Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies are the next level recipe to chocolate chip cookies. These cookies combine luscious levels of chocolate in each bite, with the crunch of hazelnuts to add that extra texture and nuttiness. Perfect for holiday baking, weekend treats or mid week cravings, this recipe will satisfy you to the max.

These Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies make up the last in my Small Batch Series. I’ve loved the challenge of creating sweet treat recipes for small in number households. All my recipes can be doubled to make a standard size serving which is a huge bonus. I don’t want ANYONE to feel left out!

Why these Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies?

Yes! Let’s get onto these cookies. Ferrero Rocher chocolates and nutella are a BIG favourite in my household. What links them- chocolate and hazelnuts of course! When I quizzed my girls as to what flavour cookies I should make next…this flavour combo was it. And so I set about creating these delicious Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.

Note: I realised half way through the shoot that I’d neglected to add cocoa powder to the ingredients shot. Oh dear! By the time i realised, I was too far down the track. But I wanted to let you know anyway. The cocoa is in the recipe (I mean look at the colour of those cookies!) and the recipe below states the correct measurements.

How do you make them?

They are a pretty standard method of cooking and very easy to make. The hardest thing is waiting during the chill time, which, really, isn’t so hard. Perspective right?!

1. We cream the butter and two sugars, brown and white for a good 3 mins to beat air into the butter and break down the sugar crystals. I’ve used brown sugar mostly to incorporate that rich molasses, deep flavour profile that you get from it.
2. Next we add our wet ingredients, the egg and vanilla extract. The egg binds our cookie dough together but also provides some lift in the oven. The vanilla extract adds another layer of flavour.
3. Then we sift in our dry ingredients, all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder for lift, baking soda for chew factor and salt…because always salt with sweet!
4. Lastly, it’s the add-ins, hazelnuts and milk chocolate. Roughly chop the hazelnuts to get all different sizes of nuttiness when biting down. Same with the milk chocolate. And save a quarter of nuts and chocolate to add in after rolling the dough (see the recipe) Gotta make these cookies looks great with chunks of nuts and pools of chocolate right?!

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING THESE COOKIES

TIP 1: CREAMING YOUR SUGAR AND BUTTER

In my recipe below I call for the butter and brown sugar to be creamed for a good three minutes. Please don’t scrimp on the time. By beating for this long you are not only breaking down the sugar crystals but alsoadding air into the butter. You want to see a visible visual difference in the look of your mixture from start to finish – it NEEDS to be paler in colour. Ok? if we want soft chewy cookies instead of dense rocks, you’ll need to do this step!

TIP 2: REFRIGERATING OR FREEZING THE COOKIE DOUGH

When we cream the butter we use room temperature butter so that it’s soft and maleable to be able to be creamed by the mixer. By the time the dough is made the ingredients are all at room temp right. I find that if we bake them right off like this they tend to spread more. There’s acually nothing wrong with this – if you prefer larger, flatter cookies then by all means miss out this step. But by cooling the dough, the butter re-solidifyies and has a chance to firm up so that when baked the cookies hold their shape better. It also helps with the chew factor and richness in taste.

TIP 3: GETTING THOSE COOKIES ROUND

This one is optional. But have you taken your cookies out of the oven and they are kind of a weird shape? Sometimes that happens. Well, a tip from my friend Erin of Cloudy Kitchen fame gives you round cookies to rival any bakeries!! Once the cookies have baked, pull the tray out of the oven, grab a cookie cutter larger than the actual cookie (or a mug if you don’t have a cookie cutter- it just needs to be round). Place over the top of a cookie onto the baking tray and then twirl it round and round the cookie. Kinda like the cookie is playing with a hula hoop around its waist! Because the cookie is still hot, it’s still malleable so the sides can be gently pushed into shape.

Substitutions

Chocolate: I’ve used milk chocolate (kids favourite) as the dark chocolate felt like it would be just too rich inside these cookies. But hey if dark, or even white chocolate is your thing…go for it! Or try a combination of both or all three. Also I prefer using a high quality chocolate bar for this rather that chocolate chips. Chocolate chips aren’t designed to melt whereas i want to see those chocolate pools.

Nuts: If you don’t have hazelnuts on hand…then sub in almonds, pecans or walnuts. They’ll be delicious regardless!! (But you may not be able to call them Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies!!)

For more SMALL BATCH recipes …

Dark Chocolate Walnut Blondies

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars

Salted Caramel Brownies

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

• Author: Emma
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 11 1x
• Category: Cookies
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American/British

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Description

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies combine luscious levels of chocolate in each bite, with the crunch of hazelnuts to add that extra texture and nuttiness. Perfect for holiday baking, weekend treats or mid week cravings, this recipe will satisfy you to the max. 

THIS SMALL BATCH RECIPE CAN BE DOUBLED IN SIZE TO MAKE A REGULAR SERVING SIZE OF 20-22

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

110g butter, softened

110g light brown sugar

50g granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temp

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

100g flour

30g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

100g milk chocolate chunks

85g blanched hazelnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Sea salt for sprinkling, optional

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Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
2. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined.
3. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in ¾ of the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chunks.
4. Using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop the dough into inch wide balls and place on a baking tray. Press the remaining hazelnuts into the top of the balls. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or freeze for 30 minutes, Overnight chilling in the fridge is ideal and baking unchilled dough will mean the cookies spread too much.
5. Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Remove the cookie balls from the fridge or freezer and place on the baking trays leaving at least 2 inches in between balls.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Around the five-minute mark, distribute the remaining chopped chocolate onto the top of the baking cookies. The chocolate will melt and give gorgeous chocolate puddles.
7. Remove baking trays from the oven. Whilst the cookies are still hot, using a round cookie cutter or mug, place over the cookie and twirl the cookie inside gently pushing the edges in so that the cookies form a round shape. Kind of like the cookie and cutter are doing a hula dance!! Then sprinkle each cookie with flaked sea salt. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Notes

1. Yield: This recipe can be doubled to yield 20-22 cookies.
2. Bake Time: I like my cookies chewy and soft in the middle. My preference is soft chewy cookies but if you prefer crispier cookies then add on a couple of minutes to the bake time.
3. To Store: Cookies will remain fresh for 3-5 days in an airtight container and store at room temperature.
4. To Freeze: Cookie dough balls can be frozen easily. Portion the cookie dough using a cookie scoop or teaspoon onto a baking tray and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Then place dough balls in a zip lock bag and into the freezer. Cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Then when ready to bake your Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies, bake from frozen and add a minute of two onto the cooking time. There is no need to thaw prior to baking

Keywords: Cookies, Dessert, Chocolate, Nuts, Snacks

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