Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- cup all-natural, unsweetened applesauce
- cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until you can smell them, 8-10 minutes.
- Let cool, then remove the brown papery skins by rubbing the nuts in your hands or a dish towel. It’s kind of messy, so I usually do this over the sink. You need to get rid of the skins. They don’t taste good.
- Chop the nuts coarsely and set aside.
- In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, espresso powder and cocoa powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.
- Whisk in applesauce until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir together until combined.
- Stir in coconut, chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.
- Place a piece of parchment paper onto an ungreased baking sheet. If you don’t want to use parchment, no worries, just don’t grease the baking sheet.
- Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet.
- These spread out, so make sure you leave enough room on the baking sheet.
- Bake 9 minutes.
- When you remove the baking sheet from the oven, bang it against the counter to “deflate” the cookies. I usually just drop it kind of hard, and that does the trick.
- Let cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
- When completely cool, transfer to an airtight container, where they’ll keep for about 3 days.