Nutella Chocolate Cookies.

Nutella is one of those things I can’t keep in my cupboard on a regular basis. I have too many moments of weakness with a spoon. However, I have a favorite cookie recipe using Nutella that I try to make every year for the holidays. Since Chicago saw its first “big” snow earlier this week {3 inches!}, and another storm yesterday, it was time. Make this recipe for Nutella Chocolate Cookies for your favorite chocolate & hazelnut loving friend this holiday season!

This recipe uses an entire jar of Nutella {thanks to saving a bit for frosting}, so I’ve got nothing leftover to sneak bites of. Well, except for the cookies!

I aimed to make this cookie recipe slightly healthier this year by adding whole wheat flour, omitting the extra sugar, and reducing the amount of butter used. There is plenty of sugar and fat in the Nutella to make up for these modifications.

I looked into how to sub whole wheat flour for white – Better Homes & Gardens suggests substituting 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of all purpose white flour while baking cookies. They also suggest reducing the butter by 20%. I followed the whole wheat flour suggestion and reduced the butter by about 15%. It worked well!

This recipe makes a slightly crisp cookie with a strong Nutella flavor. These cookies don’t need frosting, but it’s the holidays, right? I found a huge list of delicious-sounding Nutella icing recipe options on Yummly. Or you can do what I did, and use a small amount of Nutella on each cookie instead.

Topped with crushed candy canes of course.

Nutella Chocolate Cookies
Yields: 42 small cookies.

Ingredients~
3/4 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup Nutella
7 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teapoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting~
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Nutella per cookie
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candies or candy canes

How to~ 
1) Stir flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
2) Cream together Nutella and butter with a mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract.
3) Beat in the flour mixture on low speed in 3-4 batches, just until the dough forms.
4) Form dough into a long roll and cover with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.
5) After refrigerating, cut dough into thin slices (about 1/4″ each) and rolls into balls. Flatten each cookie ball slightly with a glass and bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.

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{Adapted from Nutella Cookies – Vegetarian Times}