Description
Chocolatey and packed with crunchy hazelnuts, these Nutella crinkle cookies are thick and soft-baked, and stuffed with a little extra Nutella in the middle for good measure! Filling the cookies is optional—see Notes.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 Tablespoons (10g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (225g) Nutella
- 3/4 cup (94g) chopped hazelnuts
For Filling & Rolling
- 1/3 cup (100g) Nutella
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed to sift on top
Instructions
- Optional toast the hazelnuts: This first step is optional, but I highly recommend it for best hazelnut flavor. Spread the chopped hazelnuts on a lined baking sheet. Bake in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 5–7 minutes, or until slightly darkened. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before using in the dough in step 4.
- Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated. Add the Nutella, then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined. Add the chopped hazelnuts and beat on low until incorporated. The cookie dough will be very thick, soft, and sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this soft cookie dough.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl and the confectioners’ sugar in another bowl, for rolling. Set aside.
- Shape & fill the dough: After chilling in the refrigerator, the cookie dough will be very crumbly and that’s ok. The warmth of your hands quickly makes the dough workable. Scoop dough and roll into balls, a very scant Tablespoon (17g) of dough each. Make an indent with your finger or thumb in the center of each dough ball, and pinch and mold until they resemble small “bowls.” Add a scant 1/2 teaspoon of Nutella into the indent of half of the dough “bowls.” Place the other (empty) bowl-shaped pieces of dough over the top of the Nutella-filled pieces, and gently pinch the sides together to seal. Gently roll each of the stuffed dough balls in your hands to smooth out into a nice round ball.
- Coat the dough balls: Roll the cookie dough ball first in the granulated sugar, then very generously in the confectioners’ sugar. (Altogether, each filled and sugared dough ball should weigh about 40g.) Place the dough balls 3 inches apart on the lined baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 11–12 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You’ll notice the confectioners’ sugar coating is quite sticky while the cookies are warm, and it may absorb into the cookie a bit. The coating may take on a yellow tint because of this. You can use a sieve to sift a little more confectioners’ sugar on top once the cookies have cooled, for a fresh white coating.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Unbaked filled and shaped cookie dough balls (that are not coated in sugars) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes, and then proceed with step 7. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial. Baked and cooled cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Why an extra egg yolk? You need 1 whole egg, plus 1 extra egg yolk. Why? When covering in sugar, and to obtain the crinkle look, I needed the dough to spread a bit more, and so I added an extra egg yolk. An extra egg yolk adds rich softness, too.
- Hazelnuts: I recommend using pre-chopped hazelnuts, but if whole hazelnuts are all you have, I strongly recommend chopping by hand rather than using a food processor. In recipe testing, using a food processor resulted in unevenly sized pieces of hazelnuts; the finer-ground hazelnuts caused the dough to become too dry. If you want to omit the nuts entirely, you will need to replace them with the same amount of mini or regular-size chocolate chips, to prevent the cookies from overspreading.
- Confectioners’ sugar melting into cookies: Be sure to coat the dough balls in granulated sugar first, and then very heavily in confectioners’ sugar. After baking, the confectioners’ sugar can still melt into the cookie a bit—and I find that’s just because Nutella is so greasy and can absorb it. The cookies will be pretty sticky when warm because of this, and have a yellow tint. To fix this, I like to use a sieve to sift a little more confectioners’ sugar on top once the cookies have cooled.
- If you don’t want to fill these cookies: My team and I tested this. Scoop and roll balls of chilled dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of dough each (this medium cookie scoop works well), then continue with step 7. Yield is about 36 cookies.
Keywords: Nutella crinkle cookies