Giant Nutella Cookies

These Giant Nutella Cookies are one of my all time favourites, I love nutella, originally made in Italy from hazelnuts and chocolate and now hugely popular around the world. The cookie mix is light and crumbly and very easy to make. You can vary your fillings with any flavoured butter cream and jam preserves or compotes, how about raspberry compote with vanilla butter cream? what ever you decide these cookie will be devoured rather quickly. Preparation: you will need to have your butter softened and egg at room temperature, overall prep time and baking time shouldn't take you more than 20 to 25 minutes. You can make up a butter cream for which i have marked down a recipe or you can be a lot quicker with a jar of softened nutella and some melted dark chocolate to finish.

Cookie recipe

185g softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

110g light brown sugar

1 egg

185g self raising flour

110g plain flour

40g desiccated coconut

80g raspberry jam (conserve or compote)

Cream Filling

60g softened butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

120g icing sugar

2 teaspoons milk

Cream butter and sugar together then add egg and extract beat until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients and finish off mixing by hand until the dough comes together.

Roll the cookie dough within clingfilm and wrap into a long sausage shape about 3 to 2½ inches in diameter. Chill for 30 to 40 minutes then unwrap cookie dough from clingfilm and slice evenly. Press down slightly and use you hands to make round shapes, press down a few times with a fork then place about an inch apart on a baking tray.

Bake for around 12 to 14 minutes @ 180°C

Once sufficiently cooled down spread some softened nutella and sandwich two cookies together, now melt some dark chocolate in a bain marie or microwave and dip cookies until top is covered. Allow to set then enjoy... Alternatively you can pipe or spread raspberry compote and then butter cream and sandwich together.

*unfilled biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight container, filled biscuits will last for around 3 days in a chiller.

Variations: you can use any flavour or colour of butter cream and you can also shape into fingers instead of rounds.