These delicious Nutella thumbprint cookies are rolled in chopped hazelnuts and filled with Nutella ganache! These chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies are easy to make but look so impressive. I love making them for cookie gift boxes at Christmas, but they're perfect all year round! This easy cookie recipe is seriously perfect for Nutella lovers (which is me!)
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I think we all know by now that I'm a huge Nutella lover - give me anything chocolate hazelnut flavored! From my Nutella filled cake to Nutella baked oats and Nutella cupcakes, I can't get enough of Nutella recipes. Even my chocolate filled cookies and peanut butter Nutella cookies are stuffed with it!
I knew I had to make a Nutella thumbprint cookie. Of course, I wanted the cookie to be chocolate and filled with a Nutella ganache, but I wanted to bring even more hazelnut flavor to these thumbprint cookies. So I rolled each cookie dough ball in chopped roasted hazelnuts! This is such a fun and delicious twist on a classic thumbprint cookie.
These simple thumbprint cookies look super impressive to me, but I promise they're actually really easy to make. They're based on my tried and tested cocoa blossom cookies, but rolled in chopped hazelnuts and filled with Nutella.
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Why you'll love this recipe!
- Nutella Flavor: you get so much chocolate hazelnut flavor thanks to cocoa powder in the cookie dough, roasted chopped hazelnuts, and a homemade Nutella ganache.
- Simple Ingredients: there's nothing too fancy here, just regular pantry ingredients and they're perfect to make if you've got a jar of Nutella hanging out in your pantry.
Grab your ingredients
- Flour: all-purpose flour is going to give these thumbprint cookies structure.
- Cocoa Powder: make sure to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder and not dutch process cocoa powder. These two cocoa powders react differently to baking soda, and since these cookies use baking soda and not baking powder, we want to use natural cocoa powder. Not sure what type of cocoa powder you have? Check the ingredients label. If it says 'acidity regulars' or 'alkali', then it's dutch processed.
- Baking Soda: the baking soda will give these thumbprint cookies a lift while baking in the oven.
- Kosher Salt: you always need a little bit of salt for balance! I use kosher salt, specifically Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.
- Unsalted Butter: try to use high-quality butter if you can, it makes all the difference.
- Sugar: this recipe uses a mix of light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Light brown sugar brings more chewiness to a cookie, while granulated sugar provides structure.
- Hazelnuts: I'm able to buy ready roasted and chopped hazelnuts at my local grocery store. I did find that the hazelnuts were not fine enough when testing this recipe, so I recommend chopping them up so you have a mixture of fine pieces of hazelnuts and slightly larger pieces.
- Heavy Cream: we'll need some heavy cream to make the chocolate Nutella ganache.
- Nutella: I've tested this recipe with Nutella and grocery store brands of chocolate hazelnut spread and both work!
Substitutions & Additions
- Heavy Cream: don't have any heavy cream? You could fill the cooled thumbprint cookies with just a spoonful of Nutella, but you may have to melt it to make it easier to fill in the indents.
- Nutella: if you don't want Nutella at all, you could make chocolate ganache and use that to fill the cookies (I recommend using the ganache from my cosmic brownie cookies)
- Hazelnuts: I've also tested these cookies without the hazelnuts and instead rolled the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar! You could also roll them in non-pareil sprinkles or leave them plain.
How to make this recipe
- Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Step 2: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter with the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Step 3: Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine on medium speed.
- Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Then add the tablespoon of milk. Stop as soon as it's all combined!
- Step 5: Scoop out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough using a small cookie scoop and roll it in your hands so it's perfectly round. Roll the cookie dough balls in a shallow bowl with the chopped hazelnuts, making sure they're covered evenly. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Step 6: Use the end of a spatula or your thumb to create an indent in the center of each cookie and chill for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit and line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookies evenly across the two baking sheets, leaving a few inches between each cookie dough ball. Bake for 11-13 minutes, then let them cool on a wire rack.
- Step 7: While the cookies cool, make the Nutella ganache. Place the Nutella in a heat-safe bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small pot on the stove until simmering, but not boiling. Pour over the Nutella.
