Milk Chocolate Chip Nutella Swirl Cookies

Milk Chocolate Chip Nutella Swirl Cookies - made October 23, 2012, recipe adapted from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle

This is the other cookie dough I made for my nephew's bake sale that my cousin Christine picked up to bake on her own.  The original recipe was essentially for a milk chocolate macadamia nut cookie but I modified it to leave off the macadamia nuts and instead I dolloped nutella in the dough as I scooped it out so I could have swirls running through the cookie, similar to the Almond Butter and Nutella Swirl cookies.  I was trying to make a chocolate chip cookie that had generous swirls of nutella running through it but I was only partially successful.  The cookies spread a bit more than I wanted and the nutella spread with it so instead of moist, melt-y dollops through the cookie, it was more like a marbling of nutella in it.  Still tasted good but I think it would work better with a cookie that didn't spread as much.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 ounces Swiss milk bar chocolate, cut into 1/3-inch chunks

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/3-inch chunks
3/4 cup to 1 cup nutella

1.     Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Spray two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

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

3.     In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown and granulated sugars at medium speed until well blended.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla extract.  At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in the milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate.  Cover the bowl and let the dough stand for 10 minutes.  (The dough can be wrapped in plastic and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to a month.)

4.     Drop dollops of nutella in teaspoonfuls over the top of the dough as you scoop it out, leaving the nutella dollops intact (don't marble into the dough).  Drop the dough by 2-tablespoon mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.  Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden around the edges.  Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to a week.  Makes about 40 cookies.