Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts. Delicious and fragrant, these cookies are butter-free, egg-free and have no yeast nor baking powder.  The olive oil, cocoa, dark chocolate, and hazelnuts give these cookies a rich taste while keeping them light. They have little sugar (raw cane sugar) and spelt flour which provides an additional nuttiness and wholesomeness. 

Song of the day: Love - Imagine Dragons 

If you are looking for cookies that are light and yet do not give up on taste, try this recipe for Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts. Fragrant and wholesome, they are butter-free, egg-free, and have no leavening. They are delicious, perfect also for those who don't like sweets that are too sweet (me!). They are crumbly, with a beautiful crunch from the hazelnuts and the dark chocolate chunks. Try them at breakfast or with an afternoon tea!

 

 

How to Make Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

The Ingredients

A good rule in the kitchen is to have all the ingredients ready. To make these cookies you can use a stand mixer or go the old way by hand, as I did. You will need:

• spelt flour (you can use all-purpose flour if you prefer)
• unsweetened cocoa
• raw cane sugar (you could also use honey but you have to reduce the amount by 20%)
• olive oil (I used e.v.o. oil)
• milk (any kind, also plant-based)
• dark chocolate (chips are fine, I prefer to use dark chocolate -fondente in Italian- with at least 72% cocoa that I roughly chop with a knife)
• hazelnuts (I used a food processor to chop the hazelnuts. Don't grind them too fine, it is nice to have the crunch from the bigger pieces of hazelnuts).

• In a large bowl, I added the flour with the cocoa, and the sugar. Gave a quick stir, then added the coarsely chopped hazelnuts.
• After I blended in the hazelnuts, I added the olive oil and gave a quick stir.

• Then, I added the dark chocolate chunks (or chips). I mixed with a wooden spoon until a granular mixture was obtained.
• Slowly I poured the milk in.

• Then I mixed with a wooden spoon until combined. 
• Lastly, I finished kneading lightly with my hands until I got the consistency of a short pastry.

• On a lightly floured work surface (my usual wood board), I rolled out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 5 mm. Since Valentine's day is fast approaching I decided to use a heart-shaped cookie cutter, together with a round cutter.
• I cut out shapes with the help of the cookie cutters (you can use any shape you like), re-rolling the scraps of dough until all the dough was finished. TIP: Use a spatula to lift the cookies from the board to the cookie sheet.

• I placed the cookies, spacing them apart, on my new KitchenAid non-stick cookie sheet (you can use any baking sheet lined with parchment paper).
• Lastly, I baked them in the preheated oven (350°F/180°C) for about 15-20 minutes.

These Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts smell so good! It must be the fragrance from the olive oil, the cocoa, the chocolate, and the nuts! I am not used to baking for Valentine's day but I think they look pretty and wouldn't be a bad idea to celebrate love.

The Taste Test

These cookies are delicious! Perfect for those who don't like sweets that are too sweet (like me!). They are not crunchy but crumbly, the crunch coming from the hazelnuts and the dark chocolate chunks. The olive oil gives a light earthy note and the spelt flour a lovely nuttiness. They would also be good with a touch of cinnamon, or vanilla, or a citrus zest. We had them at breakfast and also with afternoon tea. Equally delicious. As usual, I brought some to work to share with my co-workers, and they were very much appreciated.

This time of the year I am always in Rome, back at work, so I cannot spend Valentine's day with my husband. I am pretty sure, though, Loreto would have loved these cookies. I can see him pop open our tin cookie box. I would be upstairs sleeping and be woken by the pop of the tin lid. It's our 'cookie monster' (aka Loreto) out for his late night snack. In the morning I would notice a few cookies missing. A few, meaning more than two, and the milk stained glass in the sink. I am smiling because it is so cute; would like to catch him on camera dead in the act with his hand in the cookie tin. That would have been a great way to finish this post!

Loreto claims it's not his fault, it's the cats' fault because they wake him up at night. He also says that if I didn't make such scrumptious goodies he would not have the urge to eat them, lol.

If you have a cookie monster who lingers late at night near the cookie jar, make some of these Olive Oil Spelt flour Cookies with Chocolate and Hazelnuts, and get ready with your camera, lol.

Enjoy!

  Song of the day: Love - Imagine Dragons 

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