Nutella Sea-Salt Sugar Cookies

I haven't made many recipes this week.  I did make Panera inspired Broccoli Cheddar soup and you can see how it turned out here.  Besides the soup I made regular meals like mahi, roast chicken and quinoa.  Good food but nothing that required a recipe.  I did try to make roasted cauliflower but it didn't turn out quite right.  They were more soggy than crispy which I'm attributing to using too much olive oil.  We'll have to try that one again, but with a different recipe.

I did finally get around to making the Nutella Sea Salt Sugar Cookies that I've been talking about for weeks and weeks.  They were worth the wait.  I found the recipe to be more involved and time consuming than I'd anticipated.  It's possible my baking may have been complicated by a fussy 6 month old and a rather excited 4 year old who desperately wanted to help.  Or to at least lick all of the baking utensils.

I decided to let her make her own play dough cookies while I made my complicated ones.  Then everyone was happy.  Well except for the 6 month old.  I put her in my Beco (baby carrier) and that kept her satisfied while we finished.

Nutella and Sea Salt stuffed Sugar Cookies
Here is the recipe I found on cookin' canuck.  I recommend a few changes which I included below.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp sea salt

Directions

1. Scoop out 1 teaspoon of Nutella and place in small mounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Be careful not to have the teaspoon too full.  Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
2. Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a large bowl beat butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar with an electric mixer (I used my kitchen aid) set on medium speed until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla extract.
5. Turn the mixer to a low speed and gradually beat in the flour mixture until it is just combined.  Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture a few times to make sure all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
6. Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl.  Use 2 tablespoons cookie dough for each cookie.  Split the piece of dough in half and slightly flatten the bottom half.
7. Sprinkle 5 or 6 grains of sea salt on the flattened dough (I used a small pinch).
8. Lift the mounds of Nutella from the baking sheet and lay on the bottom half of cookie dough, on top of the salt.  I suggest doing 1 tray at a time and putting the rest of the Nutella back in the freezer in-between to keep from melting.
9. Cover Nutella with the other piece of cookie dough.  Seal the edges with your fingers.  Roll the ball in the sugar to coat it and place it on a prepared baking sheet.
10. Repeat with the remaining dough and Nutella mounds, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheets.
11. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time.  They are done when the edges are set and beginning to brown, 10 to 13 minutes (my cooking time was closer to 14-15 min).  The centers of the cookies should still be soft and puffy.
12. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.  Using a spatula remove the cookies from the baking sheet and let cool on a rack.  They can also be served warm.

I recommend these lovely cookies with a glass of cold milk.  Enjoy and happy Super Bowl Day if that's your thing.  No football around here but I am making a soup-er bowl of Chicken Tortilla Crock Pot Soup.  More on that tomorrow!