Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

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Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies are the next-level recipe for 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.

Pile of hazelnut chocolate cookies on a board.

These cookies are one of a number of delicious recipes I created for my Small-Batch Baking Series. Other small-batch recipes you may like are my Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes, Salted Caramel Brownies, and Gluten-Free Orange Almond Cake.

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! And a little reminder that I have Small Batch Desserts E-book with 15 extra recipes available to download immediately when subscribing to my newsletter.

Back to these incredible Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies. They are the perfect balance of rich, chocolatey and nutty! If you love Nutella or Fererro Rocher chocolates, you'll be sure to love these. The cookie itself is crunchy on the outside but chewy in the middle, the milk chocolate melts into oozing puddles, and the hazelnuts provide the perfect nutty texture.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookie sprinkled with flaked sea salt, broken open.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients needed
Step-by-step instructions
Variations
Recipe pro tips
Frequently asked questions
How to store and freeze
Equipment needed
More cookie recipes that you may like.
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Why you'll love this recipe

Balance of flavours. The rich chocolate cookie is offset by puddles of smooth milk chocolate, the textural nutty crunch of chopped hazelnuts and a sprinkling of flaked sea salt.
Make ahead. The cookie dough can be made, rolled into balls and then refrigerated until you are ready to bake them. You can have fresh cookies in under 15 minutes then!
Play with the add-ins. If you want to change up the recipe by adding dark chocolate chunks instead of milk chocolate chunks or almonds instead of hazelnuts, then go for gold.

Ingredients needed

Unsalted butter - Stick to unsalted here so that you can control the level of salt within the cookie- and remember- there's flaked sea salt on top too. Of yes- and make sure it's room temperature too.
Sugar - Light brown sugar and granulated sugar - are two types of sugar used in this recipe to provide structure and sweetness. The light brown sugar, though has molasses in it, which makes the cookie moist and chewy.
Egg - One large one will do to bind the ingredients together.
Vanilla extract - If you don't have any, then vanilla bean paste or the seeds of a vanilla pod will do- the vanilla helps layer the flavour.
Plain flour - (All-purpose) flour in just the right quantity helps to provide structure to the cookie without turning it cakey!
Cocoa powder - In the UK, cocoa powders are normally Dutch processed, such as Green and Blacks and Dr Oetkers, which are the two main brands I use. I know in the US you can buy both. (Read about the difference between the two from David Lebowitz). The dutch processed cocoa powder adds that rich chocolatey flavour to the cookie and also the dark chocolate colour.
Baking powder and baking soda - just the right amount to help the rise and chewiness of the cookie.
Salt - Imperative in sweet baked goods as it balances the sweetness but also brings out the flavour of the chocolate.
Milk chocolate chunks - I prefer to use a bar of chocolate rather than chocolate chips in my baking; the larger chocolate chunks melt into delicious milk chocolate puddles, whereas the chocolate chips maintain their shape.
Blanched hazelnuts - Give these a light toast in the frypan on your stove top to bring out the nut oils and enhance the flavour. Then chop them up. I leave my nuts quite large so for that textural value gained when biting down.
Flaked sea salt - Imperative to finish off your cookies. The salt compliments the chocolate perfectly!

Pile of chocolate hazelnut cookies on a chopping board

Step-by-step instructions

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

These Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies really are simple to make. In a few easy steps, you'll be halfway to enjoying a bite of deliciousness.

Sugar and butter creamed together in a bowl with an egg added to it.

1. Cream butter and sugar. We want to whip lots of air into the butter and break down the sugar crystals at the same time - we do this by creaming the room temperature butter and two types of sugar with a stand mixer or hand-held electric beaters for around 3-5 minutes. You'll see the butter get visibly paler. (Image 1)

NOTE: the butter should be room temperature, not soft. If it is too soft, then the cookie dough itself will be very soft. If you find this is the case once the dough is made and it's hard to scoop into balls, then refrigerate the dough for a little while until it firms up a little.

TIP: Periodically scrape down your bowl. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after creaming the butter and also after adding the eggs. This ensures the batter is fully mixed.

2. Add egg and vanilla extract. Next up is to add the wet ingredients, the egg and vanilla and mix them together. (Image 2)

Flour and cocoa powder, chopped chocolate and hazelnuts added to cookie dough, ready for mixing.

