Chewy Hazelnut Cookies (Melted Butter, One Bowl)

Hazelnut Cookies

These Hazelnut Cookies are the perfect nutty flavor! You won’t be able to get over how delicious these cookies are. 

I have a hazelnut problem. It started with Nutella — because it always starts with Nutella — but then it turned into seeking out hazelnut in everything. Hazelnut coffee. Hazelnut gelato. Hazelnut brittle at the farmers market that I absolutely did not need to buy and absolutely did anyway. So eventually it was only a matter of time before I figured out how to get that flavor into a cookie.

These are the result. Chewy chocolate chip cookies with roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts and white chocolate chunks folded in — one bowl, no mixer, melted butter, two hours of chill time. The hazelnuts toast slightly as they bake and the white chocolate gets just soft enough to pool a little at the edges. They are exactly what I wanted when I started this experiment and I’ve made them more times than I can count since.

If you’re in the hazelnut fan club, you’re going to want to make these immediately.

Why You’ll Love Hazelnut Cookies

WHY THESE WORK

Melted butter = chewy, not cakey. Most cookie recipes cream softened butter with sugar, which incorporates air and produces a lighter, more cake-like texture. Melted butter does the opposite — it creates a denser, chewier cookie with that slightly fudgy center. This is the one technique swap that makes the biggest difference.

Hazelnuts + white chocolate is a real combination. Hazelnuts are earthy and slightly bitter. White chocolate is sweet and creamy. They balance each other the same way they do in European confections — each one makes the other taste more like itself. Mini chocolate chips in the mix add a third layer that keeps the sweetness from being one-note.

Chill time does the work for you. The dough goes into the fridge and comes out ready. No rolling, no shaping, no special equipment. Scoop and bake.

Ingredients

1 1⁄4 cup whole roasted hazelnuts (how to below)
9 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup sugar (1⁄2 cup white + 1⁄2 cup light brown OR 1 cup raw turbinado)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1⁄2 cup flour
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate
1⁄2 cup mini-chocolate chips

INGREDIENT NOTES

Butter: Melted and cooled to room temperature before the sugars go in. This is important — hot melted butter will partially dissolve the sugars and affect the texture. Melt it, set it aside for 10–15 minutes, then mix. Melted rather than creamed butter is the specific choice that makes these chewy rather than cakey.

Sugar: The recipe uses a mix of white and light brown, or you can use all light brown for a slightly richer, more molasses-forward result. The white sugar helps the edges crisp; the brown sugar carries moisture and depth. Either combination works — all brown just leans a little richer.

Hazelnuts: Roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts. See the roasting section above if you’re starting from raw. Chop to roughly chocolate chip size so they distribute evenly and don’t create structural issues in the cookie.

White chocolate: Use white chocolate chips or a chopped white chocolate bar. Both fold in the same way and melt similarly during baking. Avoid white chocolate “melts” or candy coating — the fat content is different and they won’t behave the same way.

Mini chocolate chips: The mini chips distribute more evenly than regular-sized chips in a smaller cookie dough. Every bite gets chocolate rather than one big pocket of it.

HOW TO MAKE THESE HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

The first thing you’re going to do is melt your butter — and then you’re going to walk away from it for 10 to 15 minutes. I know. It feels like you’re doing nothing. But this is actually the most important step in the whole recipe. Hot butter added directly to sugar starts dissolving it before you even mix, and that changes the texture of your final cookie. Let it cool until it’s warm but not hot, then you’re ready to go.

While the butter cools, if you’re roasting your hazelnuts from raw, now is the time. Spread them on a dry baking sheet, roast at 350°F for 10–12 minutes, then bundle them in a kitchen towel and rub the skins off. Once they’re cool, roughly chop them to about the size of a chocolate chip. If you’re using pre-roasted hazelnuts, just chop and set them aside — you’re already ahead.

Once the butter has cooled, add both sugars to the bowl and whisk them together until combined — about a minute. Then add your egg and vanilla and whisk again until the whole thing looks smooth and slightly thickened. This is your wet base and it comes together fast.

