I love out-of-focus photos.

When I was a teenager, I loved taking photos on a diagonal. Go figure.

But this blurry photo above does make the cookies look dreamy, doesn’t it?! Don’t they?

Well, they are!

I love love love hazelnuts. Do you?

And hazelnuts with chocolate? Even better, right?!

And what about hazelnuts with chocolate AND whipped cream? I’m speechless.

That’s the best combination ever. Well, I have already shared with you the easy Marjolaine cake recipe, remember? Did you make it? Did you? Did you?

This recipe for chocolate hazelnuts cookies caught my eye on Chez Pim’s blog and she has adapted it from David Lebovitz’s (Black and White cookies, originally published in Room for Dessert). And I have adapted it a bit too and tried a few flavor variations. They are scrumptious any way you make ‘em and very easy to make.

Dark chocolate hazelnut bites
Makes 30-40 cookies

8oz bittersweet chocolate
3 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon rum or Kaluha, optional
2 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup hazelnut, toasted in 350F oven for about 10-12 minutes, until fragrant*
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
1/3 cup granulate sugar and 1/3 cup powdered sugar for coating the cookies

Chop the chocolates into small pieces.  Melt the chocolate and butter together (with the liquor too if using.) in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals, whisking in between, until the chocolate is smooth.

In a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until they turn pale and form a ribbon, about 5 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate.

In a food processor, finely grind the nuts with the flour, and then add the baking powder and the salt. Add the ground nut mixture into the chocolate batter and mix well. Chill the batter in the fridge until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Take two small bowls, fill one for the powdered sugar and the other with granulated sugar. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop to form little batter balls (or you can use 2 teaspoons to roll the cookie batter into 1 inch balls), roll each ball in the granulated sugar and then in the powdered sugar. Place cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, at least 1 inch apart. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes, changing the top and bottom baking sheets about halfway through the baking. The cookies are done when they are slightly firm at the edges but still soft in the center.

Store the cookies in an airtight container.

NOTES:
* You can use fancy chocolate. I used Ghirardelli milk and bittersweet chocolate and it worked great.
* Hazelnuts – the second time I made these cookies, I used 1/2 cup hazelnuts meal/flour. Great shortcut.
* For variations, you can add any of those flavors: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 teaspoon hazelnuts extract, and/or 2 teaspoons coffee granules

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Categories : Cookies, Recipes