Nutella Sugar Cookies
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A guide for perfect sugar cookies from scratch
I am to believe that a simple smear of Nutella makes anything better and this recipe is living proof of that! This is nothing more than two simple sugar cookies with some Nutella in between. With a pink glaze and a bit of flare, these are the easiest and prettiest cookies you can possibly make. And you will want to gift them to your sister, your girlfriends and to anyone you love very much!
Inadvertently, sugar cookies made their way to my life even with stubborn hesitation. As it happens with my Extra Creamy Cream Cheese frosting (which btw, could be a fabulous filling for these as well!), you would think that living in the tropics comes with all the fun of perpetually having a piña colada in your hands, until it’s time to work with sugar cookie dough.
I don’t like sugar cookies dough made with confectioner's sugar and all the recipes I tried with granulated sugar never lived up to expectations. But pretty probable the culprit was my weather. When trying to cut the dough and transfer the cookie, it would tear apart. And if I managed to transfer one, it would not hold its shape in the oven, no matter how much time it was chilled.
That’s why for this easy sugar cookie recipe I started freezing my dough after making the cutouts. Then I just had to separate each and arrange on the baking tray, perfectly shaped! The idea came to me based on how I work with pie dough, which I also freeze before baking. I thought I could apply that to the cookie dough as well.
Now, not only I have perfectly shaped sugar cookies all the time, there’s also no need to chill the dough. You can have sugar cookies from scratch in 30 minutes, including the time to make the dough!
So, all this story to tell you that you are going to love this easy and fool-proof homemade sugar cookies recipe from scratch. With this method you don’t have to worry about broken dough when cutting and transferring to the baking sheet cookies that spread in the oven loosing their shape. And with no or minimum chilling time, you can have these in 45 minutes!
My favorite combination is this one! Nutella with a pretty pinkish glaze thanks to hibiscus. I love giving them as a gift and people always swoon and drool over these. A pretty powerful combined reaction if you ask me!
Read below how you can make these soft and crisp sugar cookies from scratch!
How to make easy sugar cookies from scratch:
Start by picking baking sheets that fit your freezer. Line them with parchment paper.
Prepare all the ingredients, taking into consideration that butter should be barely softened, not warm.
When dough is ready, it should be grainy and able to hold the shape when you press it down. If this is not happening yet, beat one or two more minutes.
At this point you can press the dough between two parchment papers and stretch it. If it feels too warm or if you can spare the time, it’s nice to wrap it with plastic paper and chill it about 10 minutes.
Stretch the dough between the parchment according to the recipe and pull it to the baking tray. With a cookie cutter cut the dough but don’t try to separate the cookies. Place tray on the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Freezing the cookie dough is key in preventing sugar cookies spreading in the oven.
Take the tray out and separate the cookies. You are going to bake the cookies almost frozen. Follow the guide for the perfect times to bake cookies depending on your preference.
Now it’s the fun part! Glaze and fill then with whatever you want. Cream cheese icing, peanut butter, lemon curd, jelly… so many flavors!!
Suggested baking times for sugar cookies
Here are my suggested baking times depending on your preferred texture:
Thinner cookies (⅛”) + chewier consistency = 8 minutes
Thinner cookies + harder consistency = 10 minutes
Thicker cookies (¼”) + chewier consistency = 10 minutes
Thicker cookies + harder consistency = up to 12 minutes
What you’ll need
For this specific shape, you need some fluted round cookie cutters in different sizes to make the top and bottom cookies.
Half-sheet baking trays like these here probably fit better in your freezer.
Precut parchment paper always for the win!
3 recipes I think you’ll love if you’re loving this one:
Brown Butter Ferrero Rocher Brownies
Extra Dark Chocolate Loaf Cake
Bourbon Orange Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These cookies will be hot in your kitchen forever! You simply are going to love everything about them!
Don’t forget to share and tag me in Instagram (@devamadeo), Facebook (@DevAmadeo) when you make it. Love to see my recipes in your kitchens!
