Chocolate & hazelnut cookies, a really tasty and quick bake with kids.
Chocolate and hazelnut cookies, who doesn’t love them? Certainly not me, they are one of my favourite biscuits. However, I do prefer to make my own as I find shop bought just a bit too hard and really not what I want from a cookie. Also they rarely contain enough hazelnuts for me. I like my cookies loaded in hazelnuts, there should be just as much hazelnut as there are chocolate chips.
Now I’m not going to suggest for a minute that I don’t buy shop bought biscuits, I’m a busy Mum, of course I do! It’s just that there are certain things that I prefer to make myself and cookies are one such thing. On the other hand you’d never find me baking Digestive biscuits, they are perfect straight from the packet!
Cookies are a great quick and straightforward bake. There’s little effort involved in pulling together a cookie batter and after a quick bake in the oven you have a far superior biscuit to anything you can buy shop bought.
Can I bake these cookies with my kids?
This recipe is quick and simple which makes it an ideal bake with children. My kids are in the kitchen with me all the time, they enjoy getting stuck in. However, regardless of their enthusiasm, it can be short lived at times. Which is why I like to have a selection of recipes that they can prepare without any involvement from me. Recipes that don’t take too long are essential when baking with children!
These chocolate and hazelnut cookies are one such recipe, they are great for a child’s solo bake. Cookies are forgiving, there’s no uniform shape, they are not meant to be dainty.
Recipe steps:
Can I adapt the flavour in this cookie?
This recipe is simple, a basic cookie dough to which we’ve added flavours of chocolate, hazelnut and vanilla. However, as with all basic recipes the flavours can be adapted to suit your taste.
You can add any type of chocolate chips: white; milk; or dark; to this cookie mixture. If you fancy a mix of all three then mix them up to make 140g of chocolate chips.
I love adding nuts to cookies: almonds; brazil or macadamia nuts are my favourites. Dried fruits like raisin; sultanas; currants; cranberry; blueberry; all work with a basic cookie. Ramp up the fruity flavour by adding some citrus zest. When it comes to flavouring lemon; lime; or orange zest can transform a simple cookie.
That’s what I like about a basic recipe, you can play around with it and add the flavours that you enjoy and like to eat. Get creative!
For example next up I fancy trying chocolate, orange & cranberry cookies. Leaving out the vanilla and nuts, replacing them with orange extract, orange zest and of course dried cranberries. I’ll also swap the milk chocolate chips for dark chocolate.
How long with chocolate & hazelnut cookies stay fresh?
If you keep these cookies in an airtight container, they will remain fresh for up to a week. Not that they ever last that long in my house!
However, do not be tempted to refrigerate these cookies as they will go stale in the fridge.
Can I freeze chocolate & hazelnut cookies?
Rather than freeze the cookie itself, what I like to do is freeze the dough. Sometimes I make a double batch of chocolate and hazelnut cookie dough then split it into 3 portions. I bake 1 portion and freeze the other 2 for baking fresh at a later date.
Roll the dough into a log shape, wrap in clingfilm and place in a container suitable for the freezer. This means you have fresh cookie dough, ready to bake any time you fancy a sweet treat. Simply remove from the freezer, defrost and drop into rough balls, as shown above, and bake!
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Alternative recipe suggestions:
If you like this recipe then why not try our Lemon Butter Biscuits, our Custard Creams, our Ginger & Chilli Biscuits or our Spiced Christmas Cookies, great simple bakes any time of the year. These cookies are also delicious served with our Mulled Apple Juice.
If you enjoyed this bake have a look at our Ultimate Guide to Baking with Kids, full of great recipe suggestions for baking with children.
chocolate & hazelnut cookies
Ingredients
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 80 g light brown muscovado sugar
- 150 g unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 225 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 140 g milk chocolate chips
- 140 g hazelnuts
Instructions
- Place the butter and both sugars into a bowl and beat well until you get a creamy mixture.
- Meanwhile place the hazelnuts in a sealed plastic bag and bash up gently with a rolling pin to create small chunks of nut.
- Once you have beaten the butter and sugars together, beat in the vanilla extract and the egg, mixing well to combine.
- Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt to the bowl and continue to mix well until you have a rough dough.
- Add the milk chocolate chips and hazelnuts to the dough and mix until you have a well combined dough.
- Pull together small golf ball sized balls of the cookie dough and place these on a tray lined with baking parchment. Space the cookies well apart as they will spread in the oven. However do not flatten out the balls of dough.
- Once you have shaped all the cookies, you should get 25-30 cookies from this mix, place the trays in an oven at 170CFan. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, they should be a little soft in the middle.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, place them on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool. Once cool store in an airtight container.
Notes
• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
Jackie Thompson
These look gorgeous sending hubby out for hazelnuts today on the excuse he loves nuts. Can’t wait to try them . Thanks for sharing
Lesley
You’re welcome Jackie. They’re such a simple bake but very moreish. I hope you enjoy them. Lesley
Janice
I love the look of these cookies, hazelnuts have such a great taste and go really well with chocolate.
Lesley
Thank you Janice, these are my daughters favourite cookies (mine too) and easy enough that they can bake them themselves. Lesley x
Fiona
The girls made these at the weekend – half with hazelnuts and half without as one doesn’t like nuts. They were delicious!
Michelle
So pleased you and the girls enjoyed them Fiona, its one of the bakes we make a lot with our girls too. Cheers, Michelle x