These hazelnut shortbread cookies are a deliciously buttery treat with a nutty twist. Made with hazelnuts for extra flavor, they’re crisp yet delicate, and perfect for pairing with a cup of coffee or tea.
They make a great Christmas gift, but they’re perfect for any time of year really...there’s no season for these, hehe! Just like my other cookies (linked below), they’re SUPER simple to make. I bet you'll love them, and they might just become your new favorite cookies too!
But hey, I think you should also try my chocolate orange shortbread cookies and lemon shortbread cookies. Perfect for your Christmas Cookie Box.
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Ingredients + The "Secret" To Delicious Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
I'll be concise: there's one "secret" to make these delicious hazelnut shortbread cookies, and that is adding actual ground hazelnuts into the dough.
If you remember, in my shortbread cookies with chocolate, orange and brandy I added orange zest and brandy into the dough, to flavor it. My simple lemon shortbread cookies instead had lemon zest and vanilla extract (again, into the dough).
Well, these simply have hazelnuts (with no skin) that I blended with a food processor until I got a thin meal (then added a couple tablespoons of my all purpose flour and ground a few more seconds). I LOVE the extra depth of flavor they gave to the shortbread dough!
The rest of ingredients instead are simply:
- Flour: I use 00 flour for a finer, more delicate texture. You can easily substitute with all-purpose flour. However, I recommend avoiding whole wheat flour for this recipe, as it could affect the delicate, crumbly texture that makes shortbread so special.
- Cocoa powder: This adds a subtle chocolatey richness that pairs beautifully with the hazelnuts.
- Icing sugar: This keeps the shortbread smooth and helps create that signature melt-in-your-mouth texture. Granulated sugar can make the dough too gritty, so stick (highly recommend!!!) with powdered sugar for this recipe.
- Unsalted butter: For that classic buttery shortbread taste (we're adding salt into the dough no worries). Doesn't have to be at room temperature.
- Egg: Of course. This binds everything together and adds a bit of richness to the dough.
Step By Step Instructions
Just like the other shortbread cookies from the series, these are simple and follow the same method.
You know how it works: basic recipe for the dough, we are just going to change flavour (check out the choco-brandy-orange cookies here, and lemon ones here). Tip: to make the cookie dough I usually use a food processor or stand mixer*, in this case the first.
- First step here is to grind the hazelnuts (or toasted hazelnuts) with a small food processor, until you get a meal. First at low speed then high.Then add a couple tablespoons of flour (to absorb some of the oils), then grind again.
- Into a bigger food processor, add hazelnut meal, all purpose flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, egg, unsalted butter (for more tender cookies use it at room temperature), salt and blend until you get a crumbly texture.
- Place dough on a work surface (or straight onto some plastic wrap) and gently (but quickly) work with your hands until you get a nice dough.
- Flatten the soft dough with your hands, then cover with plastic wrap and let chill into the fridge for about 30 minutes or more, if needed.
- Take chilled dough out of the fridge and, using a rolling pin, roll it out onto a well floured surface. If it's too sticky, dust well.
- Cut your cookies: I've used a round cookie cutter and a linzer cookies cutter with a star in the middle (or you can just use a round one)
- Arrange them on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then let them chill into the fridge for about 10 minutes or a bit more.
- This will allow them to hold their shape.
- Bake your hazelnut shortbread cookies for about 14 minutes (it depends on your oven, keep an eye on them), at 180° C / 355° F (place cookie sheets in the center of oven - if needed bake the two trays of cookies separately).
- Let them cool down completely on a wire rack, then fill with spread (or melted chocolate) and put another cookie on top to form a sandwich.
*If using a stand mixer, grind the hazelnuts and then put all the ingredients into the large or medium bowl of the mixer, then use paddle attachment to combine the ingredients at low then medium speed. Use a spatula to remove the dough (also from the bottom of the bowl), then cover with plastic wrap.
Filling Tip
Choose a high-quality hazelnut spread for these cookies. The one I used was made with 50% hazelnuts, and the first ingredient listed was hazelnuts, not sugar. Unfortunately, many store-bought spreads have sugar as the main ingredient.
This is an important tip. Indeed if sugar is the first ingredient, the flavor can easily become overly sweet and overwhelming, especially since we’re already adding powdered sugar to the dough. A good spread with a high hazelnut % will enhance the nutty flavor without being too sugary!
Notes - "Can I use hazelnut flour?"
I haven't tested it, but my guess is that you can. My tip is that you use high quality flour otherwise flavor won't be that detectable.How to store hazelnut shortbread cookies
Storing Tips
These cookies usually don’t last more than a day around here...my boyfriend’s coworkers are avid dessert lovers (I'm so happy they enjoy all my sweets, hehe!).
If you want to save some of these chocolate hazelnut shortbread cookies for later, I highly recommend storing them in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
If you’re shipping them into a cookie box, use food-safe plastic bags and seal them well! The great thing about shortbread cookies is that they last for days, so they’re perfect for gifting or enjoying over time.
Instead, if you keep these for yourself (can't blame you), enjoy them ASAP and...pair them with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk... and savor every bite!
If you make this shortbread cookie recipe, please be sure to give it a rating and leave a comment! It would make me so happy! 🙂
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons Organic all purpose flour - 260 g
- ½ cup (little less) Hazelnuts - 50 g
- 1 teaspoon Cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt - 2 g
- ⅔ cup Powdered sugar - 100 g
- 8.5 tablespoons High quality unsalted butter - 120 g
- 1 Egg
- Good quality hazelnut spread
Instructions
- First grind hazelnuts, until you get a meal. Then add a couple tablespoons of flour (to absorb some of the oils), then grind again.
- Into a food processor, add your ground hazelnuts, all purpose flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder (for color), egg, unsalted butter, salt and blend until you get a crumbly texture.
- Put dough on a work surface (or straight onto some plastic wrap) and gently but quickly work with your hands until you get a nice dough. Then flatten it with your hands, cover with clingfilm and let chill into the fridge for about 30 minutes or more, if needed.
- Take dough out of the fridge, and roll the dough out onto a well floured surface. If it's too sticky, dust well.
- Shape your cookies using your favorite cookie cutters, then arrange them on prepared baking sheets (lined with parchment paper)
- Let chill into the fridge for about 10 minutes or a bit more. In the meantime, preheat the oven at 180°C / 355° F
- Bake for about 14 minutes, they are ready when you can smell a delicious nutty flavor.
- Let cool down completely, then fill with hazelnut spread and form a sandwich.
© Healthy Little Cravings – Roberta Dall’Alba.
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