Nutella Cookies
These soft and fudgy Nutella cookies are baked crinkle-style; first, they are rolled in chopped hazelnuts and then in powdered sugar before being baked. Using espresso powder for some extra pop, and chopped hazelnuts for crunch, these cookies are next-level delicious and a Nutella lover’s dream come true. Thanks to a simple ingredient list and short prep time, this recipe is great for bakers of all levels!
I hate to admit it, but I was a definite late adopter when it came to Nutella. About ten years ago when it started popping up in more and more recipes, I was intrigued but the first few times I tried it on toast, I thought it was good but wasn’t blown away. THEN… I tried these Nutella cookies and wow! I was a total Nutella convert from there on out.
Crinkle cookies are a longtime favorite cookie, with the soft, fudgy center and the crispy cracked outside. Many of us have had traditional chocolate crinkle cookies, but adding Nutella into the mix blew my mind; then adding espresso powder and chopped nuts made them hazelnut perfection.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
Ingredients and Kitchen Tips
- Nutella Alternatives: The original is what I used when making this recipe, but I know it can be a bit spendy (especially when making batches for the holidays). Many large grocery chains have their own and even Hershey’s made a version. If you are vegan, Nutivia is available at a lot of natural food stores, alongside some sugar-free or keto-friendly versions.
- Dietary Swaps: Nutella is naturally gluten-free, and this recipe is simple to accommodate. Vegan butter is simple to integrate, and oat milk is perfectly creamy for these Nutella cookies. Coconut flour and powdered sweetener also mix well. Note that the interior of the cookie may not be as fudgy when the fats are swapped out, but they’re still wildly rich!
- Instant Espresso Powder: Make sure whatever you use is, indeed, instant. All espresso powder is delicious, but the instant grounds are great for baking and less bitter. This can also be omitted; while it really enhances the chocolate flavor, the cookies will still be delicious without it.
- Prepping your pan: Before rolling the cookies, prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. This recipe makes 36 cookies, so doing this keeps our process running smoothly.
- Working quickly: If you have ever had Nutella, you know it can get a bit melty! Try keeping the jar in the fridge before you start mixing. This helps keep the dough solid while you prep it.
Making Nutella Cookies Step-By-Step
- Start with a medium bowl. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a second bowl, beat the Nutella, butter, and granulated sugar, with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder and beat until incorporated
- Reduce the speed to low. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and your milk. Start and end with the flour, and mix until just combined after each addition.
- Fold in ½ cup of hazelnuts.
- Refrigerate the dough until firm (two hours up to 24 hours)
- After it is firm, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the remaining hazelnuts in a bowl, and the powdered sugar into another bowl.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (or two tablespoons), scoop then roll the chilled mixture into balls.
- Take each ball and roll it in the hazelnuts, and then the powdered sugar.
- Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the sheet, so they have room to spread.
- The cookies are ready when the edges are crispy but the center is still a bit soft (about 10 minutes)
- Rest for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Once they’ve set – dive in!
Mix-Ins for your Nutella Cookies
- If you want a more bitter flavor, cutting the espresso in half and replacing the other half with dark chocolate cocoa is amazing.
- If you’d like more chocolate, fewer nuts, replace the chopped hazelnuts with mini chocolate chips!
- You can also try “stuffing” the cookie. This is when you take one of the cookie balls and use your thumb to leave a well. Add in a few chocolate chips and re-roll the dough so the chips are totally surrounded by the dough. This will result in a melted center – crazy delicious!
Storage and Freezing Tips
- Storage: The cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing Dough: Once you have scooped the balls of dough, they can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then roll in the chopped hazelnuts and powdered sugar and bake.
- Freezing Cookies: Once the cookies are completely cool, they can be layered in an airtight container (parchment paper between layers) and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I need more sweets – how about you?
