To celebrate the holidays, I participated in a cookie swap with some of my food blogger friends. I recieved an awesome batch of monster cookie bars from Heather and I sent this batch of cookies off to Christine.

Oh, how I wanted to keep these, though.

These are truely amazing cookies. With browned butter and three different kinds of chocolate chips, they’re like chocolate chip cookies taken to the next level. And then, you bite in and find the gooey, Nutella center. So, so awesome.

Nutella-Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from Ambitious Kitchen)
Makes about 2 dozen

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. of salt
2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 T. plain greek yogurt
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed until just combined. Fold in all of the chocolate chips.

Cover the dough and chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled Nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball — it doesn’t have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand gently to flatten out the top slightly.

Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.