perfect nutella swirl cookies

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My friend Veda and I always have "midnight baking sessions." Something amazing happens when you mix sleep-deprivation, buttercream, a Kitchen-Aid mixer, and an ungodly amount of Mike and Ikes. Sounds crazy, but there is something to it -- this is how the best cake I ever ate was created.

We always start our "midnight baking session" with a TON of recipes. This time, we discussed everything from chocolate covered brownie ice cream sandwiches to krispie kreme copycats. We knew we wanted to make cookies -- and were debating between two great recipes.
Should we make the oatmeal cream sandwich cookies?
Or the (perfected) Nutella chocolate chip?
The Nutella cookies sounded tastier. But aren't two cookies always better than one? Especially when they are sandwiched together with coconut flavored mascarpone cheese? AGHHH TOO MANY DECISIONS!

Now this is the idea that could only be born during a midnight baking session. Sandwich the coconut mascarpone between two ooey gooey Nutella cookies. Crazy right? But it worked. And it was delicious. I'm sure the Nutella cookies would have been delicious on their own, and the oatmeal cookies would have been amazing. But this is so weird, and so crazily delicious that I'm secretly happy that Veda left her box at my house because we have almost finished the entire batch already ;)

With love,
Erica

Perfected Nutella Cookies

From Indigo Scones

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread), divided
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined, with a few dry streaks remaining throughout.  Add 1/4 cup of the nutella and mix until just combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of nutella, mixing just so it is streaked throughout the dough, taking care not to over-mix.

Roll a scant 1/4 cup of dough into a ball then tear in half.  Roll each half into a smooth ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are very lightly browned, have slightly crackled tops, and are still very soft and puffy (they may seem underdone, but they will continue to bake a bit on the hot cookie sheets when removed from the oven), do not overbake.  Allow to cool on the sheets for 5-10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

 Coconut Mascarpone Filling

• 16 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 3 tablespoons shredded coconut

Mix it all up and spread on cookies