3. Dry ingredients go in. Sift into the bowl your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and give it a mix together...this cookie dough is nearly done! (Image 3)

4. Add flavourings. Our chief flavourings are milk chocolate chunks and chopped hazelnuts, add ¾ of these in now and give it a mix together. Set aside the remaining ¼. (Image 4)

TIP: Add flavourings on top of cookie balls. To get visually beautiful cookies (as well as ones that taste great!), once the cookie dough is rolled into balls, add the remaining nuts and chocolate onto the top, pressing them in gently. Then, when the cookies bake, these ingredients will be visibly scattered onto the cook. Beautiful!

Chocolate cookie dough scooped onto baking tray with an ice cream scoop.

5. Scoop cookie dough balls and refrigerate. Use an ice cream scoop or heaped tablespoon to create balls roughly 2-cm (1-inch) wide and place them on a lined baking tray. Divide the remaining hazelnuts and chocolate to the top of the balls, pressing them in gently. (Image 5 & 6)

NOTE: In image 5 you can see the cookie dough shaped into balls with no visual cues as to the flavour mixins. This is because the chocolate and hazelnut are all mixed into the dough. If you were to bake directly like this, then they would resemble a plain chocolate cookie. We eat with our eyes, and it's important to see what's in the cookie. I recommend adding some of the nuts and chocolate to the top of the balls so that when they bake, you'll see them!

Loosley cover them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for 1 hour. Alternatively, freeze the cookie dough for 30 minutes.

TIP: Refrigeration/Freezing dough. Refrigerating the dough allows the butter to re-harden, the flour to hydrate and the gluten to relax. The cookies hold their shape better once baked.

These are thin and chewy cookies, though, so they will spread out, but we don't want a pancake on our hands!

twirling a cookie cutter around cookies to make them round.

6. Bake and cool. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. Everyone's oven runs at a different temperature, so keep an eye on the cookies. You want them set all around the edge but with a little give in the centre. They'll continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. These are thin, chewy cookies- if you want a sturdier, crispier cookie, then bake for a couple of minutes more. Remove from the oven, give the pan a couple of hard bangs as this knocks out some of the air and crinkles them a bit, and then hula hoop (see Tip below to know what on either I am talking about!! Image 7) Sprinkle flaked salt onto the top. (Image 8)

TIP: Bakery-style round cookie shape. 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 and 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, giving them a more uniform appearance. (Image 7)

Variations

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 than chocolate chips. Chocolate chips aren’t designed to melt, but 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 Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies!!)

Dipping chocolate hazelnut cookie into a glass of milk.

Recipe pro tips

Scrape down the bowl. Ensures all the cookie dough is being mixed evenly.
Refrigerate cookie dough. Helps the cookies not spread once baked.
Add flavourings to the top of cookie dough balls. This means that you can see the hazelnuts and milk chocolate once baked.
'Hula hoop' cookies. Do this fresh out of the oven, and you'll get perfectly round cookies.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use chocolate chips instead of a chocolate bar?

Yes, of course you can! Go right ahead and sub the chocolate bar with chocolate chips, and you'll have your very own Chocolate Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies. They'll taste delicious, I have no doubt! There will be a difference in the look and bite of the cookie as chips don't melt. You can read more about why here.

Why did my cookies spread so much?

Two things spring to mind. Your butter may have been too soft. Sometimes if your ambient air temperature for getting your butter to room temperature is too hot and humid (like in a tropical climate), the butter softens too much. Next time this happens- pop it back into the fridge for ten minutes or so.
My next question would be, did you weigh the flour with a digital scale or use a measuring cup? I know I say this a lot, but scales are SO much more accurate- by using a measuring cup, you could be under scooping and not have enough flour to give the cookie dough the structure it needs.

Close up image of Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.

How to store and freeze

To store: Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to

To freeze: For cookies that are already baked, cool the cookies completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.

To freeze cookie dough, scoop into cookie dough balls and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and freeze on the tray until they are hard. Then pop them into an airtight container or ziplock bag

Equipment needed

Stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment: Makes creaming that butter and sugar an easy process- you can use electric hand-held beaters too.
Icecream scoop / Cookie Scoop: The quickest and easiest way to scoop the cookie dough.
Baking tray: You can use one baking sheet and bake two trays worth one after another, or use two baking sheets and bake the cookies in one go. I prefer to bake one tray at a time in the centre of the oven.

If you tried this Double Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookie Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how you go in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Also, please leave a star rating whilst you're there!

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This post was originally published in May 2020 but has been updated with new content.