Almond butter and Nutella swirl cookies

Favorite desserts are hard to pick, but these cookies – fudgy and moist, with a swirl of Nutella – are sure to top your list.

|
The Pastry Chef's Baking
Unfamiliar with almond butter? Find it at Target or Trader Joe's and try the leftovers on toast or a bagel.

Whenever people find out I'm a baking hobbyist, the most common question I get is "what's your favorite dessert?" I've mentioned before that it's really hard for me to answer that question because I don't have one particular favorite. I believe in unconditional love for many desserts. The analogy I like to use is I can't pick a favorite hair on my head either; I like them all – they keep my head warm.

However, a sure sign that I might like one dessert a bit more than most of the others is if I'm willing to make it again for myself, not just because someone requested it. So, for the next several weeks (or months, depending on my mood), I'm going to remake and repost some all-time favorites, partly because they deserve another spot on the stage because I think they're just that good, and partly because I just want to make them again and take a better picture for my blog!

What I love about this cookie is the taste and texture. It stays nice and chubby, hardly spreads during baking and it's just good. The best way to get significant swirls of Nutella is to make the batter first without the Nutella then drop dollops of it on top of your cookie dough and swirl only very slightly. Scoop it out, leaving the big swirls of Nutella intact as much as possible, chill or freeze until firm, then bake.

You only want to bake these no more than 9-10 minutes. If they bake longer, they won't have that moist, fudge-like texture. Let them cool to at least lukewarm as these tend to be fragile when they first emerge from the oven. If almond butter isn't a staple in your pantry, you can easily find it at Trader Joe's or Target.

Oh and one note on the almond butter – you may find the oil has separated from the almond butter when you open it, even it's a new jar. Some recipes advocate pouring off the oil but I would advise trying to mix it back into the rest of the butter as best you can. If you pour off all the oil, your cookies might be a bit dry because they're missing that fat. Trust me.

Almond butter & Nutella swirl cookies 
From Amelia's Savory and Sweet

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup smooth almond butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup Nutella

1. Mix first eight ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Slowly sift in flour until well incorporated. Stir in the Nutella just until you have a pretty swirl pattern.

2. Refrigerate dough for about 15-20 minutes. Then scoop out small dough balls onto lined cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree F. oven for about 7-9 minutes.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Almond butter and Nutella swirl cookies
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2013/0516/Almond-butter-and-Nutella-swirl-cookies
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe