Nutella Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: Hannah & Her Sister

There’s a saying –  “There are the families that we are born into, and there are the families that we choose; our circle of friends“. Every time I think of this saying, I think of my friend Hannah who lives in my hometown of Austin, Texas. I think of her as my sister, and her family as my family.

In the many years that I’ve known Hannah, she has always been a strong woman with a generous heart, and an unmatched resilience and sense of humor that gets her through tough times. So, when she told me that her sister, Holly, was recently diagnosed with cancer, I knew I had to be there for them anyway I could even though I’m miles and miles away.

It’s no surprise that the first thing I think of when trying to take care of the people I love is food. I am, after all, my parents’ daughter. I remembered that Hannah had shared a recipe on Holly’s Facebook page, to cheer her up, of the “Best Cookies” – Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies made with brown butter. Can you get more decadent than that? These two sisters are very precious to me and they indeed deserve the best. And they most certainly deserve the best chocolate chip cookie.

I knew right away that I was going to bake a batch for them. I liked the original recipe but felt the need to tweak it to my tastes. I used brown sugar (dark and light) instead of the regular granulated sugar; I used less chocolate chips making room for more Nutella; and I used only semi-sweet chocolate chips since I love dark chocolate. The result? Incredibly chocolatey, delectably buttery and moist, and wonderfully nutty cookies. Or as my husband calls them, “the best cookies EVER.”

I promptly mailed the batch to Hannah and Holly thinking, “What’s more comforting than a chewy chocolate chip cookie when you’re feeling down or sick?” They were a hit with these lovely ladies! I was happy to hear Hannah say, “They were like much needed warm hugs”.

I later found out that Holly needs a large amount of calories to withstand her treatment but has been unable to eat much. Her doctors have asked her to eat a diet of high-calorie meals and desserts. Turns out these cookies were a great source of these much needed calories while being incredibly scrumptious.

Please send your well wishes to these amazing women. We all need more inspiring women like them in our lives. I also encourage you to bake these delectable cookies and invite the ones you cherish over, or mail them to someone you’ve been thinking of. You’ll make their day!

Warm hugs,
Anjali

Hannah is a professional photographer and took this photograph. You can see more of her beautiful work here.

A printable list of ingredients and directions are at the end of this post,
along with an image of this Perfect Morsel.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly and doesn’t burn. It will start to foam after about a minute. Continue to stir. The foam will subside, the butter will turn a slightly darker brown in color and have a nutty aroma. Remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a small bowl to cool.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

Add the cooled brown butter and both sugars to another large bowl. Whisk until they’re thoroughly blended. You can also use an electric mixer for this.

Whisk in the vanilla, yogurt, egg and the egg yolk until completely blended.

Add in the the dry ingredients from #2 above and whisk them in until all are combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Place the dough and the jar of Nutella in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Remove dough and nutella from fridge. Measure about 1 ½ tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball.

Gently flatten the ball using your fingers and palm.

Add ½ teaspoon of the chilled Nutella in the middle.

Carefully fold the cookie dough around it. Don’t worry if it’s messy or not perfect. You can also close up any holes with extra dough.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place the dough balls on to parchment paper approximately 2 inches from each other. Carefully flatten the balls.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until they are a golden light brown. The centers will be soft. Remove cookie tray from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough.

Here’s a Perfect Morsel of this chewy, chocolaty, and nutty cookie. Enjoy the cookies as is or with your favorite ice-cream or a glass of almond milk. But don’t forget to share them!