hazelnut-ty chocolate chip cookies

my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, hazelnut-ified (and ahead of the paywall)

this time last year, i published my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, one i spent years developing. you loved it (i have received so many kind messages saying it is your favorite ccc you’ve ever made), so this year i wanted to continue the tradition and present the hazelnut version of my ccc recipe (again, ahead of the paywall).

the texture inside is soft and tender while the edges are crispy, snappy, and buttery. the hazelnut comes through in the dough, and adds a beautiful flavor and scent to the cookies, turning the standard ccc up a few notches. you can add chopped hazelnuts to the dough, and stuff the inside with your preferred hazelnut chocolate spread (both optional, but both delicious - go big or go home is my motto with these).

this is quite possibly my new favorite cookie, and–with a coffee on the side–this is definitely my new favorite afternoon treat. i hope you enjoy!

ps. if hazelnuts are not your thing you can find my classic ccc recipe here.

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hazelnut-ty chocolate chip cookie recipe:

makes 21-22 cookies (portioned at 72-75g balls)

please note that this is, unfortunately, one of those recipes where you have to make the dough at least 12 hours in advance, preferably 24. the longer you let the cookies firm up in the fridge, the less they spread in the oven, creating a thicker, gooey center.

cookie ingredients:

300g chocolate (i like a mix of milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate, i use 100g of milk chocolate and 200g of bittersweet, ***do not use chocolate chips)

175g hazelnuts blanched and raw for making hazelnut flour (if not using blanched hazelnuts, you will need to rub the hazelnuts between a kitchen towel to remove the bitter skin, you will do this after toasting)

35g cornstarch

175g all-purpose flour

175g cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

225g butter cool-ish room temperature (68f is the ideal temp.)

250g dark brown sugar

125g white sugar

50g corn syrup (can be replaced with 65g white sugar, but the cookie will be less moist)

2 tsp diamond crystal kosher salt (or 6g salt of choice)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

optional cookie additions

an additional 75g hazelnuts blanched and raw (these are for adding to the cookie dough for texture)

200-240g hazelnut chocolate spread

equipment

stand mixer preferably or electric hand mixer (this will be a real arm workout)

blender or electric spice grinder

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toast your nuts!

before starting on the dough it is essential to toast the nuts for the best flavor.

set the oven to 325f. place your hazelnuts for the dough (175g) + hazelnuts for the cookies (if you’re adding them, an additional 75g) on a lined baking sheet. bake for 11-15 minutes until smelling fragrant and looking toasted.

it’s totally fine to add the nuts to the oven as it preheats, it just may take a bit longer, so be sure to keep your eye (and nose) on the oven.

once they’re done, set them aside and let them cool. if you did not use blanched hazelnuts, you will now need to rub the hazelnuts between a kitchen towel to remove the skin.

if you are adding hazelnuts to the dough, take 75g of the hazelnuts and very roughly chop them on a cutting board (i like to just halve/quarter them). set them aside.

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chocolate! optional

this step is not essential, but i like to melt my chocolate, pour and spread it into a thin sheet, and then break it into shards before adding it to the cookie dough. this results in 1) chocolate in every bite and 2) (if eaten at room temperature) no big hard pieces of chocolate, but pieces that melt in your mouth along with the rest of the cookie. the ideal texture and flavor experience (imho). this is a totally optional step, and if you don’t want to do it, feel free to skip it and just dice up your chocolate into chunks.

if you would like to melt the chocolate, start by placing your chocolate in a heat-safe bowl (if you are using a combo of milk and semisweet chocolate i like to do one first and then the other, not both at the same time). place the bowl over a double boiler to melt the chocolate (or melt it in the microwave at 30-second intervals for the first minute, and then 15-second intervals until it melts, stirring at each interval).

once melted, pour the chocolate onto a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat (if you are using two kinds of chocolate, combine them before pouring). then spread the chocolate with a spatula to form a sheet about 1/8” thick. place it in the freezer to set it while you make the cookie dough.

