Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
I really can’t explain this. I don’t even like hazelnuts. But I do like these cookies. A lot. Think Nutella, if it were a cookie. Not just spread between two sugar cookies. But what if the Nutella was the cookie itself.
I have to hand it to Kim Boyce, who’s Good to the Grain simply inspires me more and more. I was in the process of indexing the book on Gobbledybook (remember that? Yes, I’m still, very slowly, entering cookbooks), and bookmarking just about every other recipe to make, when I came across the Honey Hazelnut Cookies. They looked like the perfect little biscuits… just the thing for a cup of tea. And then, I thought, what if… what if I added some cocoa powder. Wouldn’t that be something?
Then I thought, what if, instead of the little tea biscuits, what if I used a basic chocolate chip cookie type dough instead. The biscuits (which I still want to make) are a drier cookie. I wanted more of a soft, moist dough. Chocolate chip cookie dough, especially the whole wheat version in the same book, could be just the ticket. Kim’s dough is 100% whole wheat, but given I was adding ground hazelnuts, I decided to go with a combination of whole wheat, graham and all-purpose flours. I’m sure you could do any sorts of flour combinations, depending on how your tastes run. I love the little extra richness the graham and whole wheat flours give.
Under-baked, just slightly, the way I like my chocolate chip cookies, they are crisped just around the edges and soft and just little gooey inside.
Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
1/2 cup (45 g) hazelnuts
1/4 cup (30 g) graham flour
1/2 cup (80 g) all purpose
1/2 cup (80 g) whole wheat
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Lightly toast the hazelnuts. You can do this in a skillet on the stovetop, or in a hot oven. You want them to heat just a little to release start to release their oils, not scorch them. Then use a spice grinder or food processor to finely grind them, skins and all.
Lightly whisk the dry ingredients (flours through salt) together to blend well. You can use a sifter, but small grains may be left over that don’t make it through the mesh. You can simply add these back in.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until they are smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat in the egg followed by the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mixing on low speed until just combined. Then, add in the ground hazelnuts and chocolate chips if you are using them.
You can bake these immediately, by dropping 1 to 2 tablespoon sized balls (depending on the size of cookie you want) onto the baking sheet with 1 to 2 inches between them (depending on the ball size). Bake until the cookies are a rich brown, about 10 to 15 minutes, turning half way through the baking. I like to under-bake mine a bit, so they stay soft.
You can also chill the dough, and keep it refrigerated up to a week. Cookies made form chilled dough will be thicker than those made from dough at room temperature.
Oh my, a nutella cookie! I would love these! This is definitely on my “to make” list 🙂 Your pictures are beautiful by the way 🙂
I just found your blog via the Italian Dish. Oh my! So beautiful. I am totally inspired! I’m going back to read up all your posts! Just lovley….oh and can I just say…Nutella is one of my most favorite things on earth, so this post was totally up my alley!
Hazelnut, chocolate, love this combo. I can imagine how delicious this cookie is. Btw, i’m not sure if you do it on purpose, but you listed Graham flour twice in the list of ingredients.
Cheers,
Elra
They look fantastic. I wonder if I could find any graham flour around here…
Hazelnut is my favorite nut! I’m sure these were outstanding and you photo are beautiful as always.
Great combination and I bet the hazelnuts add a great and fresh nutty flavor combination to these cookies.
A classic combination – hazelnut and chocolate are such a natural and yummy pair. I also love the dark background, so pretty.
Absolutely delightful! I love the look of this chocolate hazelnut cookie. I am a housewife and I bake for my kids for their snack at school and their favorite is cookie. I think this is one great addition to my cookie recipe. I will definitely try it for Monday.
Beautiful Photos and amazing-looking cookies. Can’t wait to make these. Yum!
I always love the combination of chocolate and hazelnut. And these cookies are amazing!Would love to have some with a cup of black tea.
These cookies look wonderfully chocolatey and I love how thick and chewy they seem. Plus, that Nutella flavor sounds awesome. I have a new linky on my blog called “Sweets for a Saturday” and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link this up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/01/sweets-for-saturday-1_21.html
En casa tenemos muchÃÂsimas avellanas! y el chocolate con avellanas es el más rico! y me vuelven loca las galletas!!
Asàque, ¿qué puedo decir? terriblemente delicioso!!!
Gourmenderies
My nutella loving husband would adore these!
I like anything and everything with nutella so I’m loving these cookies. Yum!
I recently saw a post for making nutella chip cookies. I think those Nutella Chips in these cookies would be over the top amazing.
Thank you! I’ve tried baking with Nutella, and it loses its flavor in the heat. I’ll use this recipe instead.
These look completely divine. I, too, am a bit enamoured by Kim Boyce. I’ve dog eared her crumble bars (made with rye flour) for tomorrow…
I am very surprised by the whole wheat flour. I would expect the cookies to be too dense. I will give this a try!
Such an interesting post on Hazelnut cookies and beautiful photos too, wish I came by your site earlier on, keep on the good work.
I had already tried Kim Boyce’s whole wheat chocolate cookies and I had already decided they were my favourite cookie recipe. I tried this version yesterday: these are equally good but surprisingly different, less chewy and intensely nutella flavoured. I am totally in love with your pictures. You managed to make these cookies look so pretty, and talking from direct experience, they don’t!
I love, love, love Nutella. I have a feeling I’ll love(x infinity) these cookies! Glad to have Stumbled across your blog!
I made these cookies yesterday and they were delicious!!! Although mine didn’t turn out looking as good as yours, the taste was spot on. It has become my favorite cookies recipe 🙂
I made these today and they came out beautifully. I used stonegound wheat flour for the graham flour and ground the hazelnuts with that flour. I rolled them in plain white sugar before baking and sprinkled some on after baking. I baked them 10 minutes and they were nice and chunky with a crackley top. Really pretty, great chewy texture and rich flavor! Thanks for a unique cookie!
Great cookie, great recipe! Excellent texture, and I like the touch of saltiness. I’m very happy this uses cocoa and actual, toasted hazelnuts. I mixed the ground nuts in with the flour at the beginning, and nothing bad happened.
Thanks so much. I will bake these again! And probably again.
I had a little Nutella craze and was looking for recipes, like you said that don’t spread the Nutella on the finished product but actually ARE Nutella.. just in a different form. I was thinking of doing cookies, but a lot of recipes didn’t look like what I was going for so I lost hope. I ended up making a delicious batch of brownies, but next time I get a big tub of Nutella I’ll be sure to come back to this recipe!
Wow… quite the opposite to you, I LOVE hazelnuts. I also LOOOOOVE Nutella. And even more, I love how big and thick, yet soft and chewey these biscuits look! Thankyou soo much for the recipe, can’t wait to try them!!
Love these cookies. Crunch…Can I share this at http://www.blog.gourmetrecipe.com? I’ll include your URL.Tnx
These cookies sound unique and delicious. Your blog is beautiful! I look forward to trying your recipes. Please check mine out when you get a chance: http://vespawoolf.hubpages.com/
http://tinyurl.com/bella-cocina