I was thrilled to see a recipe using two of my favorite ingredients-chocolate and hazelnuts. When I order gelato in Italy this is my go-to combination. I saw this recipe on Elizabeth Minchilli’s blog and had the ingredients on hand, so I didn’t hesitate to try them even though the weather really has been too hot to turn on the oven. Ahh-the sacrifices we make for baking!
I always associate hazelnuts with the Piemonte region of Italy, but when staying in my grandparents’ ancestral home of Calitri I discovered that the surrounding Campania area also grows them. Of course I had to bring a bag home with me! Use a good quality cocoa powder and you’ll have cookie that will transport you back to a pasticceria in Italy.
Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
- 1 cup of unsweetened or bittersweet cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- pinch salt
Preheat oven to 320°F
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
The hazelnuts should be halved. If your hazelnuts are whole, just stick the point of a knife into the nut at the fat, dimpled, end and the nut should break in half pretty easily. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect.
Place the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix to combine.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, and beat with a fork.
Add the eggs to the flour mixture and mix. The mixture will be very dry and stiff, don’t worry. Use your hands to finish mixing, adding the nuts at the end.
Using your hands, form irregular, raggedy, mounds, of about a tablespoon of dough each, and drop on cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. This dough is very sticky so be prepared to to scrape the dough off your fingers. I wore gloves, but honestly it didn’t help much.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Take out of oven and cool. The cookies will be very hard on the outside, and a bit moist and chewy on the inside.If making ahead, store in an airtight container. They will last for up to a week.
Some of my other hazelnut desserts:
Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Hazelnut Panna Cotta
And speaking of food and Italy …
Panini Girl In Lucca September 2020-get in touch with questions or to reserve a spot: paninigirl4@gmail.com
Panini Girl 
September 29, 2019 at 10:45 pm
These look so rich and chocolaty with just the right amount of hazelnuts – an award winning combination.