Peanut butter & Nutella cookies

A facebook friend recently suggested the awesome combo of peanut butter and Nutella to me. I tried it, just spooning each out of a jar, and decided to see what a cookie version would be like.

If you've never had Nutella, you're missing out. It's a delicious spread made with hazelnut and cocoa. And it turns out to bake surprisingly well: I thought it might get runny and burn, but it hardens ever so slightly, so the end result is a little like frosting.

I think these cookies are super yummy, but if you're in the mood for straight-up peanut butter cookies, you can use this recipe, too.

Peanut butter & Nutella cookies (makes 12-15 large cookies)

3/4 cup peanut butter (the all-natural, no-sugar-added kind)

1/2 cup Nutella

1 stick of salted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 cups flour

1.) Mix the butter and sugars together in a mixing bowl. Beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla and peanut butter.

2.) Combine the salt, soda, and flour in a bowl, then add those ingredients to the wet ingredients.

3.) Mix well, then roll into balls with your hands. I made balls about the size of golf balls.

4.) Put the cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten a little by hand, then scoop out about 1/2 teaspoon of dough from the center of each cookie. (You might have enough dough from this for 1-2 more cookies.)

5.) Spoon out 1 teaspoon of Nutella per cookie, spreading it into the little dip you made.

6.) Bake for about 13 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.

*If you want plain peanut butter cookies, this is a great recipe. Just roll the dough into balls a little smaller than noted above, put them on a greased cookie sheet, and press an X into them with a fork.

Coming soon: Black bean hummus.