-To make hazelnut flour from hazelnuts, just pop the nuts in a blender for 5 second intervals, until the nuts are grinded into powder form.  I used a Nutribullet RX for this, and it only took about 3-5 intervals before I had flour.   After every interval, I would remove the container from the base, flip it upside down, and slam it on the table a bit, just to loosen up the nuts before I blend it again.

-You don’t want to blend more than 5 seconds tops because this prevents oils in the nuts from being released.  We want flour, not butter here!

-It’s OK if the hazelnuts do not completely grind to flour—little bits of whole nuts are fine and add nice crunch to the cookie.

**It’s important to note that for every 1 cup hazelnuts, this will produce about 1 1/4 cup hazelnut flour when blended.  This is totally fine and is already taken into account.  You want to use 2 1/2 cups whole hazelnuts for this recipe.

-Add more chocolate chips or nuts if you wish!

-This dough can be very sticky, so I recommend chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes after mixing. This helps BIG time for easier scooping!

-I used a 1.5 tbsp ice cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet.  A small spoon or measuring spoon will work just fine.

-To make the thumbprint, I grab a chocolate chip and press it down firmly in the center of the cookie with my index finger—making the indentation as wide and deep as possible.  You want a nice spot there to pour the melted chocolate into after you pull the cookies out of the oven.

-For thin, small cookies, I pull my cookies out of the oven at about 9 1/2 minutes, just when the surface becomes firm (I test it by using the back of a fork).   The cookies will continue to bake even when out of the oven, and I feel taking them out just before, or right when they are done leads to the perfect moistness and texture.  We don’t want a dry cookie!  I recommend to check the cookies at this time and pull them out when you think they are ready.  I say about 9 minutes at the earliest, and 12 minutes at the latest, just to be on the safe side—but as we know, oven times vary.  Watch the cookies very closely at the 9 1/2 minute mark.

–Larger, thicker cookies will require longer baking times, I’d say about 11-15 minutes.

–Store these cookies in an airtight container in the fridge and they’ll stay fresh for about a week.

-When serving, I recommend microwaving for 10-15 seconds—-this melts the chocolate and you get a warm, moist cookie!

Did you try this recipe?  How did it turn out for you?  Any questions about my method?  I would love to hear from you!  Sound off in the comment section below!

**Nutritional information is an approximation using Nutrifox, information from Google, and my own calculations to the best of my knowledge.  It is not the definitive values or guaranteed to be 100% accurate information.  Use only as a reference.**