My Nutella Indulgence

Ever since I was introduced to Nutella years ago in my Spanish class, I have fallen in love with the stuff. Rich,gooey,nutty, and just the right amount of delicious chocolate. It's perfect.

I bought some while grocery shopping recently and I was okay with with a spoonful here and there, or the occasional animal cracker smothered in it, and then a friend suggested some sort of Nutella cookie. GENIUS! So I searched for some recipes and found this one. Peanut butter cookies with a peanut butter and Nutella filling, rolled in crushed peanuts and cinnamon sugar. Mmmmm!

                                                     

The cinnamon sugar peanut tops

 Makes 20

 For the cookies:

1/2 cup unsalted Butter, room temp
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
For the Filling:
1/4 cup Peanut Butter*
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 tsp Salt*
1 Tbsp Cocoa
3 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
For the Topping:
1/2 cup-1 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt*

1. Cream the butter and sugars together, and then add the egg and mix.
2. Stir in vanilla and peanut butter, when mixed, add flour and salt.
3. Refrigerate while you make the filling and topping.
4. For the filling, combine all ingredients and mix until creamy. You should be able to roll little balls of the filling in your hands. If it’s too sticky, add some more powdered sugar.
5. Grind the topping ingredients together and place in a shallow bowl.
6. Preheat oven to 375. When the cookie dough is chilled enough, take 1 Tbsp of dough and roll into a flat disc. If the dough is way too sticky, ad a little more flour. Place a ball of filling in the middle, and another 1 Tbsp disc of dough on top. Roll between hands to form one big ball. Roll this in the topping, then place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press to flatten slightly. 
7. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes. Remove and let cool on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Original recipe here

 *Notes:

The next time I make this recipe, I believe I may cut out the salt in the filling and the topping all together. They were slightly on the salty side for my taste. As another variation, I may make the filling with strictly Nutella. I can't get enough of it!