Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

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Melt in the mouth chocolate cookies, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, loaded with white and milk chocolate chunks and crunchy hazelnuts with hints of salt and vanilla. Just like a crunchy, chewy and crispy jar of Nutella! Wow, now I want to make them, or rather eat them, all over again.

I made the batch in these photographs to take to the beach on Charlotte’s 22nd birthday a couple of weeks ago. The recipe is based on my Chocolate Chip Cookies – Core Recipe. Do please have a look at this recipe for more detailed information on how to prepare, cook and freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies. The only changes I have made to the core recipe are to:

• replace some of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder
• increase the amount of butter – cocoa can be very drying in a mixture, so it is important to balance this with extra fat
• adding 2 types of chocolate as well as hazelnuts

Adding the extra butter makes this a very soft cookie dough. It is therefore very important to build in sufficient time to chill the dough before baking. This will ensure that the cookies do not spread too much and still have a chewy centre.

Charlotte adores cookies, (Emma prefers cakes) so it was no surprise she put in a request for a batch on her birthday. Rather fortuitously, cookies are great to pack up and take on a picnic or include in a packed lunch. They also make wonderful gifts and are easy to transport or send in boxes or tins.

Normally, when making cookies, I cook half and freeze half ready to cook directly from the freezer, or I cook them all and gift half of them. On this occasion I cooked them all and had planned to give half to my husband to take to work. They never made it that far and I ended up making some Millionaire’s Shortbread for him to take instead – recipe coming next!

These cookies, I promise, are properly addictive! Charlotte absolutely cannot walk past a cookie, Emma prefers cake but loves these biscuits. As ever, Andrew who is still in denial about his love for anything sweet, managed to get though more than his fair share. I am not in denial, and know I love sweet things, so I can assure you, I ate my fair share too. Even Arty the dog was literally drooling on the beach when Charlotte was eating one – alas, dogs are allergic to chocolate so all the more for us!

How to make Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Collect all your ingredients together:

• unsalted butter 
• soft brown sugar 
• caster sugar
• salt
• egg 
• vanilla extract
• plain/all-purpose flour 
• cocoa
• baking powder 
• milk chocolate
• white chocolate
• hazelnuts

Please remember that the cookie dough ideally needs to sit for a minimum of half an hour in the fridge, or 15 minutes in the freezer, before cooking. If you do not have time to do this, it is not a problem; your cookies will still be delicious but they may spread out a little bit more more when cooked.

The method is very simple. Collect all your ingredients together. Put the butter, salt and both of the sugars into a large bowl and using an electric whisk mix until fluffy. This should take 3-4 minutes. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure it mixes evenly

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Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat again with an electric whisk until thoroughly mixed.

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Add the flour, cocoa and baking powder to the butter mixture. Either beat with an electric whisk on the slowest speed (to avoid a cloud of flour covering your kitchen!) or mix in with a wooden spoon. Finally fold through the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts.

N.B. Hold a few chunks of chocolate and nuts back before mixing in. I often find the last cookie dough ball to be made has no or very few chunks in it. If you hold a few back you can simply mix into the final cookie.

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Next divide into 26 – 28 x 30g balls of cookie dough. I am quite specific how I do this. I line a baking tray with parchment, sit it on the top of the scales and zero the scales. I can then check that each cookie weighs 30g each. I use a heaped tablespoon measure or a small ice cream scoop. The more accurate you are, the more consistent your cookies will be when cooked. I don’t worry about 2g here or there but I am quite careful. However, I should point out that my girls eye ball it when making these cookies and cannot understand why I am so pernickety. I confess theirs always turn out really well, so your choice!

The exact amount you make will depend on how specific you are with your measurements and how much of the cookie dough you eat!. To be honest, I can resist raw cookie dough – but my girls can’t and apparently this is a great dough to eat raw.

Once you have divided the dough into balls, roll them gently into a neater shape – the dough will be very soft at this stage. Cover with cling film and either:

• refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or freezer for 15 minutes) before you cook them. If you are really in a hurry you can cook them straight away but they will spread a little bit more, OR
• if you want to freeze any now is the time. Place in the freezer and as soon as the dough balls are solid, they can be transferred into labelled freezer bags or containers.

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When you are ready to cook your cookies, place them spread out on a baking sheet – I get 4 – 5 per sheet depending on the size of the baking sheet. Cook in a preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes or until cooked to your liking. In my oven they take exactly 11 minutes. However if you are cooking 2 trays of cookies at the same time, I cook for 6 minutes and then swap the trays over and cook for a further 6 minutes. They are cooked when they have spread out, are starting to crisp slightly on the edges and look ever so slightly underdone. They should still be soft in the middle. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

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Can I bake these cookies directly from the fridge?

Unlike many recipes, these cookies do not have to be chilled prior to baking. They can be cooked as soon as they are made. However, if you want to prepare the dough ahead of time, simply store them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and then bake them, directly from the fridge, when you are ready.

What is the best way to store these cookies?

When you store cookies, it is important to cover them and store in an airtight container. They keep well for 3 – 4 days at room temperature or 5 – 6 days in the fridge. However, if you are storing them in the fridge, remember to take them out to warm up to room temperature before you serve them.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes you can! You can freeze the cookies prior to cooking and after cooking.

Freeze prior to cooking:

One of the wonderful things about this recipe (and most cookies in general to be fair) is that you can make a big batch and freeze them uncooked, but oven ready. To freeze, place them on a baking parchment lined board or baking tray, cover with cling film and place in the freezer until solid. As soon as the dough balls are frozen, they can be transferred into labelled freezer bags or containers. They can be cooked directly from frozen. Freshly baked warm cookies on demand – what is not to like?

Cook directly from the freezer:

Bake directly from frozen, as described in the recipe. Simply allow 1 – 2 extra minutes bake time.

Freeze after cooking:

These cookies can also be frozen after you have cooked them. Freeze in labelled or sealed containers/bags for up to 3 months.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.