These chewy hazelnut brownies are rich, chocolatey, filled with roasted hazelnuts, and then swirled with creamy hazelnut butter! They're the perfect texture between fudgy and cakey brownies and super easy to make!
If you love the chocolate hazelnut combo, you might also like these chocolate hazelnut cupcakes or these Nutella macarons!
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Ingredient Notes
You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make these fudgy chocolate hazelnut brownies!
Cocoa Powder - My absolute favorite cocoa powder to use in my baking is the King Arthur Flour Triple Cocoa Blend! It's a blend of natural, Dutch, and black cocoa and is perfect for any baking. But this recipe will work great with whatever cocoa you have on hand! You can use either natural cocoa or Dutch processed cocoa!
Butter - I like using melted butter for flavor, but you can also sub a neutral vegetable oil if you prefer.
Sugar - I use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar, but you can easily swap and use just one or the other.
Hazelnuts - I love adding finely chopped hazelnuts to the brownie batter for texture and crunch. But you could also make these brownies with almonds, peanuts, or pecans!
Hazelnut Butter - My favorite jarred hazelnut butter is from Italy (not exactly accessible lol) but you can also find it at a lot of health food stores, or make your own! You can also substitute a chocolate hazelnut spread like Nutella if you prefer!
Flaky Sea Salt - This is optional but I just love the way the sea salt compliments the rich chocolate and hazelnuts! I exclusively use Maldon Sea Salt for topping my baked goods!
You can also add in some chopped chocolate chunks along with the chopped hazelnuts if you want!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Hazelnut Butter
Homemade nut butter is surprisingly easy to make! You just need:
- ½ cup hazelnuts*
- food processor
- Remove as many of the skins from the hazelnuts as you can. If you rub them with a towel, they fall off pretty easily!
- Add the hazelnuts to a food processor and blend for about 2 minutes at a time, until smooth and creamy. The longer you blend, the runnier the hazelnut butter will be. After each interval, be sure to scrape down the sides of the food processor. [If the food processor starts to get warm and over heat a bit, let it rest for about 5 minutes before blending again.]
- Transfer the hazelnut butter to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 months!
*I use the dry-roasted, unsalted hazelnuts from Trader Joe's. If you buy raw hazelnuts, you can roast them at 325°F for about 15 minutes.
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color. To get crinkly brownie tops, be sure to whisk the sugar and eggs for at least 4-5 minutes (a hand mixer is very helpful for this).
Then add in the vanilla and mix until smooth.
Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
Then gently fold in the chopped hazelnuts.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the brownies right out of the pan!
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the hazelnut brownies come out easily.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
Drop small spoonful's of hazelnut butter on top of the brownies and swirl into the brownie batter.
Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired, and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Brownies!
(and blondies too!)
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. Same goes for cocoa powder!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Use a metal baking pan! Not all materials are created equal when it comes to baking. Metal cake pans conduct heat much better than other materials like glass or ceramic, so your baked goods will cook faster and more evenly!
It's better to undercook the brownies slightly, than overcook them! Brownies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking brownies! Bake just until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the brownies will take to cook.
Be patient and let them cool. Warm brownies fresh out of the oven are delish, I know. But it's best to let them fully cool before digging in. The brownies will be less likely to crumble when you cut them and the center is more likely to be fully cooked while still being perfectly fudgy.
Recipe FAQ's
Brownies are best eaten within the first 2-3 days, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Yes! These hazelnut brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months! I recommend cutting the brownies into squares before freezing. To thaw, you can either place in the fridge overnight or reheat in the microwave.
Nope! You can use whatever type of nut you prefer! You can use the same method with almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc.
To get crinkly tops on your hazelnut brownies, be sure to beat the eggs and sugar together for at least 4-5 minutes! This incorporates extra air into the batter which is what helps form those crinkly tops!
To get clean slices of these hazelnut brownies, run a super sharp knife under hot water until the blade is warm, then wipe it dry. Then cut a single slice and repeat. It's a bit tedious to clean the knife before every cut, but you get perfect slices every time!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Hazelnut Brownies
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup chopped hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut butter, substitute chocolate hazelnut spread
- flaky sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until fully incorporated and the batter starts to get lighter in color. To get crinkly brownie tops, be sure to whisk the sugar and eggs for at least 4-5 minutes. Then add in the vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Fold in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and mix until the batter is just combined.
- Then gently fold in the chopped hazelnuts.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan).
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Drop small spoonful's of hazelnut butter on top of the brownies and swirl into the brownie batter.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the brownies out of the pan.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy!
- Brownies are best eaten within the first 2-3 days, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Amy says
Can this be made without the hazelnut butter or hazelnut chocolate spread? Can I just substitute 2 T of melted chocolate instead?
Kyleigh Sage says
Yes you can just leave it out! Swirling melted chocolate into the top won't really do anything, but you can mix in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate instead!
Cheryl says
Absolutely the best! I followed the recipe exactly as written…..buying the hazelnut spread as well. Wonderful texture, rich cocoa flavor with plenty of cocoa powder in the recipe. Added 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder to cocoa (only alteration)
Thanks!
Natalie says
Beautiful brownies. The texture is amazing and the flavors sound so delicious. I have to bake this soon. Thanks for the recipe.