Oversized rich chocolate cookies are stuffed with Nutella. When you break the cookies open, they release a completely molten, liquid lava Nutella center.
I am so happy with how these cookies came out. I can barely contain my excitement.
I’ve made Nutella stuffed cookies before, but the problem was always that some of the Nutella would cook while the cookies baked, so while they still had a gooey Nutella center, they didn’t have a lava center.
But now I’ve finally done it. There are no tricks or food styling happening here. These cookies really are just oozing with Nutella.
I got the idea when re-creating Levain Bakery’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. As you recall, those cookies have a slightly gooey center, which made me think they’d be the perfect base for stuffing with Nutella. Sure enough, barely any of the Nutella cooks during baking. The chocolate cookies are cooked until barely set and the Nutella stays soft and liquidy.
These are messy, rich and worth every calorie. Each cookie weighs about 5.5. oz. If you’re going to indulge, you might as well go big, right?
Chocolate Nutella Lava Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted cold butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup graulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder use a premium brand for richer flavor; do not use dutch processed
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup Nutella it's best if you use a fresh new jar of Nutella as the spread will be very moist and easy to scoop
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Use your spatula to scrape the sides of your mixing bowl between each egg addition, to make sure all the batter is incorporated.
- Add in cocoa, cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and set mixer on lowest speed setting to stir until dough is just combined. You want the dough to be smooth and uniform in color, but you don't want to overmix it, so this should only take a few revolutions and less than 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips (reserve the remaining 1/3 cup).
- Place the dough in the fridge for about 30-60 minutes to chill. You want the dough to be cold (but not to the point that it's hard) so it's less sticky to work with and won't spread too much in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 410°F.
- Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Using your hand, loosely scoop out 4.5 oz of dough (weigh this out or you can try to divide dough evenly into 8 sections but it's best to weigh it out so that the cookies all cook evenly) and then flatten dough into a disc. The dough will be sticky but should be workable. Using an 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, add 1.5 tbsp of Nutella to the center of your disc. Then carefully wrap your disc around the Nutella, forming a ball. Make sure that the Nutella is completely covered and there are no cracks in your dough. Repeat with remaining dough and Nutella. You will place four cookie balls on each baking sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Lightly press about 5-6 chocolate chips to the surface of each ball.
- Place one baking sheet into the middle of the oven and place the remaining one in the fridge. Bake the cookies for about 11 minutes, or until the surface is dry and cookies look almost set, but may still be slightly darker in the middle. Remove from oven and remove other baking sheet from fridge and bake remaining cookies for about 11 minutes. After you remove the cookies from the oven, they need to cool directly on the cookie sheet and set. Do not remove cookies before they are set otherwise they will break. Allow cookies to cool at least 20 minutes. Once cookies have cooled and set, remove and enjoy.
Notes
- A cookie scoop really helps to get the Nutella in the middle as you can scoop out a round ball and release it in the center of your dough. A fresh jar of Nutella is also easier to work with. If you are using an older jar of Nutella, you may want to warm up the Nutella so that it's easier to scoop.
- If your kitchen is very warm or you took a while to get all the cookies stuffed and your dough feels too soft, you can briefly put the first batch in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes before baking.
- I recommend baking one sheet at a time so that the cookies cook evenly and have even circulation.
- I also recommend that the dough be weighed out to ensure all the cookies are cooked the same amount. Otherwise some might turn out more cooked than others if the weight is a little different.
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Made these to give to a friend and her family. Doubled the recipe to get more cookies. Still ended up with 9 monster cookies ? Obviously a measuring error on my part but, they still turned out delicious! Going to ask for a kitchen scale for Christmas ?
If you double the recipe, you should divide the chilled dough into sixteen parts – sounds like you didn’t do this and just made 9 really big cookies. Yes, a kitchen scale is great because it’s a lot easier to accurately measure. We’re glad you enjoyed the cookies despite the measurement issues!
You have to make this recipe. It’s 100% awesome, packed full of gooey Nutella.
We’re so glad you loved the cookies!
Hi my kids would love these. I’m thinking of baking them over the weekend. Can i replace the eggs with Flaxmeal?
Sorry, we haven’t tried making this recipe with flaxmeal.
Hi! I didnt add the nutella as i dont have any. The cookie turned out really puffy and not flat. Was i supposed to flatten it before baking?
We’ve only made these cookies with the Nutella inside and we don’t flatten them first. So it’s hard to know why yours turned out that way because you left out an important part of the recipe.
Will the Nutella still ‘lava’ when they are cold?
If the cookies are cold (instead of room temperature) the Nutella may firm up. You can try warming them up a little in the microwave to soften it.
Thank you. I won a work Bake Off competition with these cookies and the microwaving worked a treat. Will definitely be making these again.
That’s great! We’re glad you love them.
Hi, am i supposed to flatten the cookies before baking? I tried baking for 11 mins but the inside was still doughy and undercooked by alot. I’m using an electric oven.
Every oven is different, so it could be they needed more time. Also, they do have molten centers so maybe it was just the Nutella?
Hi,
Do you cook these at 410F? seems like high temperature for cookies. or did you reduce temperature while baking? Also should i place cookies on top shelf or middle? my cookies usually burn quickly if i place them in center. Thanks
Yes at 410F. They should be in the middle of your oven.
Wow. So, so, so good!!! Rich, delicious, perfect.
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Hey, I do not have silicone baking mats but really want to give this recipe a try. Do you have any recommendations or alternatives as to what I can do?
parchment paper
Amazing Cookies
So glad you enjoyed!
Hello! 🙂
Would like to ask if there any substitute can be used to replace the cake flour as I can’t find any from the market.
Thank you! 🙂
you can make your own cake flour with ap flour and cornstarch
How big do these cookies come out? Thinking of adding something like this to the holiday rotation but getting only 8 cookies seems like a lot of work for 8 cookies. Have you tried smaller versions? Do they still come out well?
They are extra large cookies. You can definitely make them smaller.
If the cookies are made smaller, should there be any changes the oven temperature or the baking duration?
If yes, by how much..?
You would definitely need less baking time if you are making them smaller. I think you will have a hard time getting the nutella in if you make the cookies small. Too little Nutella and the nutella will bake and dry out. Also you do need a lot of cookie dough to wrap around the nutella to prevent it from leaking through
Hey!
I was thinking of trying to make these this weekend. But I was wondering what is cake flour? 🙂
cake flour is a type of flour with less proteins than all purpose flour. It has a finer texture.
Sounds delicious!