Now add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Switch to a spatula here and stir just until no dry flour is visible. That’s it. Stop there. Overmixing is what makes cookies tough instead of chewy, and this dough does not need much work to come together.

Then comes the fun part — fold in your chopped hazelnuts, white chocolate, and mini chocolate chips. Distribute everything evenly so every scoop of dough has a little of all three.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Overnight works great if you want to make this ahead. The dough goes in soft and comes out firm — that firmness is exactly what keeps your cookies thick in the oven instead of spreading out flat. Don’t rush this step.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Scoop the dough into balls about 1½ tablespoons each and space them 2 inches apart. If you want them to look extra bakery-worthy, press a few extra hazelnut pieces on top of each ball before they go in.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Here’s where most people second-guess themselves — the centers are going to look soft. Maybe even a little underdone. Slightly shiny. That is exactly right. Pull them at that point and leave them on the pan for 5 to 7 minutes before you touch them. They’ll finish setting up from the residual heat, and by the time you move them to a wire rack they’ll be perfectly chewy in the middle with just enough set on the outside.

That’s the whole thing. One bowl, no mixer, and a cookie that tastes like your hazelnut obsession finally found the right form.

FAQs

HOW TO ROAST HAZELNUTS

Store-bought roasted hazelnuts work fine here, but if you’re starting from raw, roasting them yourself takes about 12 minutes and noticeably deepens the flavor.

Spread raw hazelnuts in a single layer on a dry baking sheet. Roast at 350°F for 10–12 minutes, until the skins start to crack and the kitchen smells nutty. Pull them out and immediately bundle them in a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel over and rub vigorously for about 30 seconds — the friction loosens most of the papery skins. Some skin will stay on and that’s fine. You don’t need them perfectly peeled, just mostly.

Let them cool completely before chopping and adding to the dough. Warm hazelnuts will melt the white chocolate prematurely.

To chop: Roughly chop to pieces about the size of a chocolate chip. You want recognizable hazelnut pieces in each cookie — not a fine grind, not whole nuts that disrupt the texture.

Tools you may need: Baking tray, plastic wrap, parchment paper, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, heavy cream, sheet pan, clean kitchen towel, medium bowl, food processor for ground hazelnuts, wire rack, electric mixer, large bowl, cookie sheet. 

TIPS

Cool the butter completely before mixing. This comes up twice because it matters twice. Hot butter = melted sugar = wrong texture. 10–15 minutes on the counter is all it takes.

Don’t skip the chill. The dough is soft and will spread flat in the oven without it. If you’ve ever baked cookies that came out thin and crispy when you wanted thick and chewy, skipping the chill is almost always why.

Cool hazelnuts before folding in. If you just roasted them, give them a full 15–20 minutes. Warm nuts soften the white chocolate and can create a greasy, uneven dough.

Underbake slightly. Pull the cookies when the centers still look soft. They finish cooking on the hot pan during the 5-minute rest. Waiting for them to look fully set in the oven means they’ll be overdone by the time they cool.

Use a cookie scoop for consistent size. Cookies that are the same size bake evenly. Uneven scoops mean some are underdone while others are overdone on the same pan.

Press a few extra hazelnut pieces on top before baking. Optional, but it makes them look like a bakery cookie and signals what’s inside before anyone takes a bite.

If the Nutella swirl variation speaks to you, that’s the one to try first — it’s the version that started all of this. If you want something a little more sophisticated, do the espresso add. Either way, the chill time is real and non-negotiable, but it’s mostly hands-off — make the dough before you need it and bake when you’re ready. If you try these, leave a comment and let me know which mix-in combo you went with. And if you’re on a nutella streak, my No Bake Banana Nutella Cheesecake is next!

Here are some more amazing cookie recipes to try:

If you are looking for more fun cookie recipes be sure to check out this comprehensive list! The Best Cookie Recipes For Year Round Baking