Chocolate, Hazelnut and Oat Cookies
soft and crumbly dark chocolate and hazelnut cookies
Vegan Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut and Oat Cookies
Whoever decided that chocolate and hazelnuts belong together is a genius..! These cookies are so yummy- the perfect combination of nutty and chocolatey.
Some notes before you begin:
FLAX EGGS
Flax eggs are a great egg substitute which are made from ground flaxseeds and water. These help to bind together your dry ingredients and work as a great leavening agent in baking. If you have whole flaxseeds simply grind them before using. To create 1 flax egg, add 3 tbsp of hot water to 1tbsp of flax meal and mix. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Once the mixture thickens, the flax egg is ready.
If you don’t have flax seeds, you can also use chia seeds to make a chia egg as an egg replacement. The measurements are exactly the same as they are for the flax egg.
WHICH CHOCOLATE SHOULD YOU USE?
It’s really important that you use a high quality chocolate that you love as it will determine the taste of your cookie. I went for a vegan dark chocolate with 74% cocoa, but feel free to use any of your choice. Chopping chocolate into chunks is best as chunks spreads better than chocolate chips, giving you that delicious mouthful of chocolate every time you take a bite.
ROOM TEMPERATURE BUTTER
You must use room temperature butter for this recipe. The best way to soften your butter is by cutting the butter into smaller cubes and letting it sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes before using it.
COCONUT SUGAR
I decided to use coconut sugar in this recipe as it has some nutritional value and is less processed than regular sugar. However, you can easily swap this for the same amount of regular sugar. If you use 100% white sugar, the cookie will be less soft, lighter in colour and a little flatter/spread out. I recommend using a mix of white and brown sugar, using 50% of each.
WHY CHILL THE DOUGH?
It’s important to chill the dough before baking, as this helps the flavours to develop and allows the cookies to retain their texture. It also prevents the cookies from spreading too much when baking! I’d recommend chilling them for at least 30 minutes before baking, the longer you chill, the better texture you get.
You can also freeze your cookie dough balls and make them at a later date. All you have to do is make your cookie dough balls, put them into a zip lock bag and store them in the freezer. Bake as many cookies as you want in one go and leave the rest in the freezer to bake later.
CAN THESE COOKIES BE MADE NON-VEGAN?
Absolutely. You can simply substitute the vegan unsalted butter and chocolate with normal butter and chocolate. You can also use white or brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. All measurements will be the same.
Chocolate, Hazelnut And Oat Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start by preparing the oats and hazelnuts, blend these one at a time in a food processor and keep them separate. Blend the rolled oats slightly but do not blend them into a flour as you still want to retain that oaty texture in your cookies. Grind the hazelnuts until they are ‘crushed’ not fine.
- In a small bowl, prepare the flax egg by combining 3 tbsp of hot water with 1 tbsp of flaxseed meal. Set aside to thicken for at least 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and coconut sugar until soft and creamy. An electric hand mixer is most efficient however you can do this manually using a hand whisk.
- Add the vanilla extract and flax egg to the butter and sugar mixture. Whisk until combined but do not over mix.
- Slowly add the blended oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to the wet mixture. Mix until just combined. Add the crushed hazelnuts and chopped chocolate. Bring together to form a dough. Ensure that all of the ingredients are completely combined.
- Place the cookie dough in the fridge for at least an hour. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with non-stick greaseproof/parchment paper and leave aside. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
- Once the dough has chilled, using an ice-cream scoop or your hands, scoop evenly sized balls of the dough and place them onto the lined baking tray. Space these out at least 2 inches apart to ensure that the cookies don’t stick together when baking.
- Press some extra chocolate chunks onto each cookie dough ball to get those chocolate pools and bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. Be very careful not to over bake as the texture of these cookies is so important. They should be golden brown around the edges and paler at the centre when done (this is what makes them chewy). Let the cookies cool down for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack
Storage:
- These cookies can be stored in an airtight container and kept up to 3 days.
- The cookie dough balls can be stored in the freezer for up to a month and baked when you’re craving them!
If you enjoyed this recipe leave a comment below!
