These Nutella biscuits have a crunchy, golden brown shortbread biscuit base with a creamy chocolate hazelnut filling and a heart shaped biscuit top. The easy dough is made with honey and brown sugar, as a nod to the flavors in the packaged Italian made Ferrero Nutella biscuits that this recipe imitates.
These biscuits are my version of Nutella Biscuits, which are made in Italy and sold throughout Europe. If you want to source them in the US, it's hard to find them outside of specialty international grocery stores or Amazon.
With so many people complaining about their packages arriving in crumbles, I thought it would be fun to come up with my own biscuit recipe with Nutella.
For the honey brown sugar cookies, I adapted the pasta frola dough from my quince tart recipe. When I made the tart, I had leftover dough that I made into cookies. They turned out so nicely that I knew it would be a good starting point.
I omitted the baking powder from that recipe in order to obtain more crunch, and added honey and brown sugar to more closely match the ingredients found in packaged Nutella biscuits. The easy shortcrust pastry dough results in a cookie that's packed full of buttery, honey flavor - much more than you'd get from the store-bought version.
I hope you enjoy giving these fun little chocolate hazelnut filled cookies a try!
If you like Nutella desserts, you'll also like this crostata alla nutella, an easy Italian tart made with a rich Nutella filling and a similar pasta frola dough.
And for more copycat recipes, try my versions of Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies, Oreo cookies and Golden Oreos.
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Ingredients
* See recipe card for detailed list of ingredients and quantities.
- Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter allows you to control the total quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand.
- Brown sugar - Either light or dark brown sugar is fine to use here. Brown sugar adds sweetness and gives the cookie a wonderful caramel taste.
- Honey - Honey adds unique flavor, and the liquid helps bind the ingredients together.
- All purpose flour - Flour binds the dough together.
- Kosher salt - for enhanced flavor.
- Egg - One whole egg serves as a binder and adds fat and flavor to the dough. Lightly beating the egg before adding to the dough helps reduce the total amount of mixing time, ensuring that the dough remains tender.
- Nutella - The finished cookies are filled with Nutella, a sweet spread made with hazelnuts and cocoa. Feel free to use any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread.
Instructions
Learn how to make Nutella biscuits! Follow the photos and step by step instructions for details.
Make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and honey on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add flour and salt. Mix on medium low speed until mixture resembles fine sand. Scrape down the bowl several times to ensure no large pieces of butter remain.
Add beaten egg. Mix on low speed just until mixture comes together. Do not over mix.
Gather dough into a rectangle. Separate the dough into two uneven portions - one should be ⅔ of the dough, and the other should be ⅓. Flatten each dough piece into a round disc.
Roll out dough to ⅛ inch thick between two pieces of parchment paper. Refrigerate rolled dough (still in parchment) on an upside down baking sheet for 30+ minutes.
Remove larger sheet of dough from refrigerator. Loosen both layers of parchment paper, but keep dough on a parchment base. Using a 2 ¾ inch round cookie cutter, cut out 28 circles. Place the circles into the wells of standard muffin pans.
Center each dough circle in the muffin pan before pressing. Press so the edge comes up the sides evenly, as a lopsided shape will be difficult to fill.
Use your fingers (or the base of a small glass) to press the dough into the muffin pan.
Using the smaller sheet of dough, cut out 28 circles using a 1 ¾ inch round cookie cutter. Cut out 28 small 1 inch hearts. Place each heart in the center of a dough circle. Press 12 lines into the dough around the heart.
Bake cookie bases at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, and cookie tops for 10-11 minutes, until evenly golden brown around the edges. Set aside to cool.
Fill the Bases: Using a piping bag or spoon, fill each cookie base with 1 teaspoon of Nutella. Gently shake the base to evenly distribute the filling.
Add the Top: Carefully place a heart-shaped top onto the center of the filling.
Press and Set: Press down gently and evenly until the top is level with the outer edge of the base. The filling should rise up and peek out slightly between the layers.
Substitutions
- Honey - Feel free to substitute honey with golden syrup for a similar consistency and flavor. You can also use maple syrup, but note that it will give the cookies a more pronounced maple flavor.
- Brown sugar - If you find yourself out of brown sugar, you can make these biscuits with Nutella with an equal amount of granulated sugar. They'll have a slightly less golden color and caramel flavor but are still very good - I tested them both ways and both received great reviews.
Variations
While this recipe is inspired by the classic Nutella biscuit, feel free to add your own twist. Here are a few of my favorite ideas for changing the filling or the shape.
Filling Variations
- Chocolate Ganache: Use a simple chocolate ganache instead of Nutella. Try the dark chocolate ganache recipe from my Triple Chocolate Drip Cake.
- Dulce de leche: Swap the nutella for dulce de leche. Use store-bought or my easy homemade dulce de leche recipe.
- PB & J: Replace the Nutella with a mix of half peanut butter (or another nut butter) and half jam for a classic flavor combination.
