double hazelnut chocolate chunk cookies
with hazelnut praline pieces and a chocolate hazelnut swirl
the idea for these cookies came to me after watching clarie saffitz make a paris-brest on youtube. i’d made cookies with roughly chopped hazelnut praline in them before, but watching that video made me wonder what would happen if both a blended and chopped hazelnut praline met up in a chocolate chip cookie. little did i know how that innocent thought would lead me down a rather long road of development.
the beginning of my journey started with making my own hazelnut praline, reserving half in bite-size pieces and processing half with a little bit of hazelnut butter to make a a praline paste. i could already tell that my food processor wasn’t powerful enough to make a really smooth paste, but decided to go ahead and use it anyway. i mixed both the pieces and paste into a base chocolate chip cookie dough and, unfortunately, it turned into a crumbly mess. i pressed the dough together the best i could before chilling and baking, and while the cookies tasted okay, their texture was giving less cookie, more clod of sandy dirt.
so i made them again, this time using a base dough that relied on browned instead of softened butter, thinking the warm butter might help emulsify the mixture and create a more cohesive, less gritty dough; i was wrong. so, freezer stocked with frozen balls of failed cookies, i decided to shelve the recipe completely. that was in march.
come november, cookies were again on my mind (as they tend to be every year around this time), and i knew i wanted to publish a few in december. i looked through my backlog of recipes and when i came across these double hazelnut ones, i felt determined to pick back up and make them happen.
i made a new base chocolate chip cookie recipe with more fat thanks to an additional egg and decided to simply try swirling in a store-bought chocolate hazelnut spread instead of forcing the homemade praline paste. they were great, and after one more final test, i got the end result i imagined back in the spring. the cookies are recognizably classic as chocolate chip cookies, aren’t too sweet, have nuttiness and an extra crunch from the toasty, sugar coated hazelnuts and a balancing bitterness from the bittersweet chocolate. in the end, i think my efforts (even across such a large span of time) paid off.
if you’re a hazelnut person, these cookies will make your day. if you’re not, feel free to adapt with your favorite nut and corresponding butter. here are some options i think would work well:
almonds and cinnamon almond butter
peanuts and chocolate or dark roast peanut butter
cashews and chocolate cashew butter
makes 28 cookies
for the hazelnut praline
50 grams toasted, skinned hazelnuts (i like these from nut perfect [gifted but not sponsored]; you can also buy raw hazelnuts, toast and skin them yourself)
80 grams sugar
for the cookies
225 grams unsalted, softened butter
200 grams brown sugar
150 grams granulated sugar
2 large eggs
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (substitute: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
300 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
200 grams bittersweet chocolate (at least 70% cacao, i personally like a mix of 70% and 80% for these)
3 tablespoons chocolate hazelnut spread (use a sweetened one like nutella or an unsweetened one like this one from cravers; they both work)
flaky salt
spread the hazelnuts in an even layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet or tray; try to keep the hazelnuts close together. add sugar to a saucepan and set over medium-low heat. swirl the pan gently every so often until the sugar is dissolved and uniformly deep amber in color, about 5 - 7 minutes. remove the pan from the heat and quickly pour the caramelized sugar over the hazelnuts. let rest for 15 minutes, or until completely hardened; to speed this process up you can also let it chill in the fridge while you start the cookie dough. once cooled and hardened, roughly chop into small pieces.
add butter to a large mixing bowl (i like to use a stand mixer here, but you can use an electric hand mixer or beat by hand). add both sugars and beat on medium to medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. add vanilla bean seeds and mix to combine, then add in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
roughly chop chocolate, setting some aside for topping the cookies. fold into the dough with the hazelnut praline pieces, then dollop the chocolate hazelnut spread on top of the dough and use long circular motions to streak the hazelnut spread through the dough a few times, not completely mixing it in; this technique is something i first saw from eric kim’s gochujang caramel cookies for nyt cooking, and he does a great job showing this motion here, but you can also watch how i do it in the reel for this recipe here. it doesn’t have to be perfect, you just don’t want to mix it into the dough too much.
use an ice cream scoop (mine is 5 cm / 2 inches about 1.5 ounce portions) to scoop the cookie dough into balls onto a baking sheet or a large plate that will fit in your fridge. top each cookie with a piece or two of the reserved chopped chocolate. loosely cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to 48 hours; i think they do get better after resting at least 24 hours, but it’s up to you. once chilled, you can freeze the cookies for up to 3 months in a resealable freezer bag; bake from frozen for 12 - 14 minutes.
when ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C/375°F. transfer cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of space around each cookie, then bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until set and golden around the edges but still a bit shiny and loose in the center.
remove from the oven and use an overturned round bowl, cup or cookie cutter to swirl them into an even shape (if desired), then sprinkle with flaky salt and let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. because of the hazelnut praline, they may stick a bit more than regular cookies, so use a thin metal spatula to loosen them before transferring. baked cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days but, as with most cookies, they really are best the day they’re baked.