1-Bowl Easy Peanut Butter Cookies with Nutella Swirl Recipe

This easy 1-bowl peanut butter cookies with Nutella swirl recipe features chewy peanut butter cookies with decadent Nutella ribbons. We finish them off with a sprinkle of sea salt to punch up the flavor even more!

There are so many the dessert-type things that we sometimes pass off as breakfast.

Muffins, which can range anywhere from legitimately healthy, to cupcakes by another name.

Syrup-drenched pancakes or waffles! They’re usually indulgent enough for dessert as they are, let alone topped with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

And even sometimes toast can be all decked out to be dessert-worthy!

I’m guilty as charged though. Back in my undergrad years, one of my favorite breakfast treats was toast topped with a schmear of both peanut butter and Nutella swirled together on multigrain toast, so of course I thought it was acceptable for breakfast.

Here I take that same fabulous flavor profile, but I actually call a spade a spade. There’s no hiding the fact that these cookies are definitely dessert!

The Inspiration For These Cookies

With cooler temps and the coziness of this time of year, fall is the official baking season. It’s a rare weekend that I don’t turn on my oven at all, whether it’s to make a chicken dinner or a loaf of my favorite paleo bread. Sometimes it’s muffins or cookies, and in that case our neighbors are often the lucky recipients of the fruits of my labor.

One day when I was in the mood to bake, I spotted jars of peanut butter and Nutella in my pantry. I knew I wanted to put them together in cookie form. Here I took a pretty classic peanut butter cookie – chewy, rich and nutty, enhanced with subtle caramel-like notes from the brown sugar – and swirled in Nutella.

If you’re starting to think about holiday baking, these cookies would be a good addition to your repertoire. You can think of them as an updated spin-off of the classic Hershey kiss-topped peanut butter cookies. I think they’ll go over every bit as well on your holiday cookie tray.

What Makes These Cookies Special

You get the sweet, nutty flavor and chewy texture of peanut butter cookies. Plus rich, gooey swirls of chocolate hazelnut spread. And a pinch of sea salt to accentuate and balance everything else. These cookies are bliss.

Not to mention, this recipe is easy to make with no special equipment (you don’t even need a stand mixer). And bonus, you’ll only have one bowl to clean and you’ll be enjoying them in less than an hour!

Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients and Substitutions

• Creamy peanut butter – Use regular sweetened creamy peanut butter here (such as Skippy), not the natural unsweetened kind that separates.
• Unsalted butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature. You can use salted butter instead and omit the added salt.
• Light brown sugar – This is our sweetener; the molasses adds caramel flavor notes and helps make these peanut butter cookies chewy.
• Egg – The egg acts as a binder here and helps us achieve the perfect texture.
• Vanilla extract – Vanilla adds depth of flavor and aroma.
• Flour – Use all-purpose flour here.
• Baking soda – Baking soda is our leavening agent in this cookie recipe.
• Salt – Salt is a natural flavor enhancer that elevates the flavor of everything else.
• Nutella – You can use any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread you like.
• Flaky sea salt – We sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top of each cookie to make the flavor come to life.

Instructions

Step 1: Make and Chill the Dough

• Beat together the peanut butter and butter, and then beat in the brown sugar, egg, molasses, and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Drizzle in the Nutella, and stir it just a bit so it’s streaked throughout the dough, being careful not to overmix.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Step 2: Bake the Cookies

• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats.
• Scoop the dough out into 3 tablespoon-sized balls and space them evenly out on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle a little sea salt on the cookie tops if desired. (Don’t flatten the cookies.)
• Bake until the cookies are set and slightly golden along the outside, but still a touch doughy in the center, about 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway though.
• Let the cookies cool completely on the trays before removing.

Tips

• If you don’t have light brown sugar on hand, you can use 1 cup of granulated white sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses.
• You can make these peanut butter Nutella cookies in reverse: Nutella cookie dough with peanut butter swirls! Simply stir the Nutella into the dough and swirl in the peanut butter (it helps to briefly heat the peanut butter in the microwave so you can drizzle it better).

Storage and Freezing

After baking, let the cookies cool to room temperature. Then store them layered between pieces of parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Nutella FAQs

Do I Have to Refrigerate the Dough?

Yes! I know waiting is no fun, but good things are worth the wait, friends. And even including the wait time (and cleanup time!), these cookies only take an hour to whip up.

It’s important to chill this dough so that the cookies don’t spread out too much while baking.

A 20-minute chill time will yield cookies that look like these pictures.

If you want thicker cookies, you can chill the dough for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. But whatever you do, don’t skip the chill time or you’ll end up with cookies that are as flat as pancakes.

Do You Fully Mix the Nutella Into the Peanut Butter Dough?

No! Part of what makes these cookies special (and extra delicious) is that they have thick gooey ribbons of Nutella baked into chewy peanut butter cookies. Otherwise, if we just mix both the peanut butter and Nutella into the dough, the flavors of both are muted.

And the only way we can get Nutella swirls is to not fully mix it in.

For this cookie recipe, drizzle the Nutella onto the cookie dough and stir it minimally, so you end up with streaks running throughout.

Can I Add Chocolate Chips?

Yes, and I like the way you think! For chocolate chip peanut butter Nutella cookies, you can add up to 1 cup of any kind of chocolate chips you like. Stir the chocolate chips in before you swirl in the Nutella.

More Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes to Try

• 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs
• Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
• No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on November 7, 2016 and updated on March 6, 2024.