Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Nutella Buttercream

Recipe number three is very similar to the last recipe I posted, but in cookie form! This recipe actually came about before the gingerbread loaf did, mainly because I had a Christmas cookie competition to enter and needed some good cookie creations to do so!

This cookie is soft and chewy, combining the warm flavors of gingerbread with rich, creamy Nutella. Good as a simple cookie with frosting or made as whoopie cookies, these are sure to become a Christmas family favorite in the years to come! Here’s the recipe:

SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM

Ingredients

For the cookie:

1 c salted butter, softened
1 c light brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 c molasses
2 1/3 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking soda
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t ginger
½ t cloves
½ c granulated sugar (for coating)

For the filling:

½ c butter, softened
½ c Nutella
1 ½ c powdered sugar
1 T milk

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar with an electric hand mixer. Add the egg and molasses and beat together.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and thoroughly mix together. Refrigerate the dough for two hours.

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and coat each ball with the granulated sugar. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet.

In the meantime, make the buttercream by beating together the butter and Nutella, then add the powdered sugar and milk and continue to beat with the electric mixer until all ingredients are well incorporated. Frost the tops of the cookies or frost the bottom of one cookie and stick it together with another cookie to form the whoopie cookie. Makes 36 individual cookies.