Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Cups

If I were a real psychologist, I would only have to ring a bell to get you to start drooling, not write an entire paragraph about a slightly undercooked, flaky, sugar coated cookie, baked in a mini-muffin pan, flavored with rich, smooth peanut butter and topped with sweet puddle of hazelnut nutella, known as…

… Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Cups

(Ding!)


Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Cups
Adapted from: Barbara Bakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
Turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw), optional
Chopped peanuts, optional

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the peanut butter and continue beating on low speed. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until just blended. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll balls in turbinado sugar (I used granulated sugar). Place each ball in a cup of a greased mini muffin tin. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges are browned and crackled, the centers will not be completely set. Remove the cookies from the oven and use the end of a thick-handled wooden spoon make a small, deep well in the center of each cookie and fill with your Nutella. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top of Nutella. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Tip: Don’t worry about smoothing the Nutella at first. After you’ve put Nutella in each cookie go back and spread it. It will have melted a bit and be much easier to spread.

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