- Step 8: Stir until smooth. Spoon into the cooled cookies or use a piping bag to pipe the Nutella filling into the cookies. Let the ganache set and enjoy!
My Baking Tips
- Indent: I recommend using the bottom end of a spatula or wooden spoon to create the indent in the cookie. I have tried with my thumb but I didn't get as uniform of an indent.
- Out of the Oven: as soon as the cookies are out of the oven, they won't have as much of an indent. Take the same end of the spatula or spoon that you used before to gently press down on the indent of each cookie.
- Chopped Hazelnuts: I recommend chopping up the hazelnuts so you have a mixture of fine hazelnuts and bigger pieces. I did try blending them for just a second in my food processor, but found those pieces were too small and created almost a hazelnut 'dust' that didn't look as good!
- Filling the Cookies: the easiest way I found to fill the cookies is to use a piping bag and a round tip.
Serving Suggestions
- Cookie Boxes for the Holiday Season: how cute would these cookies along with some browned butter snickerdoodles, cream cheese spritz cookies, Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies, peppermint bark cookies, chocolate dipped butter cookies, or German gingerbread cookies be in a box for Christmas?
Storage & Freezing
Keep these Nutella thumbprint cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Made This Recipe?
Make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! You can tag me on Instagram @alpineella or follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!
Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Easy Nutella Thumbprint Cookies with Nutella Ganache
Nutella lovers have to try these chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies! They're filled with Nutella ganache and rolled in chopped hazelnuts!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Bowls
- Kitchen Scale
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Small Cookie Scoop
- Spatula
- Piping Bag
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookies
- 2 cups (240 grams ) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (42 grams) cocoa powder natural unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup (104 grams) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- ¾ cup (90 grams) roasted hazelnuts chopped finely
Filling
- ¼ cup (50 grams) heavy cream
- ½ cup (150 grams) nutella
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Set aside.2 cups (240 grams ) all purpose flour, ½ cup (42 grams) cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, combine the butter and both sugars. Cream on medium-high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, ½ cup (104 grams) light brown sugar, ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute.1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed, then add the tablespoon of milk. Stop the mixer once everything is combined, you don't want to over-mix it!1 tablespoon whole milk
- Scoop out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and roll between your hands to form a ball. Roll the cookie dough ball in the chopped hazelnuts, then place on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate. Repeat with all of the dough, you should get 35 cookies. Use your thumb, the end of a wooden cooking spoon or spatula or the back of a measuring spoon to create the indent.¾ cup (90 grams) roasted hazelnuts
- Chill the cookies in the fridge for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the cookies on the sheet, leaving a few inches of space between each cookie. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes in the middle of the oven.
- Take the cookies out of the oven, they should look set with some cracks.
- If the indent doesn't look as big as before, gently press down with the bottom of a teaspoon or end of a spatula. Use a small cup, glass or biscuit cutter to gently scoot the cookie into a perfect circular shape again.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Measure out the nutella into a heat-safe bowl.½ cup (150 grams) nutella
- In a saucepan, or in a bowl in the microwave, heat the heavy cream over medium-low heat until it begins to simmer but not boil.¼ cup (50 grams) heavy cream
- Pour the hot cream over the nutella and stir until smooth.
- Spoon into the thumbprint cookies or place in a bag and pipe it out.
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.
Butter: I use European-style butter in my recipes. This will make your finished bake much creamier and richer.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note I am using Diamond Kosher salt and not coarse kosher salt!
Nutella: You don't have to use branded Nutella, you can use any chocolate hazelnut spread.
Hazelnuts: Try to chop up the hazelnuts finely so they stick to the cookie dough balls. Large pieces of chopped hazelnuts won't stick as well!
Storage: store the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 2 months, just let them thaw to room temperature.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
Denise says
Does the Nutella firm up a bit? Wanting to put them in tins, layers for a cookie exchange.🥰
Ella says
It should firm up if you put them in the fridge, but it won't become completely solid!
Barb says
An you freeze these after?
Ella says
Hi Barb! Yes, you can freeze them for up to 2 months. Let them thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before eating.