Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies Recipe
I’m all set for Super Bowl Sunday, so I am skipping ahead to Valentine’s Day. I really want to pull together a special dinner for my family. I may take out some items to support our local restaurants which have just reopened in my area, after months of a total closure. And then make a special meal at home. A little of both sounds like the plan.
I will be making these vegan hazelnut cookies for sure because:
- chocolate;
- Hubs and Mr. Picky are very plant-based right now (no eggs or dairy);
- my daughter Anna has an almond allergy, but hazelnuts work well;
- I can make the batter several days ahead and bake fresh on Valentine’s Day = warm cookies;
- and …chocolate!
Hazelnuts and chocolate are a classic combo that will never go out of style. Nutella was my first hazelnut-chocolate experience as a little girl and I cold not believe something so delicious existed. I still think Nutella is beyond tasty, but I can’t justify all the ultra-processed ingredients when I can get that same flavor combo in other, higher quality ways. No judgment if you eat Nutella. We all have our favorite fun foods, but I don’t feel awesome after I eat it, so I’ll put chocolate and hazelnuts together on my own.
This recipe is a tweak on my very famous vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’ve done a few iterations of that recipe and they all feel like completely unique cookies. My favorite might be the vegan peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in my cookbook, Quicker Than Quick. I eat the batter! Which means you can eat this batter, too!
I want give you my honest opinion about the hazelnut component of this recipe though. I have found that hazelnuts can go rancid quickly. How do you know if your hazelnuts are rancid? They don’t taste good. They have an off smell. I store mine in the freezer as soon as I bring them home from the market. And I also prefer whole hazelnuts to pre-ground meal. I know, I know. I am showing a bag of Thrive Market hazelnut meal here. I was taking the easy way out, but whole hazelnuts have a fresher flavor.
I think what could make these cookies even better than how I made them is with big, flat chocolate pieces or chunks to create pools of melty, soft chocolate. I had chips, and pandemic living has trained me to use what I have and not think twice about it. I still ate the uncooked batter, and it was still delicious.
If hazelnuts aren’t your thing, or you don’t have them, use another nut. I recently discovered a company called Nature’s Eats (not sponsored) on walmart.com and they have several different nut flours such as cashew, pecan and walnut. They all seem very fresh and I am storing them in my garage fridge. You could also take candy-coated chocolate like Unreal Candy (also not sponsored) and pick out the pink and purple ones in place of the chocolate chips. That could be really cute for Valentine’s Day! You could also drizzle these with melted chocolate afterwards. Can you tell I am fond of chocolate?
Let me know if you make these! They were a huge hit in my classes last February, the last full month I taught in-person classes. Sigh. Just tag me @pamelasalzman #pamelasalzman and I’ll repost the ones I see! XOXO
You can shop the tools I used for this recipe by clicking on the images below:
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons oat flour (see Step #2)
- 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt or fine grain sea salt
- 2 cups roasted and skinned hazelnuts (preferably unsalted) or 2 ½ cups hazelnut meal*
- 3 Tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or hazelnut liquor such as Frangelico
- ½ cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
- Line 2 baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.
- If you need to make oat flour, place 1 ½ cups rolled oats in a food processor and process until powdery.
- Place oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Place hazelnuts in a food processor and blend into a fine meal. Add oil, maple syrup and vanilla and process until mixture has the consistency of natural nut butter.
- Stir hazelnut mixture into flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. CHILL BATTER FOR AT LEAST 30 MINUTES.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Use a 1 ¾ -inch ice cream scooper to form dough into balls, and place on baking sheets. Do not place cookies too close to each other since they will spread when they bake. You can fit 10 on a sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes or until cookies begin to crisp around the edges and tops look dry.
- Cool a few minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely
20 Comments
how do i make these with regular flour, do you know the amount?
You can try using 1 cup of regular flour in place of the oat flour.
how long does the batter last in the fridge? also they were amazing this is a perfect recipe <333
At least a week since there is nothing in the batter that will make it go bad.
So happy you enjoyed them! These are great as cookie dough bites as well.
Um, has anyone noticed the uncooked dough makes INCREDIBLE bliss balls? Delicious. Would love to make a little healthier though–as in less sugar.
That’s a great idea! I can’t remember if I’ve tried making this recipe with less sweetener, but you can try. Just wondering if the dough will be too dry if you cut too much on the sweetener.
How long can I keep the dough in the fridge and can I freeze it to take out later for warm cookies?
Just store it in the fridge in a tight container with as little air on the top as possible and it can last up to 5 days without drying out. For sure it freezes well. Same thing – no air. I like to form a cookie dough log and wrap it tightly and slice and bake or you can freeze individual cookie dollops.
Can you use quick oats to make oat flour or real oats are better?
Any kind of oats can be used to make oat flour.
think it can work with almond flour. not oat?
My guess is no because it would be all nut flour, but it’s hard to say since I haven’t tried it.
Do you think these could be make with the leftover nut pulp from nut milk?
Possibly. Nut pulp will have more moisture than the hazelnut meal so you may have to check them earlier. It’s worth trying.
I’ve been looking for a recipe to use some hazelnut meal a friend sent to me (she had no need for I guess?). Anyway, I am going to try this – thank you!! We leave for a two month trip in the Airstream in a few days, and I bet these will be perfect for the road. Thank you!!
Meri – Would love to hear any tips you have after trying them – if you have a minute. I’d like to made several batches for Valentine’s Day. Thanks! (Jealous of your Airstream trip!) Jill
They are delicious! Mine didn’t spread, so I didn’t need to worry about spacing them too much. My husband likes them too – not sure if they’ll make it to our trip. I might need to make another batch before we leave:)
Thanks so much! Enjoy the trip.
Thank you, and made a second batch today!
These will be the perfect treat. Enjoy!