- Homemade Nutella Recipe
- Nutella Pretzel Truffles
- Top 10 Favorite Cookie Recipes
- Thick and Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies
I would absolutely love it if you tried these Nutella Cookies; if you do, please stop back and leave a rating and let me know how they turned out! ENJOY! 😍
Nutella Cookies
Soft and chewy Nutella cookies baked in crinkle cookie style with extra chopped hazelnuts.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1¼ cups (400 g) Nutella
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1-1/3 cups (265 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) milk
- 2 cups (284 g) hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
- 1 cup (113 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the Nutella, butter, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder and mix until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and alternate additions of flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with the flour, and mixing until just combined after each addition. Fold in ½ cup of the hazelnuts. Refrigerate the dough until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the remaining hazelnuts and the powdered sugar in two separate bowls. Using a medium cookie scoop (or about 2 tablespoonfuls), roll the dough into balls, roll in the hazelnuts, then roll in the powdered sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until the edges are set and the middle still looks a tad soft, about 10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Calories: 172kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 12mg, Sodium: 41mg, Potassium: 128mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 55IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 1.3mg
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Photography by Lauren Grant.
These turned out great! Subbed in mini chocolate chips for the hazelnuts. Instead of rolling in nuts before baking, I rolled the dough balls in granulated sugar (for a little crustiness to the topping), then rolled an a mix of powdered sugar and espresso powder. For less coffee flavor, would opt for just rolling in granulated then powdered sugar. Baked for 12 mins and they firmed up nicely.
These turned out exactly as I had hoped. I added dark chocolate chips instead of hazelnuts (because my kids don’t like nuts in their cookies) and dusted the cookies in an instant espresso/granulated sugar mixture prior to the powdered sugar for extra flavor and texture. Perfect!
I love these cookies!! This weekend, I prepared the dough the day before and before I could start baking, had an emergency and put the dough in the freezer as a solid dough (not in rolled balls form), will this be a problem? If this is not a problem, how do I proceed?
Thank you!
You wrote baking soda in the article portion but baking powder in the recipe. Anyway, my finished product was much lighter in appearance than yours, and I substituted with some brown sugar. they are tasty, but I would’ve liked them darker.
My local grocery store doesn’t carry hazelnuts. Could I use pecans or almonds instead?
Thanks for this recipe – it’s amazing, I have made them quite a few times and got lots of compliments.
I found your recipe about 2-3 months ago and have probably made close to 30 dozen for people at work. They are quite popular, I have another three dozen in the fridge now and another request for them for next week.
A few pointers for those of you about to try baking them:
You need a strong mixer because working with Nutella is pretty demanding, it broke my cheap hand mixer and although my Kitchen Aid does the job it gets whiny too!
Microwave the Nutella to make it easier to work with first, about 20-30 seconds depending on the jar size. This is wisdom passed down my Nutella addicts.
Last… I tried a few different times when baking these because they do not setup like other cookies so it was hard to judge at first. I find 11-12 minutes work best, 15 is far too long as the cookies will get hard. 11-12 minutes make for nice chewy cookies.
Hi!
I made your cookies today and really really enjoy them! It has currently around 100°F in Vienna (Austria) so I was a bit hesitant to turn on the oven, but I’m glad I did it! We really enjoy them right now and I think our visitors this evening (one of them is a real Nutella-Junky, like me) will love them even more.
Best wishes from Vienna,
Tamara
I liked these cookies but for me they were a little too sweet. I left out some sugar and I advise to mix the espresso powder and milk before pouring in the milk, as this will make the taste of the espresso much better. I did not really taste this flavour when I ate the cookie.
Also, real vanilla instead of essence would improve the taste much too.. Overall the cookie was really nice! The texture was great and the Nutella played a fabulous role!
Just made these yesterday and they are amazing! I literally can’t stop eating them! Do you have any suggestions for getting the hazelnuts to stick better to the cookies (I ended up with a lot leftover)?
Hi Zena, You could try rolling the cookies in beaten egg whites before rolling them in the hazelnuts. This is a common technique for thumbprints and might help.
Just made these cookies a few days ago and they were just delicious. So surprisingly chewy! I made some without hazelnuts inside (for my son) and didn’t roll them on the outside with additional hazelnuts. They were just great. My 8-yr old just loved them. Thanks for sharing the recipe! : )
Ack! I got ahead of myself and added all 2 cups of the hazelnuts at once to the dough mixture. Is it a problem? Should I leave it as is or toast some more hazelnuts to roll the cookie dough in?
