Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

Wait! Hold off on that New Year’s diet resolution! I still have two cookie recipes to share with you! I know, I should have gotten them in earlier, it’s just been such a busy holiday season.

For years and years, we always made the same cookies for the holidays (such as the forgotten meringues and fruitcake cookies), but this year I wanted to branch out and try something different. When I saw this recipe on epicurious, I knew would have to make it.

Not only was Joseph looking at the recipe and drooling on my shoulder, but one of my family’s traditional cookies is a molasses crinkle. It’s obviously a completely different flavor profile, but they’re both rolled and then doused in sugar (although the molasses crinkle is coated in granulated sugar while these are in powdered sugar) before baking, giving it that cool crinkled effect. And it just felt like it was ok to skip the old tradition if I replaced it (if only temporarily) with another crinkle cookie.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies #

Adapted from Epicurious

Makes about 7 dozen cookies

2/3 cup hazelnuts
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet
chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Place the oven rack in middle position of the oven and preheat to 350.

Toast the hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in the oven until the skins split and nuts are pale golden, about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven (go ahead and turn the oven off; you won’t be needing it again for a couple of hours) and wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub to remove any loose skins. Cool the nuts completely. Pulse the hazelnuts with the granulated sugar in a food processor until finely chopped.

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate until combined. Add the milk and vanilla, beating to combine. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in the nut mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough until it’s firm, about 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, placing them on a sheet of wax paper as rolled. Roll the dough balls in powdered sugar to coat generously and arrange them 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Place any unused dough in the fridge until you’re ready to roll again.

Bake until the cookies are puffed and cracked and the edges feel dry (but the centers are still slightly soft), 12 to 18 minutes total. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely.