Delicious cookies with chunks of salty, crunchy pretzel and homemade Nutella chips in every bite.
On Wednesday, I shared a recipe for Nutella baking chips. Today, we’re going to put those chips to use with Salted Pretzel and Nutella Chip Cookies!
If you read my Weekend Posts, you’ve actually already seen a peek of these cookies. My BFF since childhood came into town a few weeks ago and I put this recipe together for her on the fly since, as we’ve established, baking for people I care about is one of my favorite things in the world, and I’d noticed that she’d had these cookies from the fantastic Averie Cooks pinned forever.
Of course, they didn’t all make it out of my kitchen. I may have eaten one or two or three, because it turns out, pretzels and Nutella are kind of amazing.
I’d heard tales of the mythical combo, but I’m not much of a snacker, so I’d never actually tried it out myself. Put them in a cookie though, and oh man, that’s my jam.
Salty and crunchy with the rich taste of hazelnut and chocolate in every bite. Yes please.
These cookies are so much fun because at first glance, they look like standard chocolate chip cookies. Then you get closer and start to see the pretzel chunks in there, and it’s not until you take a bite that you realize hey, that’s Nutella! Cookie surprises are the best surprises. 😉
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup ( 8 oz) unsalted butter room temperature
- ▢ 1 cup ( 200 g) brown sugar
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 100 g) granulated sugar
- ▢ 2 large eggs
- ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ▢ 2 3/4 cups ( 330 g) all-purpose flour
- ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 1/2 cup mini pretzels broken into pieces
- ▢ 2 cups Nutella chips keep in freezer until just before using
Instructions
Dough
- Using your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric mixer, beat the softened butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Beat on low until well-combined, about 1 minute.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low until just combined, scraping sides and bottom as needed.
- With the mixer on low, mix in pretzels and Nutella chunks.
Chill, Scoop, and Chill Some More
- Place dough in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Once dough is firm enough to handle, scoop dough into 2-ounce spoonfuls and roll into balls (about 2 inches). Place all of the balls on a parchment paper-covered tray (they can be touching). Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to overnight.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 350°Cover 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake cookies 8 to a sheet for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are set and the top of the cookies are golden.
- Allow cookies to cool on the tray.
Notes
Nutritional Information Recipe Adapted From: Averie Cooks
Used to Make This Recipe
A simple and easy method for making homemade Nutella chips for baking.
Are you a Nutella fan? I feel like I was completely late to this whole Nutella thing. It wasn’t a staple in my house growing up. I don’t think I ever even heard the word “Nutella” until a couple of years ago after the rise of Pinterest when suddenly Nutella desserts were taking over the internet.
It was even longer before I actually got around to trying the stuff, but once I tasted it, I was like, O kay. I get it.
There are lots of ways to get Nutella into desserts: stuff it, swirl it, frost it. But my favorite method is Nutella Chips! It’s the least messy of the methods I’ve tried, and you can use it almost anywhere you use chocolate chips (see recipe notes), so the options are endless. Plus, it’s just a pretty neat little trick that people always get a kick out of.
The method is super easy and requires less effort than running to the store and grabbing a bag of regular old chocolate chips. You get some butter. You get some Nutella. Then you mix em, freeze em, and chop em. And voila, Nutella chips.
I have a recipe using these Nutella chips coming up on Friday, but in the mean time, I’d love to hear from you. How would you use Nutella chips in your baking?
Ingredients
- ▢ 9 ounces (just under 1 cup) Nutella
- ▢ 6 tablespoons ( 3 ounces) salted butter
Instructions
- Place a sheet of parchment paper over a flat tray that will fit in your freezer.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Add Nutella and stir until butter is completely incorporated.
- Using a baking spatula, spread mixture over about a 5 by 10-inch rectangle on the tray, so it is approximately 1/4-inch thick all over.
- Place in the freezer for at least an hour.
- Once frozen, transfer the block, still on the parchment paper, to a cutting board. Use a large chef’s knife to chop the block into small chunks. You want to do this process fairly quickly as the mixture will melt easily in a warm kitchen and from the heat of your hands. If your kitchen is warm, and your chips have begun to stick to each other, slide the paper back onto your tray and pop everything into the freezer for 15 minute or so to firm back up. Once solid, gently break up any stuck-together pieces and continue.
- Lift the parchment paper and pour chips into an air-tight container and immediately place back in the freezer. Keep in the freezer until just before adding to your dessert. Use within two weeks.
Notes
Recipe Adapted From: Group Recipes
Used to Make This Recipe
Saturday Morning Snapshot
Photo shoot props/lunch…
State of the Blog
There was grilled cheese and Nutella all around on the blog this week. This was a fun one, but I had to send those cookies on to new homes, because I could not handle having them in my kitchen without eating them. 🙂
Next week, there’s another hot sandwich, a post on one of my favorite things, and I booze up a favorite childhood treat.
Recipes/posts released this week were:
Spicy Chicken Bacon Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich – A grown up grilled cheese sandwich loaded with bacon, avocado, chicken, and pepper jack cheese. Homemade Nutella Chips for Baking – A simple and easy method for making homemade Nutella chips for baking. Salted Pretzel and Nutella Chip Cookies – Delicious cookies with chunks of salty, crunchy pretzel and homemade Nutella chips in every bite.
Pop-culture Corner
Man, as a long-time fan of both Scarlet Johansson and Ghost in the Shell , this whole mess just bums me out.
In not bummer casting, I had a dream and a wish we’d get a Jonathan Tucker Low-Key Lyesmith on American Gods , and we did!
Moving on to another Neil Gaiman novel I love, it was announced this week that Good Omens is being adapted into a mini series. (I, uh, did not cry ugly tears reading the Terry Pratchett mentions in that article.) This is one of my very favorite books, so I’m excited to see how this one turns out.
Finally, we’ve reached the point in the insanely long Marvel Captain America press tour where all possible serious articles on the existing footage/trailers have been written, and we start getting posts like, “All the times Chris Evans has touched his left pec while laughing.” I love this point in Marvel press tours.
Meal Planning
Saturday: Burgers Sunday: Lomo Saltado Monday: Salsa Chicken Tuesday: Salad Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken Thursday: Carne Asada made into Burrito Bowls Friday: Chicken Noodle Soup
Salted Pretzel and Nutella Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup ( 8 oz) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup ( 200 g) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup ( 100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups ( 330 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup mini pretzels broken into pieces
- 2 cups Nutella chips keep in freezer until just before using
Instructions
Dough
- Using your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric mixer, beat the softened butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Beat on low until well-combined, about 1 minute.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low until just combined, scraping sides and bottom as needed.
- With the mixer on low, mix in pretzels and Nutella chunks.
Chill, Scoop, and Chill Some More
- Place dough in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Once dough is firm enough to handle, scoop dough into 2-ounce spoonfuls and roll into balls (about 2 inches). Place all of the balls on a parchment paper-covered tray (they can be touching). Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to overnight.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 350°Cover 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake cookies 8 to a sheet for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are set and the top of the cookies are golden.
- Allow cookies to cool on the tray.
