If you love all things chocolate hazelnut, you've found the recipe for you! These cookies start with a deeply chocolate dough, featuring hazelnut, cocoa, and chocolate chunks, and then of course they are filled with a dollop of chocolate hazelnut spread in the center to top it all off.
Almost my entire life, my favorite "sweet flavor" has been chocolate hazelnut. While I think it's a flavor that stands perfectly on its own, I love it even more when incorporated into baked goods. To help give us an extra kick of hazelnut, I did use hazelnut extract in the dough. If you don't have that or don't want to buy the extra ingredient, these cookies will still be incredibly delicious.
To make the delicious filling for these cookies, luckily all you need is that one magical ingredient - smooth, chocolate hazelnut spread. We'll measure out 12 teaspoons of this delicious spread and place them on a parchment lined sheet and into the freezer. Something to be careful of is that these frozen dollops come back to room temperature very quickly, so when it's time to fill your cookie dough, move with speed.
I love that this recipe really doesn't require any special equipment. It does though call for some time to chill in the fridge. This will really allow the dough to come out as an ultra chewy and deeply chocolate experience so I promise it's worth the wait. The plus here is you can leave this dough once shaped to chill for up to 24 hours so you can even do the work the day before and then be ready to go and bake the next day if that works better for you.
Because of the soft filling, I don't recommend freezing the dough before baking. However, once baked you could absolutely freeze the cookies and then warm them up at a later time to enjoy. They also do stay fresh for a while in the fridge and warm up really nicely, so you still have lots of options here.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread, divided in 12 teaspoons for filling 74g
1 stick (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter 113g
1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread 74g
3 tablespoons cocoa powder 20g
1/2 cup light brown sugar 96g
1/4 cup granulated sugar 48g
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon hazelnut extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 150g
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6oz) chopped semisweet chocolate
Prep time: About 20 minutes
Bake time: 10-12 minutes
Chill time: 4-6 hours (or overnight)
Servings: 12 cookies
Equipment:
Cookie sheets
Parchment paper
Teaspoon
Spatula and whisk or large spoon
Large and small bowls
Optional: small heavy bottomed nonstick pot, scooper 2/12 - 3 tablespoons large
Cooking instructions:
First, freeze your chocolate hazelnut spread centers. Line a small cookie sheet or plate with parchment paper. Measure out 12 separate teaspoons of chocolate hazelnut spread and place spaced out onto the parchment paper. Place into the freezer. This can be done up to a day ahead.
Make your cookie dough. Melt your butter, you can do this on the stove top or in a bowl in increments in the microwave. Stir in your 1/4 cup (74g) of chocolate hazelnut spread and cocoa powder until completely smooth and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together your light brown and granulated sugar and egg until thickened. Add in your vanilla and hazelnut extract and continue to mix together with speed until smooth. Note: if you don't have hazelnut extract, replace with additional vanilla.
Pour your butter mixture into your egg mixture and use a whisk or spatula to combine completely.
Next, add in your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda and salt. Using a spatula, fold your dry ingredients in until a shaggy dough forms. Add in all of your chopped chocolate and continue to mix until your chocolate is evenly dispersed and your dough has formed.
Place your dough into the fridge to chill uncovered until firm, about 1 to 2 hours. If it will be in the fridge longer, be sure to cover it.
Shape, bake and enjoy your cookies. Line a large cookie sheet and portion out your dough into 12 scoops, each weighing about 55-60 grams or 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons in size. Flatten each dough scoop and then create a small bowl shape with each portion of dough.
Remove your frozen chocolate hazelnut dollops from the freezer and with speed add one to the center of each cookie dough ball. Carefully, using your hands, reform your cookie scoops into a ball shape, leaving some chocolate hazelnut spread showing at the top.
Cover your shaped cookie dough balls with plastic wrap, and put your cookie sheet into the fridge to chill for 4 to 6 hours or overnight (up to 24 hours).
When you're ready, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Bake your cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently shape as needed using a round cookie cutter or bowl slightly larger than your cookies to nudge the edges in to create perfectly round cookies. There also may be a slight film that forms on top of your chocolate hazelnut spread center - you can leave this be, or if it bothers you, simply take a small utensil and gently mix the filling right when it's out of the oven and you'll see the smooth, glossy spread come to the top.
Allow your cookies to cool directly on the cookie sheet for at least 20-30 minutes - if you try to move them sooner you'll risk some breakage! Then dig in and enjoy.
These cookies taste best when warm, enjoyed the same day you baked them. They will still taste delicious though if stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, and you can enjoy cold or warmed up. If you'd like, you can also bake these cookies and then freeze them to enjoy at a later time.
Carb and serving info:
Servings: 12 cookies
Carbs per serving: 39
Carbs for full recipe: 467
Carbs in cookie dough with chopped chocolate no filling: 425
Carbs from chocolate hazelnut filling: 42
Carbs from semisweet chocolate: 108
Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.
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