No Bake Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

This healthy and festive snack recipe for No Bake Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies contains no refined sugar and is easy to make in a food processor.

I did a bit of shopping with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law earlier this week, after celebrating Christmas with K’s family.  I couldn’t resist picking up a few new spices and flavors for sweet recipes at William’s Sonoma, including espresso powder and ground vanilla beans.

I came right home and made these No Bake Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies for a healthier snack to nibble on during this holiday week. Bonus: I think they make great road trip cookies with the extra kick from espresso powder {though adding it is optional}! I also snacked on these cookies after running a 10k on my own yesterday afternoon – I love running in the middle of the day during holiday vacation.

This summer I posted a recipe for No Bake Chocolate Orange Cookies, and it’s still K’s favorite version of “energy bites” from my growing snack recipe collection. I thought hazelnuts made a better wintry or holiday snack for this updated no bake cookie recipe. I started by toasting one cup of raw hazelnuts on the stove top for a few minutes, in coconut oil.

Next I added toasted hazelnuts and the remainder of ingredients to a food processor – unsweetened cocoa powder {Ghirardelli is my favorite}, dates, vanilla powder and espresso powder.

One extra step makes these no bake cookies come together so easily – soak your dates in almond or cashew milk for 1-2 hours before processing. This adds the perfect amount of moisture to the recipe and makes the cookies easy to scoop up. {Make sure to drain the dates before adding to the food processor}.

After the mix comes together in the food processor, pack a medium cookie scoop and form the cookies into balls with your hands. To make a “cookie” shape, press down gently on each cookie ball with a fork, in a criss-cross pattern.

I think it’s snack time again. Have a great holiday week and Merry Christmas if you celebrate!

No Bake Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate, dessert, no bake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 14 cookies

Ingredients

  • 25 California dates {pitted}
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond or cashew milk
  • 1 cup hazelnuts
  • 2 tsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder or extract

Optional

  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder

Instructions

  1. Soak dates in almond or cashew milk for 1-2 hours. Drain liquid from dates.

  2. Saute hazelnuts in coconut oil for ~3 minutes on the stove top, on medium-low heat.

  3. Add toasted hazelnuts and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor - dates, cocoa powder, vanilla powder, and espresso powder.

  4. Process until the ingredients are evenly combined {20-30 seconds}, using the "pulse" function.

  5. Remove the cookie mix from the food processor and use a medium cookie scoop and your hands to form the mix into balls. Create a "criss cross" pattern with a fork to make a cookie shape.

  6. Cookies will last chilled in the refrigerator for one week, and a few months if stored in the freezer.

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