Hazelnut Brownie Cookies are brownie cookies with a twist. The dough itself is double chocolate and calls for cocoa powder, but the cookies have big chunks of hazelnut flavored chocolate thrown in. The hazelnut flavored chocolate was just an idea to make the cookies a little more interesting, but really these are just good brownie cookies and can be made with any type of chocolate chunks.
If you do decide to use the hazelnut chocolate, I recommend Ritter Sport or Lindt.
Dutch Cocoa Powder
When I first made these I tested with natural cocoa powder, which is acidic and helps the cookies rise more. I noted not to use Dutch or the cookies would be flat. Well, I kind of like flat cookies now so I do sometimes use Dutch process cocoa. The photo above is the latest batch. I used Ghirardelli Dutch processed.
Vegan Hazelnut Brownie Cookie Option
Believe it or not, it's pretty easy to make Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Cookies vegan. For a vegan version, use a combination of shortening and margarine in place of butter, an Egg Replacer for the one egg and go with maple syrup. And then of course use a vegan approved chocolate.
Recipe
Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (130 grams)
- ¼ cup good quality natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons slightly cold unsalted butter (114 grams)
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (50 grams)
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (40 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract maybe try adding a dash of hazelnut extract too?
- 1 large egg
- 6 oz premium dark chocolate with hazelnuts chopped into small chunks
- 1 tablespoon white sparkling sugar for garnishing
Instructions
- Mix flour, natural unsweetened cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, using high speed of an electric mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds or until slightly softened. Add both sugars and beat until creamy; beat in honey and vanilla extract. Add egg and beat just until mixed.
- Using a mixing spoon, stir in the flour mixture, being careful not to over-beat . Stir in chopped hazelnut flavored chocolate bars. Cover dough and chill for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Have ready two shiny, ungreased cookie sheets or sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Form chilled dough into balls about 1 ¼ inch. Dip tops in a tiny bit of sparkly sugar if desired. Place dough balls approximately 2 ½ inches apart on cookie sheets and bake one sheet at a time on center rack of oven for 10 minutes or until cookies appear puffed and set – do not over bake. Let cookies cool for 3 minutes on cookie sheet then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely
SuzyQT says
Don't worry Anna, I didn't skimp on the chocolate. They were quality Ghiradelli chips! Thanks again for the recipe.
Anna says
Suzy, I'm glad the marshmallows worked out. Now that you know you like the cookies, you should buy some premium chocolate and try baking it into them.
Jennifer, thanks for the tip! I will try that recipe with your changes. I think the most significant one in terms of texture and richness was the brown sugar/buttermilk thing. I wonder how brown sugar/sour cream would work?
I think what I like best about the Tex-Mex cookies and the recipe above is the cookies come out kind of fat, but are neither floury nor too rich. When you bite into one, you get the cookie, but the premium chocolate stands out.
Another thing I thought about trying was using golden syrup in place of the honey.
Jennifer Luxmoore says
I tried the Tex-Mex chocolate and they were good, but not great for me. I liked the idea so I played around with them and really like them now! I changed the cinnamon from 3 tsp to 1 tsp. I upped the chipolte from 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. I omitted the cinnamon rolling sugar. Replaced the honey with a substitute of brown sugar and a tablespoon of buttermilk and replaced the pecans with walnuts. They're richer, less cinnamony and have a little bit of a bite to them. Love them now...
SuzyQT says
I couldn't get these cookies out of my head and keep the link up on my computer all day..just so I could check back in on them to make sure my craving was still intact. So at 9pm I could take it no more and made a batch of these yummies. I, being one who can't follow a recipe exactly to save my life, added chocolate chips, walnuts/pecans, and marshmallows. Kind of rocky roadish. They are excellent. I have a little bag of them packed for snacking during opening day of the Seattle Mariner's baseball season. Won't the other baseball fans be jealous! Thanks for sharing.
bakingblonde says
I make cookies all of the time but don't seem to make chocolate cookies often enough. I may have to give these a try!