It’s up to you, if you want a crunchy exterior, you can chop more nuts to roll the cookies in; otherwise, you can leave them as-is.
What difference will it make if I do not add the instant espresso powder ?
You can omit it without consequence. It just enhances the flavor.
my mother always has this problen about misplacing her measuring cups .. any tips about another way to measure.. thanks a lot for the reply :-)
Hi Maya, You can weigh ingredients if you have a scale.
I tried these cookies and they were amazing!! Just posted in my blog and referred your link. Thanks a bunch!
I love Nutella! Having grown up in Europe, it was definitely something we always stocked our shelves with! My favorite way to eat it is on bread or toast with butter underneath and Nutella on top… it’s best when you slather butter on bread fresh out of the toaster, so it melts a little and with the Nutella on top! SOO good! I can’t wait to try these cookies!
These cookies were awesome! Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Lovely hazelnut with a small bite of coffee. Amazing.
I made these a few days ago. I was in heaven! The cookies were still warm. They were the perfect combination of chewy and crunchy.
I didn’t use the Nutella brand, because I shop at Trader Joe’s and use their brand. Their version is made with almonds instead of hazelnuts. So for this batch, I did use chopped almonds instead of chopped hazelnuts. Next time I will try this with Nutella and hazelnuts and see which one I like better.
I packed one cookie in my son’s lunch box yesterday, and he said that a swarm of kids surrounded him, asking for a piece of his one cookie. He told them that it had almonds in it, in the hopes that it would deter them, but apparently they didn’t care.
Today I brought the rest to work. It made everyone’s day! One person requested a Nutella cream filled cookie. Add that to your list, BEB!
Hi Michelle, Thanks for answering all my questions. I used unbleached all purpose flour. Do you think that could have made a difference in the way the cookies turned out?
Hi Candice, I don’t think so. I always use unbleached all-purpose flour.
Sorry Michelle, I have another question. I’m a newbie to baking so please bare with me.
The cookies looks like they should be crunchy from your cookie, however, mine were very doughy in the middle. I know one of the reasons is because the cookies didn’t spread like the ones from your picture. I wanted to find out if the cookies are supposed to be indeed crunchy.
Thanks.
Hi Candice, Actually no, the cookies should be soft and chewy. They reminded us of a fudge-like brownie texture. It sounds like you got the consistency correct!
HI Michelle,
Sorry, I have another question. The recipe calls for the dough to be refrigerated 2 hours to 24 hours. Why is that?
Hi Candace, No need to apologize! The dough is refrigerated so that it doesn’t spread too much when it is baking.
Hi MIchelle,
No, I don’t use an oven thermometer as I don’t have one. Where can I purchase one? Does any thermometer work (i.e., meat thermometer)? Or could I increase the baking temperature to 380 degrees?
Thanks.
Hi Candice, A meat thermometer won’t work, but you can find an oven thermometer pretty much anywhere. I just bought one at a Publix grocery store in Florida (a lot of grocery stores now have an aisle or part of an aisle with kitchen/baking supplies). You can also find them at places like Target, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. They are typically around $5.
Hi MIchelle,
I just made the cookies, but for some reason, mine weren’t as dark as the one shown in your picture or as flat. I followed your recipe and rolled the dough into balls, but for some reason it didn’t come out as flat. Please advise.
Hi Candice, Usually if a cookie doesn’t spread it’s because the oven isn’t hot enough. Do you use an oven thermometer to ensure that the oven temperature reading is correct?
My son and I made these yesterday..oh heaven! I was a little bit miffed that I couldn’t find any instant espresso powder and had to end up using some instant coffee instead, but they still turned out great!
Hi there,
I noticed you said you weighed the nutella, you don’t have the weighed measurements written down do you? Or could direct me to a good conversion site? Really want to make these but I’m in Australia so different cup sizes etc!
Thanks!
Hi Julia, I just used the weight from the back of the container where the serving size information is and calculated it from that. I just checked the package label – for the 1-1/4 cups of Nutella it would be 370 grams.
Just made a batch of these for my friend’s birthday (literally, the cookies are still warm) and they turned out even better then I expected which is saying a lot because they looked so good to begin with. Definitely happy with these and will be making them again! Thanks for the great recipe :)