Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter, diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Seeds of 2 vanilla beans, or increase vanilla to 2 tsp I sell them!
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• About 2/3 cup Nutella, chilled
• Coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Place the butter in a medium saucepan and brown it. Scrape the browned butter into the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a rubber spatula so you get all the good bits, then leave it to cool until lukewarm, about 20 – 30 minutes. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and 1/4 tsp kosher salt together, and set it aside.
2. Add the light-brown sugar to the cooled butter in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until the sugar and butter are combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla bean seeds and vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.
3. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the dough comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips. If you want a few chips visible on top like bakery cookies, hold some back and lightly press about 5 into the top of each dough ball after shaping. Move the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate it for about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, scoop out about 2 1/2 Tbsp for each cookie, roll into balls, and arrange them on a large piece of parchment or wax paper.
5. Press each dough ball evenly into about a 3 1/4-inch circle, then spoon 1 tsp chilled Nutella into the center. Gently bring the dough up and over the Nutella so it is completely enclosed. If a little Nutella starts peeking through, tuck a chocolate chip over that spot to seal it.
6. Move the filled dough balls to a Silpat lined cookie sheet, spacing them so you have 8 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle the cookies with coarse sea salt. You can also add the salt before baking if you want it to adhere more firmly.
7. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.