In a small bowl melt the butter either by bain-marie or microwave until melted, remove from the heat and stir in the Nutella until smooth. Place the Nutella in a pastry bag with a small round tip (or zip-loc bag) cut off a small tip and start making the chips on the prepared cookie sheet. Place the chips in the freezer for approximately 2 hours or even over night.
SHORTBREAD COOKIE DOUGH
In the mixing bowl with the flat beaters cream the butter and vanilla until fluffy. Approximately 2 minutes.
In a medium bowl sift in starting with the flour, then powdered sugar. Add the salt and whisk together. Add to the creamed mixture, and beat on low until almost combined, add the frozen Nutella chips either gently stir to combine or again with the flat beaters on low mix 2-3 turns. Cover the bowl and chill 30 minutes.
Gently roll the dough into 1 inch or a bit bigger balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Lightly flatten with fork, top with 2-3 more chips. If you prefer you could also gently flatten the dough in an 8 inch/ 20cm pie plate. Refrigerate while the oven is preheating, about 15-20 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 325°. Line a cookie sheet or 2 with parchment paper.
Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Let cool 5-8 minutes on the baking sheet, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. If you make it in a pie plate then let cool before cutting into shortbread wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
Be sure to use a high protein, at least 11.5 – 12%, my flour is about 13%, a low protein flour will cause the cookies to spread, and believe me refrigerating the dough will not help.If you find the dough too dry and it won't combine after mixing for 2 minutes then add a bit more butter a tablespoon at a time.And don’t forget to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes and again the unbaked cookies before baking while the oven is pre-heating. Store any leftover chips in the freezer, use the chips directly from the freezer when adding to a recipe.The baked cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. I sometimes store mine in the fridge because I like cold cookies. They will last up to 10 days by storing them in the fridge.To freeze the shortbread cookies, place parchment paper in between the layers of the completely cooled cookies this prevents them from sticking together when they are in the containers for freezing, or you can also place the baked cooled cookies on a cookie sheet and freeze them, then move the frozen cookies to either airtight bags or containers. Baked Shortbread Cookies will last up to 6 months in the freezer.To thaw the cookies be sure to remove the frozen cookies from the bags or containers (this way no condensation will form) and let them thaw at room temperature. In our house no one waits for them to thaw!