Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
Back in April, I started testing out June recipes. For the month, my dessert pick was a brownie. Initially a coconut bounty-esque brownie, then when I polled on Instagram, the people wanted a coffee brownie. I had a long think and came to the conclusion that I don’t actually know how I feel about brownies, and maybe I didn’t want to make one… The recipes I make are for others, but I need to like them too, or when developing and testing, I’ll never be happy with the result.
I like a fudgy brownie, but my issue with brownies is that it’s an extremely decadent dessert and after 1 or 2 slices I get tired of it - which means that the rest of the pan is basically waste. After some brainstorming I landed on the idea of taking the key elements of a brownie and putting that in a cookie; fudgy centre, crackled top and very chocolatey. I initially was going to make a coffee chocolate cookie, but after more brainstorming I had a eureka moment and chose hazelnut chocolate, just like Nutella, a classic/iconic pairing.
This recipe is straightforward to make BUT you need to have everything ready. As soon as the batter comes together you need to be efficient and work quickly to get the cookies in the oven, this is what creates that glossy crinkled texture. That doesn’t mean panic plop dough and get it everywhere, its just not a ‘take your time’ shaping scenario. These cookies are drop cookies, they’re meant to be craggy, and not perfectly round, that is where some of the texture comes from. If you do take too much time or you don’t properly whisk the egg mix the exterior of the cookies won’t get the glossy look - they still will taste great, they just won’t look fabulous.
makes: 10 cookies
prep/cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 cup (25g) ground hazelnuts
2 tbsp (30g) hazelnuts, roasted and chopped into chunks
75g bittersweet dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (30g) neutral oil
1 tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (50g) flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
25g milk chocolate, cut into chunks
1 egg
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (33g) dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
flakey sea salt, to sprinkle on top, optional
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a dry pan on medium heat, toast ground hazelnuts until they start to release their aroma and it turns golden, let cool.
3. Put the whole hazelnuts into a dish, roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until they are golden throughout. Chop them into chunks, set aside, let cool fully.
4. In a bain marie (put bowl on top of a small pot of boiling water, make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) melt the dark chocolate fully. Incorporate the oil into the mix, set aside to cool.
5. In a small bowl, add all the dry ingredients; cocoa, flour, ground toasted hazelnuts, baking powder, salt, chopped hazelnuts and milk chocolate chunks. Toss until everything is evenly mixed.
6. In a large bowl, add egg, both sugars and vanilla. With an electric whisk, whip the mixture for 5 minutes, until it has almost tripled in volume and changes to a pale colour. This is a very important step, if whipping by hand it will take more time but this is what gives texture to the cookies, so making sure this step is properly done is important.
7. After 5 minutes of whisking, slowly whisk in the cooled chocolate oil mix until thoroughly incorporated.
8. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until everything comes together, the batter will be thick and sticky.
9. Working quickly, drop 2 tablespoons worth of batter for 1 cookie onto the baking sheet. These cookies don’t spread lots so 10 cookies can fit on 1 baking sheet. Sprinkle flakey salt on top of each cookie, bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the surface of the cookies are glossy.
10. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and tap lightly on a flat surface to slightly deflate the cookies- this will help with the crinkles. Let cool completely before serving.
*store in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.