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hazelnut chocolate spread! optional

take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.

if you have a 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, dip it into the hazelnut spread, level the top, and dollop 22 portions onto your parchment-lined cookie sheet.

if you do not have a 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, do what i did: place your parchment-lined baking sheet on your kitchen scale, dip a spoon into the hazelnut chocolate spread, and then use another spoon to dollop off what you would imagine a 1/2 tablespoon to be. check the number on the scale, you are looking for something between 9-11g. repeat this 22 times, it’s annoying at first but once you get the hang of it, it will be easier.

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cookie dough (finally)!

grab your blender or electric spice grinder and add your cornstarch. then add 175g of the toasted hazelnuts (if you use an electric spice grinder you may need to do this in 2 batches). pop on the lid and give it a good shake to coat all of the hazelnuts in your cornstarch. then blend for about 10 seconds. turn off the blender, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and blend for another 10 seconds. keep doing this until you have finely ground hazelnuts (think hazelnut flour). you need to make sure you turn off the blender and scrape down the sides, otherwise, you may end up with hazelnut butter. a bit of hazelnut butter is fine, but we want that flour consistency.

place your ground hazelnuts and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl, add your all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and whisk thoroughly to combine (do not skip this step!). set aside.

in a large bowl or stand-mixer bowl, add your butter, brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, and salt. beat with a hand mixer or paddle attachment until light and fluffy. beat until most of the sugar crystals have dissolved and the butter/sugars are significantly lighter in texture and color (you will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least 3 times during this process to get an even mix).

add in the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. beat until fully combined and light and fluffy. scrape down the edges of the bowl one more time.

next, add in all of your flour mixture. use a large spoon (or your paddle attachment if you are using a stand mixer) and mix until most–but not all–of the flour has been combined into the dough (you want some streaks and clumps). remove the chocolate from the fridge/freezer, break it into shards, and add it (or your chopped chocolate) to the mixing bowl. add in your chopped toasted hazelnuts if using. finish mixing in the flour and incorporating the chocolate – this should be brief, around 15-30 seconds of mixing (we don’t want to activate the gluten too much). however, be thorough and make sure to remove any flour pockets and scrape any butter/sugar bits down from the sides of the bowl.

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portion!

i like to portion the dough into 72-75g balls (if you like forming your dough with an ice cream scoop, this is about a ¼ cup). you can portion to whatever size you're comfortable with but do note that the size will affect the total bake time.

i portion by placing the bowl of dough on a kitchen scale, taring it, and then removing 72-75g of dough at a time. i form the dough into balls using my hands and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

if you’re adding the hazelnut chocolate spread: remove it from the freezer, and–working quickly–flatten each ball of dough, peel off a portion of the hazelnut chocolate spread, and place it in the center of the flattened cookie dough. push the dough up and around the spread. make sure all the hazelnut chocolate spread is encased so it doesn’t leak out when you bake. repeat with all your dough.

once done, wrap the baking sheet in cling film, and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours to set up.

if you only want to bake a few cookies at a time, you can wait until the dough has set up in the fridge and then transfer any remaining cookie dough balls to a freezer-safe bag and freeze. remove dough from the freezer and bake off as directed below.

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bake!

preheat the oven to 350f. once preheated, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place five cookie dough balls, evenly spaced.

place the sheet in the middle rack of the oven and set a timer for 8 minutes (if baking from frozen add two additional minutes of cooking time). after the timer goes off, rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees (i love to give the sheet one hard slam on the counter to get the cookies to spread and crackle a bit more), and then bake for another 6-7 minutes. at this point, check on the cookies: they should be browned on the edges and top, with some cracking, and a slight puff. if not, (i like to again give the cookies a single slam on the oven rack to get extra crackles) cook for another 1-2 minutes until the cookies have browned and puffed up.

remove your baking sheet from the oven and carefully slide the parchment paper and cookies onto your kitchen counter.

optional: within a minute or so of removing them from the oven, place a bowl, large cookie/biscuit cutter, or any round item, around each cookie to get them into a uniform circle. use your wrist and move the bowl in a circular motion to form the cookie and push the edges.

let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before eating. enjoy!