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These simple soft and chewy Nutella Thumbprint Cookies are a Nutella lover’s dream! A buttery soft cookie with a big dollop of chocolatey Nutella. Top these off with a drizzle of chocolate or some sprinkles to add some fun. Perfect for any occasion, from the holiday cookie exchange, treats for a special friend of just because!

Nutella thumbprint cookies arranged on parchment with dark and white chocolate chips sprinkled around.

Why You will Love These Nutella Thumbprint Cookies:
Recipe Ingredients:
Step-By-Step Instructions:
Recipe Tips
Storage:
Ways To Vary This Recipe:
Other Favorite Cookie Recipes:
Nutella Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
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Nutella lovers, these soft buttery chocolate hazelnut filled buttery cookies are for you! Classic buttery tender cookies with the most fun, chocolatey twist that you will love!

There is no wrong way to eat Nutella, but I promise you these cookies are for sure up there with a top way! Unless you have tried these Nutella Oatmeal Bars or for breakfast in these Nutella Overnight Oats!

Baking up some delicious holiday goodies? Make sure to try these fan favorites as well: Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ginger Cream Cookies, Eggless Sugar Cookies or Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies!

Why You will Love These Nutella Thumbprint Cookies:

They are a fun and delicious twist on classic thumbprint cookies. I have never been much of a fan of traditional thumbprint cookies. The jam centers don’t do it for me. But add a nice dollop of Nutella into the mix and I am 10000% in!
Whipped up in about 30 minutes. These are a simple, no nonsense cookie recipe. Simple ingredients, minimal effort required, but they still come out so delicious and can easily be made festive enough for a holiday cookie exchange!
Freezer friendly. Always a fan of cookies I can freeze and you can freeze the cookie dough or the baked and filled cookies. I have had a tub of these cookies in my freezer for a month and love being able to grab one or two when I get a sweet tooth. But freezer friendly also makes them easy to prep ahead of the holidays if you like!

Nutella thumbprint cookies on brown parchment with white and dark chocolate drizzle on some of the cookies.

Recipe Ingredients:

butter: unsalted butter softened, but not overly soft as it can cause the cookies to spread in the end.
sugars: brown sugar and white sugar, you can use light or dark brown sugar
egg: one large egg
vanilla: vanilla extract versus imitation vanilla if possible but either works
almond extract: this is optional, but I think the almond extract adds an extra light layer of flavor that is unmatched by just vanilla.
corn starch: corn starch in these thumbprint cookies makes them extra soft and tender. It also helps keep the cookies from spreading too much, which is what we want to help the shape stay intact for the addition of the Nutella.
flour: all purpose flour for best results. I suggest weighing the flour as flour measurement can make or break a batch of cookies and we all do it a touch differently. If you don’t have the tools to measure it, make sure to spoon and level the flour versus scooping the measuring cup right into the flour. A 1:1 all purpose gluten free baking flour will work if you need to make these cookies without gluten.
baking powder: make sure it’s baking powder and not baking soda. Also, make sure its fresh.
salt: a touch of sea salt to add a nice pop of flavor, but if you use salted butter, take the salt down a touch.
Nutella: any chocolate hazelnut spread will work, doesn’t have to be Nutella brand, that is just what we have on hand all the time. If there is an allergy, you can use something like a chocolate almond butter another allergy friendly seed butter. Cookie butter could even be amazing!

Step-By-Step Instructions:

Creamed butter and sugar in mixing bowl with spatula propped to the side.

Egg and vanilla added to creamed butter and sugar in bowl before mixing.

Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. This is crucial to keep these cookies from spreading out or becoming too thin.
Add in the egg, vanilla and almond extract and beat until fully incorporated.

Dry ingredients added to wet ingredients with spatula in bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture slowly, about 1/3 at a time and then beat just until incorporated. Once all the flour is mixed into to the cookie dough, pull the dough together if it is a bit piecey.

Teaspoon pressing into cookie dough ball to make a thumbprint like impression. — For no cracking, press the dough before chilling.

Thumbprint cookie dough arranged on parchment lined cookie sheet. — For no cracking, press the dough before chilling.

For best results, and to keep the cookies from cracking, use a cookie scoop to and then form balls with the cookie dough (each cookie is about 1 1/2 Tablespoon or 22g), roll into sugar to coat and then use the back of a round teaspoon measuring spoon to press a “thumbprint” like indentation.
Chill these formed cookie dough balls for about 30 minutes.
Line chilled cookie dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake cookies for about 9-10 minutes or until edges are set. The bottom of the cookie will be a light golden brown, but the edges will likely not have too much difference in color.
Let the cookies cool for about 5-7 minutes before spooning about 1 teaspoon of Nutella into the center of each cookie. You can add sprinkles or a white or dark chocolate drizzle over top as well if desired.
Cool the cookies for the remaining time on a wire rack.

Nutella spooned into thumbprint impressions of cookies on sheet pan.

Recipe Tips

To keep the cookies from cracking around the edges, roll and press the “thumbprint” before chilling. If you chill the cookie dough just in formed balls, pressing the thumbprint indentation will crack the edges a bit and the cookies will not be quite as pretty. This will keep it from happening.
Feel free to vary the filling. The filling doesn’t have to be Nutella. You could allow the cookies to fully cool and then pipe or spoon some buttercream frosting for more of a bakery tea cookie treat. Another spread like chocolate peanut butter, vanilla almond butter, etc. will work. Or you could make some of these more classic with a jam center.
Ingredient temperature matters. Letting your butter sit out too long or not enough can make a difference when making not just these Nutella cookies, but any cookies. You want your butter especially to be softened so that a slight indentation can be made with your finger when pressing on top, but you don’t want it to be overly soft and push much farther into the butter. Eggs are also much better at room temperature in cookies as they will blend in much smoother and make for the optimal cookie texture.

Storage:

Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They will be on the dryer side by the 5th day but still completely edible.

You can freeze baked cookies. Make sure they have completely cooled and then line a cookie pan or plate evenly to flash freeze the cookies for about an hour to keep the Nutella from getting everywhere later. Transfer to a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

To freeze cookie dough, you can freeze it as is in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to wrap it in plastic wrap first for extra protection. If you want to freeze rolled and pressed cookie dough balls, freeze the same as the baked cookies by flash freezing first.

Ways To Vary This Recipe:

add some sprinkles over top to match the celebration, or just for fun. Some red and green for Christmas, red and pink for Valentine’s Day, etc.
Stir a drop or two of peppermint extract into the Nutella before adding to the cookies.
Sprinkle the top of the cookies with crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
add a drizzle of melted chocolate. I like to melt dark and white chocolate chips and then drizzle over top to make these thumbprint cookies extra fancy.
roll the cookie dough in chopped hazelnuts or sprinkle some over top of the Nutella
use a different nut or seed butter to fill, or jam like the classic thumbprint cookie