Barry White in a Cookie

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned how I experience inspiration on a regular basis when chatting with my fellow BakeSpacers on the forums. This was especially true on World Nutella Day last week. Thanks to Spryte, again, and Joe, my friend from Yuma, who is also a BakeSpacer.
You see, Spryte has this incredible Rolo Cookie Recipe.... Decadently delicious. So good, that I have to take them to work, or I will sit and eat them all. And Joe reminded me that Ferrero Rocher has a Nutella-ish filling (I think the hazelnut content is higher, but that is not really the point). Thus, the two thoughts merged into one and Spryte's Rolo Cookies became a sort of "Ferrero Rocher" in cookie form.

Oh, Yeah.... One bite, and all I can hear is Barry White singing "I can't get enough of your love, Babe"

Now I had to try this twice, cause I messed up the first time. I got a little carried away, with trying to solidify the Nutella, I had scooped it out of the jar and onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then threw it in the freezer for 24 hours. That was a mistake. Because it was soft when I was scooping it out, it had little pointed peaks, of course, it froze that way, and wrapping the dough around it was a pain, and it was still too cold to melt properly during baking so the cookies ended up looking like this:

Yeah, it's either a derby or The Flying Saucer cookie has landed!!! NOT exactly what I was going for...

So I made 2 alterations, one to change the firmness of the Nutella and one to the batter itself to increase the acidity a little bit, and everything turned out JUST fine. Although you will have to plan ahead to make these, I personally think they are worth the trouble...

Ferrero Rocher Cookies (or Barry White Cookies)

1-13 oz jar of Nutella - Chilled (It makes it easier to scoop)
2 1/2 cups AP Flour
3/4 cup Natural Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder (This increases the acidity and reduces spreading a little bit)
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup of Hazelnuts, Chopped
1 TB Granulated Sugar

The Night Before:
Scoop chilled Nutella with a melon baller onto a parchment lined baking sheet and chill 4 hours or overnight. (You want them to be about 1 1/2 - 2 tsp rounds)

The Next Day:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanilla and stirring until combined.
Add the flour mixture and blend until a soft dough is formed.

In a small bowl, combine chopped nuts with 1 TB Granulated sugar.
Remove Nutella from the refrigerator.
Wrap 1 TB of cookie dough around each Nutella ball.

Roll in hazelnuts mixture and place a parchment lined baking sheet.

Return Nutella to the refrigerator when not in use, to keep it solid.
Bake Cookies for 10 minutes.
Remove and let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

A very sensual and sexy cookie, especially when paired with Champagne... Perfect for Valentines day... or World Nutella Day... or, honestly, ANY day you just need to have Barry White singing in your head.....


Mangia!!!
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