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Two hazelnut shortbread cookies with Nutella ganache right in between! These thick rounds of buttery shortbread are a classic shortbread cookie with hazelnut flavor, baked to perfection and sandwiched together with a Nutella ganache. When you bite into their crumbly texture, it’s the most delicious bite of Christmas cookie ever!

Love shortbread cookies? Try chocolate shortbread cookies, pecan shortbread, or almond shortbread!

a stack of three hazelnut shortbread cookie sandwiches on a cookie sheet

Today is the 5th day of my Christmas cookie extravaganza! If you’ve made it to Day 5, I am so grateful for you and for following along with my Christmas cookies extravaganza! If you missed the first four they were Ginger Cookiesthe best sugar cookiestriple chocolate cookies, and soft maple sugar cookies.

Today’s simple hazelnut shortbread cookies make a delicious treat with a cup of coffee or dairy-free hot chocolate, especially during the holiday season.

Recipe Rundown

It starts with a base of butter and then there’s a mixture of all purpose flour and ground hazelnuts. The real hazelnut give this dough so much depth and nutty flavor.

Traditional shortbread dough ratio is made of butter, flour, and sugar, typically in a 3-2-1 ratio. And that’s exactly what’s happening here. 

While these cookies sound and look really fancy and all of your friends and family will be so impressed, they’re really such a basic recipe! They’re good for Christmas cookie gifting, taking to parties or a cookie exchange.

freshly baked hazelnut shortbread sandwiches with chocolate ganache on a cookie sheet

How to Make Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

Here are the basic steps, with images, for these chocolate hazelnut shortbread cookies. Skip down to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe.

Grind the Hazelnuts

Add the toasted hazelnuts to a food processor and pulse 5-7 times, until finely ground. 

ground hazelnuts in a food processor

Add the Dry Ingredients

Mix the ground hazelnuts, flour, and salt in a small bowl. 

ground hazelnuts, flour, and salt in a bowl

Mix in the Wet Ingredients 

use a rubber spatula to mix the softened butter and brown sugar. You can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but mix it slow. The butter should be fully incorporated and the mixture should be smooth.

Success tip: mixing slow or by hand limits the amount of air whipped into the dough, which is what you want for shortbread!

softened butter and brown sugar mixed in a bowl

Bring the Dough Together

add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a spoon or spatula. You may need to use your hands to finish kneading until the dough comes together. 

hazelnut shortbread cookie dough in a mixing bowl

Chill for 2 Hours

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and press it into a disc. Wrap tightly and chill for 2 hours or overnight. 

hazelnut shortbread cookie dough wrapped in plastic wrap

Roll and Cut

Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thick on a piece of parchment paper. Lightly flour the parchment paper and the top of the dough to prevent sticking. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out all the cookies. Re-roll the scraps as needed. Stamp out a small circle, star, snowflake, or any cookie cutter you have, in the center of half of the cookies. 

circles cut out of hazelnut shortbread dough

Bake

Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet a few inches apart (they don’t spread). Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.

freshly baked hazelnut shortbread cookies on a baking sheet

Make the Ganache (The Best Part!) 

Place the chocolate and hazelnut spread in a large mixing bowl. Heat the milk, pour it over the chocolate, and let it sit for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and thick. Chill for 20 minutes (or 10 minutes in the freezer) until the melted chocolate ganache is thick. 

two images of chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl and them mixed chocolate ganache in a bowl

Swirl, Sandwich, and Enjoy!

transfer the ganache to a piping bag and cut off the tip. Swirl it onto the flat side of the whole cookies, without the cutout. Place a cutout cookie on top and gently press down to sandwich them together.  

Success tip: swirl evenly out to almost the edges of the cookie and in the center. If you have to push too hard to sandwich the filling out, the ganache will come out of the center of the cutout.

two images of chocolate ganache piped on a hazelnut shortbread cookie and then sandwiching the ganache in two cookies

Recipe FAQs

Why are they called shortbread cookies?

These cookies are called shortbread because of their crumbly texture. In the baking world, a “short” texture means a crumbly texture, like a shortcrust pastry. 

Do I need to refrigerate the dough?

Chilled dough is the key. Chilling the dough before baking helps solidify the butter again to hold their shape and create a crumbly texture when baked.

