You know those people who stop eating and lose weight and when they’re stressed? The kind of people I kind of hate? Like my husband? I am not one of those people. I wish I were. But when I get stressed, chocolate, Vanilla Diet Cokes from Sonic, bread, and pasta suddenly become my best friends (well, maybe more “best” than they already were).
When Sara and I were traveling a lot earlier this year, it was stressful. Definitely good stressful, kind of like moving or house renovating–fun and exciting, but still…there were a lot of frayed nerves, especially at first. Our first book publicity trip in late January/early February was particularly stressful (there was a small rental car crash, lots of weather delays, and it just felt like there was not enough time to get everything done). One of the highlights of our trip, a little shelter from the craziness, was the night we had dinner with Maria and Josh from Two Peas and Their Pod. Their home was gorgeous and peaceful, the food was delicious, and even though it was the first time we met them in person, it felt like we were just meeting up with old friends and picking up where we left off.
The dinner was fabulous, but really, I was mostly in it for the cookies. The Pioneer Woman even calls Maria the Cookie Queen and she totally is. Being the stress eater that I am, I took care of about 4 of these bad boys and thought they were possibly the best chocolate cookies I’d ever eaten.
As we renovate our kitchen (which has now kind of turned into renovating the dining room, which kind of pushed my husband over the edge), I’m having lots of the same good stress feelings–it’s fun and exciting and expensive and terrifying and messy and we are eating a lot of cold cereal and peanut butter sandwiches right now. So what better to remedy my stress? Those magical Chocolate Nutella Cookies that got me through the first time.
You’ll need flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, real butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, hazelnut extract (if you have it/can find it–I couldn’t, so I just used a little more vanilla), Nutella, and milk.
Surprisingly, you don’t need eggs. I found this shocking. I’d never made cookies without eggs before. My friend Jeni, whose kitchen I borrowed to make these cookies, witnessed firsthand an angst-ridden Kate wondering aloud if there was a mistake in the recipe, if I should tweet Maria and ask if there should be eggs, if I was going to fail at Nutella cookies. I decided to have faith and follow the recipe as directed and I was not disappointed–they were just as magically delicious, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, as they were when we ate them at her house.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth.
With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes (and as long as 2-3 days).
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between the dough balls.
Lightly press the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Now…I’ve gotta say…these are really yummy when they’re warm–they’re very brownie-ish. But when they’re completely cool, they are divine. The texture is unbelievable. Add in a glass of milk and you’ve got the perfect afternoon snack. Or sneaky breakfast before your kids wake up. Not that I know from firsthand experience.
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
2/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon hazelnut extract (you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla if you can’t find or don’t like hazelnut extract)
1/3 cup Nutella
1/3 cup milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325°
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth.
With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes (and as long as 2-3 days).
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between the dough balls.
Lightly press the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
OH MY GOODNESS!
These sound AMAZING!
As a stressed college student I am totally about shoving anything yummy into my face when I can get it! (which isn’t often with the cafeteria food I get)
I can’t wait to send my mom this recipe.
Could I double this recipe? I want to take these to YW and to neighbors!
I imagine it would be completely fine, but I can’t say for sure! 🙂 If you try it out, let us know how it works!
I was so excited to try these! I made them Saturday night, but was a little disappointed. Maybe I need to alter the recipe since I live in the hot, humid dustbowl that is Texas. The cookies were really crumbly and not sweet. The texture was nothing like the pics above.
I sprinkled them with sanding sugar for the 2nd and 3rd batches and it helped, but they’re definitely not a sweet cookie–and the Nutella is very mild. The hazelnut extract would have helped.
Hmmmm…I’m not sure what happened because I’m in Louisiana, so we’re in a similar situation. They definitely should have been sweet and not crumbly at all–I’m not sure what to tell you, but I’m sorry they didn’t work! 🙁
Hmm well the dough is delish! But I’m wondering if I messed something up, I had a hard time rolling them, they were very very sticky, maybe didn’t chill long enough? Any ideas? They are in the oven so we’ll see how they turn out!
I rolled them in powdered sugar before baking – YUM!
