Brownies and Bar Recipes Criss Crosses Nutella Filled Peanut Butter

by amandas cookin

Soft and chewy with a Nutella surprise inside, so delicious it’ll be hard to keep your hand out of the cookie jar! When you bite into these peanut butter cookies, you will see and taste a delicious center of Nutella filling. A perfect combination and great for gift giving as well.

The fine folks over at Gold Medal Flour asked me to come up with a recipe fit for this holiday season. I prefer unbleached all purpose flour for my recipes, but Gold Medal Flour also offers several other varieties including self-rising, whole wheat, “Better for Bread”, all-purpose organic and white whole wheat flour, among others.

It’s a tradition for me to make my peanut butter cookies every Christmas, and I’ve made variations of them as well such as these Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies and these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.

I was inspired by several cookies I’ve seen around where a peanut butter mixture is rolled inside a chocolate cookie. I decided to do the opposite and use my peanut butter cookies stuffed with a Nutella mixture. the results were amazing!

[Get the full printable recipe below] The Nutella filling is made up of peanut butter, powdered sugar and Nutella. It forms a soft dough that’s easy to work with.

After you make the cookie dough, you’ll pull it out by heaping tablespoons…

Roll it into a ball, flatten it, place a teaspoon of Nutella filling in the middle, spread it out a little to flatten it, then close the cookie dough around it and roll into a ball.

Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cross them with the tines of a fork. Bake, cool, devour.

I couldn’t keep everyone’s hands out of these. I’ll be making another batch this week to send to school for teacher gifts.

What kind of cookies are you making this holiday season?

Rating: 5

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes

Yield: 33 cookies (11 servings)

Serving Size: 3 cookies

Brownies and Bar Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
Filling:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, peanut butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Turn mixer down to low and add milk, vanilla and egg. Mix until combined then turn up to medium high for one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl and turn mixer on low.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture until just combined.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the filling ingredients to form a soft dough.
6. Measure a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and roll in your hands a moment, then flatten it in your palm. Measure 1 teaspoon of filling dough and place it in the center of the cookie dough. Gently spread it across the dough a bit, then close the cookie dough around the filling, forming a ball. Roll in your hands and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
7. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Brownies and Bar Recipes Chocolate Layer Bars Peanut Butter

Rating: 5

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Peanut Butter Chocolate Layer Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling:
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
Topping:
• 1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 13x9 baking pan with foil, spray the foil with cooking spray.
2. In mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add 2 cups peanut butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla; beat until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Turn mixture down to low and gradually add in the flour mixture until completely combined and dough comes together.
4. To make the filling, heat the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons peanut butter, stirring occasionally, in a heavy saucepan over low heat until melted and creamy. Remove from heat and add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
5. Measure out 2 cups of the peanut butter dough and set it aside for the topping.
6. Press the remaining dough into the prepared pan. Spread the chocolate filing over the dough in the pan. Crumble the reserved dough over the top of the filling. Sprinkle with miniature chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is light golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
8. Using the foil as handles, lift out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into bars.