These vegan Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Cookies are rich and chewy with buttery flavor, chocolate chunks in every bite and a bright pinch of sea salt on top. Crunchy hazelnuts (or any nut you’d like) folded into every piece.
These Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Cookies were inspired by one of my favorite chefs!..
Donal’s Cookies
I made this recipe after watching a cooking video by one of my favorite chefs, Donal Skehan. This recipe is completely based on Donal’s Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
If you don’t know who Donal is, let me give you the 411. He is an Irish chef who started one of the first Irish food blogs back in 2007 — the same year I started food blogging! Through his blog, he catapulted to culinary stardom and has hosted many cooking shows, and has published a long list of cookbooks.
Donal is not vegan or plant-based, just in case my vegan audience is wondering, but I have found plenty of his videos to be so inspiring and just fun! He has such a light and friendly personality on camera and it is a joy to hang out in his kitchen.
I am always so inspired by people who sparkle on camera and share their love of cooking in a more traditional way – as opposed to just making the trendy overhead food videos. I like to see the chef!
And his family is so adorable.
Dark Chocolate Cookies
I think the thing that makes these cookies stand out is the chocolate. Instead of chocolate chips, you are chopping up a dark chocolate bar. That way tiny and large chunks of chocolate marinate every crevice of these cookies.
The other cool technique for these Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Cookies is the fact that they are large balls – rolled up before freezing them. Then baked when the dough is chilled.
My Changes to the Recipe
To make this cookie recipe my own, I did a few things.
- vegan egg (1/2 cup to be exact)
- I only chilled the dough for a half-hour in the freezer
- I added vanilla extract
- And a pinch of orange zest
- I used vegan butter
- I used a vegan dark chocolate bar 80% cacao
That’s it! Totally easily veganized.
The Results?
My review of Donal’s Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies (with my tweaks) is that they were amazing! So rich and buttery. They tasted like an expensive cookie you would buy in a fancy bakery.
Thank you donal for inspiring this recipe.
Another super cute recipe by Donal: This video for Noah’s Banana Pancakes featuring his son, Noah. Oh my, so cute. And yes, this recipe appears easy to veganize as well with some egg replacer and vegan butter.
Hope you can hop in the kitchen and try this cookie recipe!
Looking for more chocolate??? Try my double chocolate chip cookies here!
Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 sticks vegan butter
- 1/2 cups cane sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegan egg replacer, JUST egg used
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Fold in:
- 3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp orange zest, optional
Over Top:
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt, over top
Instructions
- In a skillet, Pan-toast the hazelnuts over high heat for 2-3 minutes or until they start to give off a toasty aroma. Set aside to cool, then roughly chop. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, vegan egg, vegan butter and vanilla.
- Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Beat until fluffy.
- Fold in the chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.
- The dough should be nice and sticky, yet firm enough to roll into large dough balls.
- Place dough balls in a bowl or on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes. 1-2 hours works too.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
Equipment
- baking sheet
- mixer
- large bowl
