Nocciolata Tea Cakes

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You may hate me for these Nocciolata Tea Cakes, they are that good! The very nice people at Rigoni di Asiago, generously sent me a jar of their Nocciolata Organic Hazelnut Spread with Cocoa and Milk to try out and see what I thought. There were also a couple of sample packets to try out, and those babies went straight onto my fingertip…YUM!! 

I knew that I wanted to create something unique with this delicious jar of hazelnut spread…..

So I have been thinking up crazy ideas for over a month! I could put it in ice cream…or maybe sweet rolls…or wrapped in puff pastry. No, I wanted something unexpected. Then I started planning a Start of the School Year care package for my daughter that involves tea. {more on that next week}

Biscuits, cookies, tea cakes…..Russian Tea Cakes {snowballs} are one of Cassi’s favorites. Now we’re onto something. 😉  So what if I substitute Nocciolata for half of the butter, and add some cacao in place of some of the flour, and switch out the pecan with hazelnuts…that should work right? Yep!

You still taste the rich, hazelnut spread within the chocolate cookie. Then you have the crunch of the toasted hazelnuts and the sweetness of the confectioners sugar coating. Pure heaven my friends…..

How to make Nocciolata Tea Cakes 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, grab a couple of baking sheets and set them aside. In a large bowl, beat together the Nocciolata spread, butter, vanilla, sugar, and milk until smooth and creamy…..

Add the flour, cacao, salt. Beat together until combined…..

Finely chop the hazelnuts, but you don’t need them to be so fine that they resemble flour. I  like to be able to crunch into the nuts in these cookies…..

stir them into the dough…..

Mine was too dry to hold together, so I added 2 Tablespoons of milk {I have added it to the recipe}…..

My dough was still pretty dry, but it worked fine. You may want to add more a little bit at a time to get it to form an actual dough. 😉  I scoop the dough…..

then squish it so it holds together…..

and roll it into a 1-inch ball…..

I have had the same problem with the Russian Teacakes in the past, but not every time. My measuring skills must be off. 😉  Place on an ungreased baking sheet…..

and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are set but not browned…..

Roll in confectioners sugar…..

and place on a wire rack to cool completely…..

Roll cookies in sugar one more time to thoroughly coat…..

I have no idea why I have referred to the powdered sugar as confectioners sugar throughout this post. Maybe it ‘s because they are “tea” cookies and the British refer to powdered sugar as confectioners sugar, LOL

When I first received the email, I was a bit skeptical. {I cannot eat the other brand of hazelnut spread} Then I went to their website and read the ingredients: cane sugar, hazelnut paste, sunflower oil, skim milk powder, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin*, vanilla extract.

All of the ingredients are organically farmed, and the *lecithin is made from sunflower, and NOT soy! I knew that I needed to get my hands on their product, and you should too!! 

This Russian Tea Cakes/Snowballs recipe was my inspiration!

Enjoy!!

Nocciolata Tea Cakes

These delicious Nocciolata Tea Cakes are a hazelnut and chocolate version of Russian Tea Cakes. Yum!

5 from 1 vote

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cookies, hazelnut, chocolate, recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes minutes

Total Time: 21 minutes minutes

Servings: 50 Cookies

Calories: 69kcal

Author: Lisa Johnson

1/21x2x3x

Ingredients

• ½ cup Nocciolata hazelnut/chocolate spread
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• ½ cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk or any kind of milk
• 2 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cacao powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cups finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
• additional confectioners sugar for rolling

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large bowl, beat together Nocciolata, butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk.
• Add flour, cacao, and salt and beat until combined.
• Stir in the hazelnuts until dough holds together. If too dry, add more milk 1 Tablespoon at a time.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not browned.
• remove from pan and roll in confectioners sugar.
• Place on a wire rack and cool completely.
• Roll cookies in confectioners sugar one more time to thoroughly coat.
• Store in a sealed container.

Nutrition

Calories: 69kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 55IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.5mg