Home · Recipes · Desserts & Baking · Cookies Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies Author: Maryanne CabreraPublished: Dec 9, 2015Updated: Jul 16, 2024 View Recipe10 ReviewsThis post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy. These chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies are perfect for holiday cookie boxes. They’re a little crunchy, a little chewy, and packed with just enough chocolate! Table of Contents Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint CookiesMore Hazelnut Chocolate RecipesChocolate Hazelnut ThumbprintsView moreView less As a child, I made Santa cookies every year. I baked the only cookies I knew how to make: soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies. Come Christmas Eve, I would camp out in front of the fireplace in hopes to get a glimpse of Santa. Obviously, I failed every year. The cookies would be eaten with no sign of the man in red, asides from the gifts he would leave behind. I should have known better. Those soft, chewy cookies were to blame. I should have made cookies with a crunch. If I had made these chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies, I might have met Santa! Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies Perhaps these cookies would be more appropriately named thumbprint crunch cookies. The turbinado sugar and roughly ground hazelnuts create an awesome bite on the outside of the cookie. The crunchy exterior is balanced with the sweet and silky chocolate ganache center. These cookies start off like any other thumbprint cookie. However, after rolling, the balls of dough get a little bath in a foamy egg white mixture and then are coated in the crunchy hazelnuts. Once the cookies have completely cooled, they’re filled with chocolate. I used a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, but you can also simply spoon the ganache into the cookie cavities. And if you’ve had enough chocolate this holiday season, go ahead and swap in your favorite jam instead. These new thumbprints are little more upscale. They’re a little more grown up. Plus, the combination of chocolate and hazelnut is a sure-fire winner. More Hazelnut Chocolate Recipes Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Tart Baked Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Donuts Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprints No ratings yet A delightful crunchy and flavorful cookie featuring rich, nutty hazelnuts and luscious chocolate ganache. These thumbprint cookies are popular for holiday baking and special occasions. Yield: makes about 2 dozen Prep Time: 20 minutes minutesCook Time: 20 minutes minutesDough Chill Time: 1 hour hourTotal Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes Servings: 24 Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Ingredients▢ ½ cup unsalted butter room temp▢ ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt▢ ½ cup granulated sugar▢ 1 large egg separated▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract▢ 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour▢ ½ cup toasted hazelnuts skinned, roughly ground▢ 3 Tablespoon turbinado sugarChocolate Filling:▢ 1 cup dark chocolate finely chopped▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter Instructions Beat butter and salt until smooth. Add sugar and mix until incorporated. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add flour and stir until dough comes together.*Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.Toss together roughly ground hazelnuts and turbinado sugar. Set aside. Whisk egg white until foamy and set aside.Scoop tablespoons of the chilled cookie dough. Roll into a ball. Dip cookie ball into egg whites and then coat in hazelnut-sugar mixture. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookie balls about 2-inches apart. Indent the center of the cookie ball with your thumb or the bottom of a wooden spoon.Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and indent the center of the cookie ball once again. Continue to bake for another 6-8 minutes until the edges of the cookie are golden brown and set.Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.To make chocolate filling: Gently melt chocolate over a double boiler. Once chocolate has melted, remove from heat. Add butter and stir until butter has melted. Allow to chocolate to cool and slightly thicken. Transfer chocolate filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. When cookies have completely cooled, pipe chocolate filling into the cookie cavities. Enjoy immediately, or allow chocolate to set up. Notes *If dough seems crumbly, knead with your hands until soft and pliable. INSPIRED FROM MARTHA STEWART’S COOKIES (HAZELNUT JAM COOKIES) NutritionCalories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 81mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 162IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg Author: Maryanne Cabrera Course: DessertCuisine: American Did you make this recipe?Show us on Instagram! Tag @littleepicurean and hashtag #littleepicurean. Disclosure: I received free product from Imperial Sugar, Dixie Crystals and Bob’s Red Mill as part of The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange. As always, all opinions and recipe are my own.
Heather (Delicious Not Gorgeous) says: December 9, 2015 i love the idea of rolling the thumbprints in hazelnuts and raw sugar! whenever i don’t put nuts in a dessert, someone in my family inevitably tells me that nuts would make it even better, so these sound perfect (: Reply
Heather | Heather Likes Food says: December 10, 2015 These are a great sweet to give to friends and neighbors! Im excited! Reply
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says: December 10, 2015 I’ve always been partial to thumbprint cookies and yours look fantastic! Reply
Jenny | Honey and Birch says: December 10, 2015 These are the prettiest thumbprint cookies I have ever seen! Reply
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says: December 11, 2015 What adorable cookies! You really can’t go wrong with chocolate + hazelnut. Love the cute little dollops of chocolate filling! Reply
Carrie @Frugal Foodie Mama says: December 11, 2015 These cookies sound fabulous! I mean, hello?? Chocolate and hazelnut= delicious! And what an amazing giveaway! :) Fingers crossed I win! Reply
Michelle | A Latte Food says: December 11, 2015 What a fun giveaway! And these cookies look amazing! Reply
Michelle @ The Complete Savorist says: December 14, 2015 These thumbprints are perfect! and Choc-hazelnut…more perfect. Reply