Instructions

1. Line two baking pans with parchment paper.
2. Spoon 1/2 teaspoonful of Nutella into little mounds on the parchment paper.
3. Freeze for at least a half-hour.
4. LIne tow baking pans with parchment paper.
5. With either a handheld mixer or stand up mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the vanilla extract.
7. Gradually add and mix in the flour until just combined.
8. Gently fold in the chopped pecans, beating at low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl, until everything is mixed well.
9. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten it in your hands.
10. Remove the Nutella from the freezer
11. Place one frozen Nutella ball into the middle of the dough. Place another flattened piece of dough on top of the Nutella and wrap around it to roll into a ball. Place it on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
12. Continue making cookies until all Nutella balls and dough is used. Keep the Nutella balls in the freezer and remove only one or two at a time to keep the Nutella in a hardened state.
13. Chill the cookie-lined baking sheets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
14. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
15. Bake the cookies for 16 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden - rotating the baking pans after 8 minutes.
16. Place 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl.
17. Allow cookies to cool in the pans for 5 - 10 minutes.
18. One at a time, roll the cookies in powdered sugar when they are cool enough to touch.
19. Place cookies on baking racks after coating with powdered sugar.
20. Roll the cookies in powdered sugar again (so twice coated).
21. Store cookies in an airtight container. It's best to store in layers. Cookies can be frozen for 1 month.