chocolate and hazelnut chip cookies

You know that moment when you’re sitting at your desk, spring is peeking through the window, and suddenly, a craving sneaks up on you—that craving? Or when you’re curled up on the couch, reading your favorite book, and there it is again, resurfacing. You and I both know there’s only one thing that can call to us so strongly: absolutely out-of-this-world cookies.

I consider myself quite the picky expert when it comes to cookies. It’s so easy to come across ones that are overwhelmingly sweet—like eating a sugar cube, but round. You can’t even tell what flavor you’re actually tasting because it’s drowned in sugar. Horrible. The overly fudgy ones are just as bad, because to me, they never seem “fudgy on purpose”—they just taste underbaked. And the idea of eating raw dough has always made me queasy. Even worse are the ones that stick to your teeth—overbaked this time.

To me, the perfect cookie should be crisp and crumbly, balanced in sweetness with a hint of salt, and packed with big chunks of chocolate—so they don’t melt into the dough while baking. And hazelnuts, absolutely. If I’m honest, I probably only really like one kind of cookie: dark chocolate and hazelnut. It’s like when you have the chance to try a new pizza from a menu full of tempting options, but in the end, you always go for the Margherita—because you’re attached to it, you know for sure you love it, and it’s always delicious.

But back to cookies. After several attempts and nearly giving up, ready to accept the fact that “everyone loves them, but I just don’t,” I had a revelation. Joyce would call it an epiphany; I call it a life-saving YouTube recipe. Here we are. I discovered that the butter must be added at room temperature to a mix of white and brown sugar, the dough shouldn’t be overmixed—a spatula is enough. Then, of course, flour, a pinch of baking powder and baking soda (to help them spread just right), that essential touch of salt, chocolate, hazelnuts, vanilla, and—most importantly—an overnight rest. This long rest allows all the ingredients in this orchestra to get to know each other before playing the best symphony on our palate.

Hungry?