chocolate hazelnut cookies from joanne chang's flour bakery.

sorry that i don't have my own pictures but i decided to make these on a whim and honestly, i just forgot.  sorry.  i'll update this post when i make them again.  which will be soon because they were super delicious.  

photo borrowed from playingwithflour.com

chocolate hazelnut cookies.

adapted from joanne chang's flour: spectacular recipes from boston's flour bakery + cafe. nutella in a cookie. who doesn't love that?
* makes about 20 large cookies

what you'll need:

• stand mixer
• food processor { *i used my vitamix* }
• baking sheet
• silpat non-stick silicone baking mat (optional)
• oxo good grips large cookie scoop (optional)

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup toasted blanched whole hazelnuts
• 12 ounces milk chocolate, chopped { *i used 10 ounces of semi sweet* }
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 sticks + 1 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

directions:

1. place the hazelnuts on a un-greased cookie sheet and toast in 350°F oven for 10 minutes.  place the hazelnuts in an airtight tupperware container and shake.  the agitation will allow the skins to easily fall off the meat, thereby leaving toasted blanched hazelnuts. 
2. place 1/2 cup of the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind until fine.  roughly chop the remaining hazelnuts. in a bowl, stir together all the hazelnuts, flour baking soda, salt, and chocolate
3. place the butter and sugars into a bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple times during the process.  add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes until incorporated, scraping the bowl as 
4. on low speed, add the hazelnut, chocolate, and flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  scrape dough into a container and cover tightly.  let dough rest in the refrigerator at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
5. when ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.  line the baking sheets with parchment paper.  drop 1/4 cup balls of dough {i used the large ice cream scoop} onto the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart since they do spread.  flatten the balls slightly with your hands.  alternatively, you can make smaller cookies by dropping tightly packed small ice cream scoop {you don't need to flatten}.
6. bake for 20-22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.  small cookies take about 12 minutes.  they are ready to come out of the oven once the edges are brown.  while the center remains pale and a bit soft.  let cool 5 minutes or so on the baking sheet before removing onto wire racks to cool completely.  
7. baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days.  the cookie can be refrigerated for up to a week and baked as needed.

final notes:

i was impatient when making these cookies for the first so i didn't even bother refrigerating for 3 to 4 hours.  i did not adjust the baking time to account for it and my cookies came out extremely hard.... for impatient people like me, bake these suckers for 12 to 15 minutes instead.  don't make the same mistake i did.  good luck!

<3 BabyBear