Made these last night and they were delicious! I also added some white chocolate chips to half the batch and thought it was a yummy addition. 🙂
always thought there should be a cookie or something made out of it…
wow, cant wait to try this one!
Amazingly delicious!! I’ve actually only tasted the batter so far because the are baking in the oven as I write!! Thanks for sharing with the women of the world the best recipes!!! I yet to make something my husband doesn’t like:)
Mahalo,
Sunny
Oh. Wow. These recipe looks like it was designed especially for my weaknesses. I really, really, really want to make these, but I’ve banned Nutella from our house because I can eat the whole jarful in a week, and have. Maybe, just this once…
I LOVE your recipes ladies. They make up the majority of my weekly dinner menu, and I almost always come here when I’m looking for something particularly delish to bring to a party. Thank you for your dedication, and humor. You’re a joy!
I made these last night for a dinner party and slapped some hard vanilla ice cream in the middle and made ice cream sandwiches. Sooooo good! One of my guests said that her husband detests Nutella but he continued to ask for more cookies. 😉
Anything that has Nutella is good with me. I never buy it cause we put it on everything, absolutely everything, and it is not exactly health food despite its protein content. These cookies sound heavenly.
WHAT…Sonic has vanilla DIET COKE! How am I just learning about this now. H-E-L-L-O happy hour!
I made these cookies and wondered the same thing about the eggs, but they are really one of the best chocolate cookies ever!!
these look scrumptious! maybe even make cookie sandwiches with nutella in between!
I made these last night… They were okay. I was a little hesitant because there’s 2/3c of cocoa to only one cup of sugar. I didn’t have hazelnut extra but I made them anyway. They were just not sweet enough for my taste. The texture was fine though. My hubby liked them. I think I’ll just stick to Nutella for my Nutella cravings 🙂
My husband & I can’t keep Nutella in the house for the obvious reason. I’m baking these right now before Irene hits up and we’ll have tons of cookies to eat with no power. While I was mixing the batter was very crumbly is this normal? Also, can I freeze these? If my batch turns out good I want to make them for a baby shower!
I got so excited…I meant “Irene hits us”.
I recently found your blog and have loved every recipe I’ve made so far! Thanks!
Do you think you could turn these into sandwich cookies with nutella spread in between?
These look delicious
I love these cookies! I found their blog a few months ago and make these over and over again!:)
I wonder how these would taste with the filling from your peanut butter cookie sandwiches? or (maybe) even better, the peanut butter cookies with nutella as a filling.
I actually made these a couple months ago after perusing Two Peas and Their Pod…love them! I was able to find some hazelnut extract at the bulk market where I buy all my spices and other baking needs. I also stumbled across some Kroger brand chunky hazelnut spread (not “Nutella”, but just as good), and the little hazelnut chunks definitely added to the awesomeness of the cookie. Not to mention, it was even more delicious licking off a spoon!!
Ooooh gosh just had a thought. Could you add espresso (even decaf espresso) to this to make a chocolate/coffee/hazelnut type cookie? If you can, would you just do half milk half espresso or how would that work?
I love your recipes but cannot get them to print on our MAC:( what am I doing wrong?
You are renovating your kitchen! Can you tell us all about it?
Yum!! I’m exactly like you Kate. Stress = chocolate,soda,&bread! funny. Unfortunately for me, I’m fresh out of Nutella (darn stuff can’t seem to stay off a spoon and out of my mouth!) But definitely going to try these!!
Love the recipes from your site and often print them to add to my recipe binder! However, seeing a picture of the food always makes me want to make it. It there any way you gals can add a photo to the printed option of your recipes–pretty please?!?!?
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I cannot wait to make these! I peruse Two Peas & Their Pod sometimes & I think I may have seen this recipe on there awhile back. There is another website I saw the other day that had nutella pinwheel cookies, but honestly, these look waaaayy better cuz they have…MORE CHOCOLATE! And more chocolate is ALWAYS better, right?! ;P Thanks for sharing this one with us, Kate! 🙂
Thank you so much! I will be baking these cookies this weekend 🙂
Ha ha… sneaky breakfast before your kids wake up? Sounds so much like me! These look delish!