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Nutella Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour - 2 ¾ cups, 420g
◯ Baking powder – 1 Tsp, 5g
◯ Fine sea salt – ½ Tsp, 3g
◯ Cardamom (optional) - ¼ Tsp
◯ Butter, at room temperature but not too soft – 2 sticks, 16 TBSP, 226g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – 1 ¼ cup, 250g
◯ Egg – 1
◯ Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp
◯ Nutella - about ½ cup
◯ Finely chopped pistachios and tiny rose petals if desired to decorate
Hibiscus Glaze
◯ Dried hibiscus flowers or tea bags - 5 to 6 flowers, 1 bag
◯ Water - about ½ cup + 3 to 4 TBSP
◯ Confectioner's sugar, sifted - 1 cup, 120g
◯ Lemon juice - a few drops
Details
Yield:
10 cookie sandwiches or 20 single cookies.
Total time:
1 hour, including freezing and baking times.
Active Time:
10 minutes for making the dough, 10 minutes for cutting the cookies.
Baking time:
about 10 minutes per baking tray.
Equipment:
stand mixer or electric hand mixer, parchment paper, plastic wrap paper, baking trays, cookie cutter of choice
Steps:
Place parchment paper in 1 or 2 baking trays that fit in your freezer.
In a medium bowl mix the 2 ¾ /420g cups of flour, the 1 teaspoon/5g of baking powder, the 1/2 teaspoons/3g of salt and the 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom with a hand whisk.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment put the 2 sticks/226g of butter and the 1 ¼ cup/250g of sugar and beat on medium speed (#4 on the Kitchen Aid) for 5 minutes, until the mixture looks grainy and pasty. Add egg and vanilla and mix. Scrap the butter-sugar mixture down the bowl and beat again for 2 minutes. Scrap down again.
Decrease to the lowest speed (#1 on the Kitchen Aid). Add flour mixture, about half cup at a time (I like to use a small measuring cup and sprinkle flour through the opening of the mixer’s pouring shield.)
Beat for 3 minutes. Dough should be a bit grainy to the touch but hold together when you press it with your fingers (see notes).
Press the whole dough with your hands forming a disk and wrap it with plastic paper. Optional to chill for about 10 minutes, just to give the dough some structure.
Place chilled dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin stretch dough until the dough is between ⅛” to ¼” thick, depending on your thickness preference. Peel the top parchment paper and, if there’s any dough beyond your bottom parchment paper, cut it using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Reserve the scraps. Pull parchment to the baking tray.
With your cookie cutters cut the dough, leaving as little space as possible between each. Remember to make a cut out on every other cookie so you have an even number if making the sandwiches. Cut small cookies through the dough outside the large cookies. Place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Take out the tray and peel the cookies out. For borders that are too thin or in the middle, just separate the shaped dough and arrange in the tray to have access to those areas. Reserve all excess of dough. You can combine scrapes and start the process all over to make more cookies.
Quickly arrange cookies. Since they are not going to spread you can place them about 1” apart. Bake cookies for about 9 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookie and your consistency preference (see notes). Hard and golden cookies like mine took 11 minutes.
Take them out and cool down in the baking tray. With a thin spatula carefully transfer each cookie to a cooling rack.
After cooled, spread some Nutella in the whole cookies.
Glaze the cookies with the hole in the middle and as soon as they aren't heavily dripping, place them on top. Decorate with pistachios if desired. I used tiny rose petals as well.
They can be open in a cool dry area for the first day. After that, store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Making the hibiscus glaze:
Brew the hibiscus flowers or tea bag in ½ cup of water.
In a bowl mix the 1 cup/120g of confectioner's sugar with a teaspoon of the hibiscus tea and a few drops of lemon juice. If you want a stronger color add more tea, but remember that it will get a bit lighter when mixed with the water.
Start by adding 2 tablespoons of water and with a hand whisk mix as much as you can. Add more water and mix, until desired consistency. You are looking for a thick consistency that still pours in a stream.
If you need to get glaze thinner, add more water. If you need to get it thicker, add more sugar.
To make the color more intense add drops of tea, being careful because it's pretty strong. To make the color lighter, add more sugar and more clear water.
