Ingredients
Scale
- 2/3 cup hazelnuts
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (or more) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown and skin begins to flake off, 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely, remove skins, and blitz hazelnuts into very fine pieces in a food processor.
- In a double boiler over medium-low heat, melt chocolate chips, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula in between each addition. Mix in milk and vanilla, then add the melted chocolate and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Add flour mixture in two additions, pulsing the mixer until the dough is fully combined. Add in hazelnuts and mix until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight until firm.
- Preheat oven again to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll dough into ½-inch or ¾-inch balls, then gently press the tops with your palm to slightly flatten. Add powdered sugar to a large bowl and coat each cookie very generously with powdered sugar—this is how you achieve a clean cracked look.
- Arrange cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating halfway through baking, until the top is cracked and the dough looks slightly dry, 14-16 minutes. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
Notes
Makes 50-60 cookies