Hazelnut Truffle Sandwiches from Sprinkle Bakes

Hazelnut Truffle Sandwiches - made dough February 27, 2025 from Sprinkle Bakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 cups chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped (I used pecans, lightly toasted)

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until just combined after each addition.
3. Add 1 cup of Nutella and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
4. Portion into small dough balls, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. In a small shallow bowl, spread chopped nuts. Roll chilled dough balls, covering with the hazelnut bits as much as possible. Evenly space on baking sheets and bake 12-14 minutes until edges are set and middles no longer look raw.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
8. When cookies are cool, sandwich with Nutella.

The sharp-eyed among you will notice the nuts coating the outside of these cookies are pecans, not hazelnuts. Alas, I didn't have hazelnuts in my pantry but I did have pecans. These are the times of using what I have on hand rather than buying more so I went with pecans and they were just fine. I strongly encourage you to do the same if you don't have hazelnuts but have other nuts.

Since these are sandwich cookies, they're meant to be smaller than the usual size of cookie so I used my smallest cookie scoop. They make for cute little cookies and are tasty too. I brought them to my quilting group when we had a class and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

A couple of tips and tricks: while I always maintain chilling the dough (it was a little soft upon mixing) first, if your dough isn't too soft, portion it into (small) dough balls first rather than chilling the entire bowl of dough. The smaller portions will chill faster and the dough is easier to scoop out when it isn't as firm.

The second "trick" is, if you're going to freeze them before baking rather than merely chilling, let the frozen dough balls thaw slightly before rolling them into the nuts. The pecan pieces I used adhered better when the dough balls weren't quite so frozen.

While I always recommend toasting the nuts first before using to bring out their flavor, you can get away with only very lightly toasting them first, letting them cool then coating the dough balls with them. The nuts will toast further when you bake the cookies.

And of course, let the cookies cool completely before sandwiching with Nutella. These were delicious with good chocolate flavor, amped by the Nutella, and the nuts on the outside of the cookie add a nice crunch.