Why are my shortbread cookies chewy?

If you overwork your cookie dough the gluten can develop too much and cause a chewy texture.

three hazelnut shortbread cookies

Freezing and Storing Tips

Storage: Hazelnut shortbread cookies with ganache stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

Freeze baked cookies: Store baked shortbread (without the ganache) in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw and sandwich with the ganache before serving. Sandwiched cookies with the ganache can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

Freeze the cookie dough: roll into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Thaw in the fridge and roll as directed. You can also freeze cookie dough that’s been cut out. Bake from frozen, just add 1-2 minutes to the bake time. 

freshly baked hazelnut shortbread sandwiches with chocolate ganache on a cookie sheet

If you make this shortbread cookie recipe, I’d love for you to give it a star rating ★ below. You can also tag me on Instagram so I can see it!

More of Our Favorite Cookies for the Holidays

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5 from 2 votes

Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Ganache

Prep: 2 hours
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 2 hours 20 minutes
Two hazelnut shortbread cookies with Nutella ganache right in between! These thick rounds of buttery shortbread are a classic shortbread cookie with hazelnut flavor, baked to perfection and sandwiched together with a Nutella ganache. Read the blog post above for step-by-step photos!

Save this Recipe!

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Servings: 12 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

  • 1 cup toasted hazelnuts
  • 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour gluten-free if needed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 170g) unsalted butter very soft but not melted (Note 1)
  • 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar packed
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Nutella Ganache

  • 2/3 cup (107g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or squares
  • 1/2 cup nutella
  • 1/2 cup (113ml) heavy cream

Instructions 

  • Add the toasted hazelnuts to a food processor and pulse or blend until finely ground. Transfer them to a bowl with the flour and salt and whisk to combine.
  • In a separate large bowl, use a spatula to combine the soft butter and brown sugar until no butter clumps remain and the mixture is smooth. Alternately, use an electric mixer or stand mixer and mix on low.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir until the dough starts to come together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You may need to mix with your hands to combine. The dough should hold together in a ball, but be slightly crumbly.
  • Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and press it gently into a disc. Wrap well and chill for 2 hours or overnight (Note 2).
  • Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Gently flour a clean work surface or turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Gently flour the surface of the dough and roll it out to 1/4-inch thick. Cut the dough out using a round cookie cutter, I used a fluted one. Re-roll the scraps as needed. Cut a smaller shape (i used a snowflake) out of the center of half of the cookies.
  • Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Bake one at a time in the preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden. Cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Place the chocolate and Nutella in a large mixing bowl. Heat the heavy cream in the microwave until scolding, but not boiling, about 1 1/2 minutes. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Mix until thickened and the chocolate is melted. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes (or in the freezer for 10). It should be thick and barely fall back into the bowl when you lift it out with a spoon (Note 3).
  • Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and cut off the tip. Pipe the ganache onto the flat side of the whole cookies (without the centers cut out). Sandwich the cookies with the cutout on top, pressing gently.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Baked cookies (with or without ganache) freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and enjoy.
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review letting us know how it was!

Notes

Note 1. Softened Butter. Unlike butter at room temperature, which should still be slightly firm, this butter should be very soft. You can put it in the micrwave for 5-10 second increments if needed to soften it. 
Note 2. Chilling the dough. I tested this recipe without chilling the dough and it still worked. The dough didn’t spread a ton, but chilling the dough made sure it didn’t spread at all.
Note 3. Ganache. If the ganache doesn’t seem thick enough after chilling, melt another 1/4 cup chocolate in the microwave, stir it in, and chill again for a few minutes.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1sandwich cookie | Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 41.6g | Protein: 5.4g | Fat: 26.9g | Cholesterol: 37.8mg | Sodium: 107.6mg | Fiber: 2.7g | Sugar: 22.9g | Vitamin A: 117.7IU | Vitamin C: 0.6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

2 Comments

  1. cakespy says:

    Well these are just PURE DELIGHT. Yum! I’ve never baked with hazelnut flour but I’m intrigued.

    1. Molly Leonard says:

      Thank you! This was my first time experimenting with hazelnut flour and it was amazing. I will definitely be trying more!