I (Jess) am always on the hunt for a no-fail cookie, and this simple 5-ingredient recipe turns out perfectly flaky shortbread every time. Add in Nutella — which I daresay is as popular as Oprah — and you’ve got yourself a winner. To prep the dough, I gave my arms a workout with a pastry cutter to keep the butter from becoming melty (which would result in a too-tough cookie.) That’s right: cookies and toned arms in one! You could also use a food processor, but I’ve found that the butter gets soft and clumps at the bottom, so I stick to doing it all by hand. Once baked and slathered with a hefty helping of Nutella, the cookies are sandwiched together for some major flavor magic. These cookies beg to be shared. Or hidden for personal consumption. Your choice.
Nutella Shortbread Sandwiches
Ingredients:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup cold water
- Nutella
- equal parts cocoa powder + confectioner’s sugar for dusting, optional
Instructions:
- Sift the flour, salt and confectioner’s sugar along with the cubed butter. Combine with a pastry cutter, slowly adding water, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a thin disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Unwrap one disk of dough and place it on a floured work surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Use a cookie cutter and transfer the prepared dough to the baking sheet. Repeat with the second disk of dough.Bake for 15 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing them to the racks to cool completely.
- Match the cookies in pairs by size and place about 1 teaspoon of Nutella on one cookie, then put the matching cookie on top, pressing gently to sandwich and squeeze the filling to the edges. Repeat to finish all of the sandwiches. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
This looks soooooo good, I’m sold! 😉
Better let me know how they turn out, Gaby! 🙂
Yum! These look delicious!!
Thanks, Sarah! Hope you’ll give them a try!
These look amazing! The hubby has never had Nutella, this may be a good way to introduce it to him!
A life without Nutella isn’t acceptable- you MUST make these for him, Katie! 😉
I am making these. No exceptions! Jess, you are a genius!
xo Alyssa
glitterandgapske.blogspot.com
Oh, gosh! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out! xo
Nutella is the perfect match for not-to-sweet shortbread! I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this before. Yum.
Thanks, Sarah! Hope you’ll give them a go!
These look amazing – shortbread and nutella in one?!?! I love that nutella might be “as popular as Oprah”!
Luci’s Morsels – fashion. food. frivolity.
Thanks, Luci! And, seriously. Oprah may be a household name…but so is Nutella! 🙂
This sounds so good! I love Nutella, recently had Nutella gelato, now that was heavenly!
Nutella gelato sounds UNREAL. All bets will be off if I ever happen to encounter such a thing!
oh my goodness. i am definitely going to be making these for a girls night! they’ll love them!
You’ll be the star of girls night, for sure! 😉
How many total cookies does this recipe yield before assembly?
I wish I could give you an exact number, Mitzi, but it all depends on the size of your cookie cutter. I chose a pretty big (approximately 3″X3″) cutter, so it made about a dozen sandwiches- so about 24 cookies. It makes quite a lot of dough, so you’ll get MANY more if you use a smaller cutter! 🙂 Hope that helps!
Oh, Jess! Girl, you’ve done it again! Nutella should be it’s own food group and it’s so genius to sandwich it between buttery crumbly shortbread. I can’t wait to try these!
xo,
Ashley
I second the motion to add Nutella in a food group of its own! That’s BRILLIANT. 😉 Hope you like them, Ashley!
Nutella is the best ingredient…maybe the best invention! These cookies look so cute!
TOTALLY agree, Corinne! Hope you try them yourself! 😉
Oh yum, these look and sound so good!