Nutella peanut butter thumbprint cookies are made using an easy peanut butter cookie recipe and topped with a dollop of Nutella.
No Hershey’s kisses? No problem. Fill those peanut butter thumbprint cookies with Nutella. The chocolate hazelnut spread gives chocolate kisses a run for their money.
You can never go wrong pairing chocolate with peanut butter. It’s a tried and true dessert match. At Christmastime I make peanut butter blossoms using chocolate kisses, but what happens when you’re aching for a peanut butter chocolate cookie and you have no kisses? Substitute Nutella.
The chocolate hazelnut spread fills the thumbprint just right. I used a piping bag to transfer the Nutella onto a cookie, but using a spoon and adding a dollop of Nutella works just as well. The soft chocolatey center is the perfect counterpart to the peanut butter cookie.
This peanut butter thumbprint cookie recipe is my go-to for pretty much any peanut butter-based cookie. It’s chewy, soft and easy-to-make. Bonus: the peanut butter cookie dough stores really well in the freezer. I form a log of dough and wrap it in wax paper and then plastic-wrap to avoid freezer burn.
Don’t forget to mark the date on some masking tape! The dough can stay in the freezer for about a month.
Perhaps my favorite part of the Nutella filled center is how is stays soft. After a day, chocolate kisses become solid and sometimes fall off the cookies, but Nutella stays put. It is the best smooth chocolatey center to bite into. And if you’re bringing the cookies to a party, you can put them in a ziplock and add the Nutella filling once you get there!
Nutella Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup Nutella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter. Beat until combined and fluffy. Scraping down sides when necessary.
- Add egg and vanilla. Continue beating until mixed. Then add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
- Scoop a full tablespoon of dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Place balls 11/2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes then remove from oven and immediately press with the back of a spoon for the thumbprint. Cookies will crack when you press—this means you did it right! Place on wire rack and let cool.
- Transfer Nutella to a piping bag fitted with a tip. Fill thumbprints with Nutella. Alternatively, you can spoon the Nutella in to the thumbprint.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
CakePants says
These look wonderful – I think I might even like these more than the traditional version with chocolate kisses!
Haley says
I think I might too like them more too! Can’t go wrong with peanut butter and nutella
Karly says
These are my kind of cookies! Thanks for linkin’ up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Paula Adams says
I love thumbprint cookies and I’ve never baked with Nutella before. I’ll try these later this week on my big holiday baking day!
Judy says
What do you think of keeping the Hershey kiss and instead replacing the peanut butter in the cookie with Nutella? Do you think it would work?
Haley says
Hi Judy! I love that idea, but the recipe would definitely change a bit more than a simple swap. Nutella spreads more easily than peanut butter, especially when baking.