quickly. Now, the cookie!
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups + 1/3 cup sugar, divided
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tablespoon sea salt
Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl beat the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar using an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy; approximately 3-5 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract.
Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the flour mixture until it's just combined. Using a rubber spatula stir the mixture a few times to make sure all of the flour is incorporated.
Place 1/3 cup of sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
Now....we make the magic happen!
Use 2 tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie. Place 1 tablespoon of dough on a board and slightly flatten it out. Using a small spatula, lift a blob of nutella off of the paper and place in the middle of the flattened dough. Next, sprinkle 10 or so grains of salt on top of the nutella. (I used my 1/4 tsp. and just sprinkled until I thought it looked good.) Then take your second 1 tablespoon of dough and place it on top of the nutella and salt and seal the dough on all sides.
Once you've stuffed all of your dough, roll the ball in the reserved 1/3 cup of sugar.
Place the sugared dough on a parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-13 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way through the cooking time. The cookie are done once the edges are set and beginning to brown. The centers should still be soft and puffy.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. (It's very tempting to try them during the first 10 minutes they're cooling...but the nutella is like molten lava. I don't know how I know this.) Using a spatula, transfer the semi-cooled cookies from the baking sheet to a wire rack and allow to cool completely; IF you can stand to wait that long. After the first 10 minutes it's no longer molten lava-ish so do whatever you need to do.
Enjoy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment