Nutella Mousse Cookie Cups

I had selected a different recipe for this week, but sometimes you change at the last minute. A day or two before I make a recipe, I read though the recipe more thoroughly. For the recipe that I had selected, they were cookie cups, but I noticed that you bake them in full size muffin cups. I have done that before, and it makes for huge cookies. I liked the general ideas, but I went looking for a similar recipe that was made in mini muffin cups. I came across this recipe and it fit the bill.

This cookie cup is a simple chocolate chip cookie for the base, and then a Nutella and whipped cream filling. This uses a combination of butter and vegetable shortening, which I suspect gives the flavor of butter but the chewiness of shortening. This uses mini chocolate chips, as regular sized chips would be too big for the mini muffin cups.

Whipping cream is not an ingredient that I always have on hand, but the other cookies that I had planned to make also called for whipping cream, so I was set. This recipe also uses Nutella and I have that available. This recipe calls for ½ cup Nutella and I thought I would have plenty, but I was about 10 grams short. I figured it was close enough and it was, and you end up with so much filling anyway. Don’t put too much cookie dough in each cup, or they will be too big for the cups.

Nutella Mousse Cookie Cups 

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup Nutella

Melted chocolate

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray mini muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and vegetable shortening on medium until smooth. Add the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs and mix on medium until combined. With the mixer running on low, add half of the flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. When the dough starts to come together, then add the remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon into each mini muffin indentation.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, and then cool in the pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, make an indentation in each cookie cup with the handle of a spoon or similar implement. When cool, remove the cookies from the mini muffin pans.

Make the mousse: in a cold mixing bowl, add the cold whipping cream and powdered sugar. Mix on medium-high until the cream holds stiff peaks. Gently spoon the Nutella in the mixture and whip again, just until incorporated. Pipe the mousse into the indentations in the cookies. If desired, drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate.

Store cookies in the refrigerator.

Recipe from Butter with a Side of Bread