Simpler Sandwich Cookie Variation
You can also make these as simple sandwich cookies instead of the tart-like base and topper.
- Use a single cookie cutter to cut out all the dough shapes.
- Bake and cool completely.
- Spread Nutella on the bottom side of one cookie and gently press another cookie on top to create a sandwich.
- You may need to adjust the baking time depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
Equipment
Pastry Guides - The secret to professional-looking cookies is rolling the dough to a uniform thickness. The best way to do this is with a set of pastry guides. I recommend these acrylic guides from Fat Daddio's because you can still use your favorite rolling pin. They help guarantee an even and crisp batch every time.
Round Cookie Cutters - For perfect circles, a good set of round cutters is essential. I own this 11-piece round cookie cutter set. It gives you every size you could possibly need and the edges are sharp for a clean cut.
Heart Cookie Cutter - The 1 inch mini heart shaped cookie cutter from this set makes adding the decorative heart quick and easy.
Muffin Pans - I use and recommend King Arthur Baking muffin pans made by USA Pan. They're excellent quality metal pans that bake evenly. You'll need two standard muffin pans to make the base of the cookies.
Piping Bags - These are great quality 16 inch piping bags. They're strong, textured on the outside for better grip and are a convenient size for all your baking projects.
Storage
Store the Nutella biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. To prevent the cookies from sticking together, place a sheet of parchment paper between the layers.
These biscuits can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Frequently asked questions
Outside of North America, the word biscuit typically refers to what Americans call a crispy, buttery cookie. Since this recipe is based on a European product, I kept the original biscuit name to honor its origins, rather than calling them Nutella cookies.
This is usually a sign that the dough is too warm. Chilling is key. If refrigerating isn't enough, try placing the rolled-out dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before cutting. This will firm it up considerably and make it much easier to handle.
This can happen if the dough is a bit too wet. For best results, weigh your ingredients for accuracy. Letting the finished biscuits cool completely on a wire rack will also help them firm up.
Love this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating. ★★★★★ Your feedback, suggestions, and adaptations are very helpful to other bakers!
📖 Recipe
Nutella Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
- 170 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
- 75 grams brown sugar, light
- 63 grams honey
- 300 grams all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, Diamond Crystal
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 420 grams Nutella, or similar chocolate hazelnut spread
INSTRUCTIONS
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and honey on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.170 grams unsalted butter, 75 grams brown sugar, 63 grams honey
- Add flour and salt. Mix on medium low speed until mixture resembles fine sand. Scrape down the bowl several times to ensure no large pieces of butter remain.300 grams all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add beaten egg. Mix on low speed just until mixture comes together. Do not over mix.1 large egg
- Gather dough into a rectangle. Separate the dough into two uneven portions - one should be ⅔ of the dough, and the other should be ⅓. Flatten each dough piece into a round disc.
- Roll out each piece of dough to a thickness of ⅛" between two pieces of parchment paper (or a lightly floured surface, if you don't have parchment). Refrigerate rolled dough (still in parchment) on an upside down baking sheet for 30+ minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177° Celsius, Gas mark 4).
- Remove the larger sheet of dough from the refrigerator. Loosen both layers of parchment paper, but keep the dough on a parchment base. Using a 2 ¾ inch round cookie cutter, cut out 28 circles. Place the circles into the wells of standard muffin tins You'll have to bake them in stages.
- Use your fingers (or the base of a shot glass/flat bottom of a whisk handle) to press the dough into the muffin tin. If the dough gets sticky while you're pressing it in, put the muffin tin in the refrigerator for a few minutes to cool. Once pressed in, chill cookie bases in freezer for 10 minutes.
- Bake the cookie bases for 10-12 minutes, until firm and evenly golden brown around the edges.
- Using the smaller sheet of dough, cut out 28 circles using a 1 ¾ inch round cookie cutter. Evenly space the circles on a parchment lined baking sheet in 4 rows of 6.
- Cut out a small 1 inch heart using a mini heart cookie cutter. Place it in the center of each circle.
- Using the end of a paperclip or something similar (the handle end of my teaspoon made this shape), press 12 lines into the dough around the heart as if marking the hours on a clock face. Chill tops for 10 minutes in the freezer.
- Bake the cookie tops for 10-11 minutes, until evenly golden brown. Cool on sheet.
- Using a piping bag or a spoon, fill each cookie base with 12-14 grams (1 teaspoon) of Nutella. Gently shake the filled base back and forth to evenly distribute the Nutella. Carefully place a circular heart top onto the center of the Nutella. Press down carefully and wiggle the cookie top in a circular motion a tiny bit to sink the cookie into the Nutella so that it's flush with the outer cookie edge. The Nutella filling should rise up so that it's visibly peeking out between the base and the top of the cookie.420 grams Nutella
iliana says
HI!! I LOVE SO MUCH THIS RECIPE, BUT I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD USE THE BISCUIT BASE FOR A CHEESECAKE CRUST??? SHOULD I TREAT THEM ONCE THEY ARE BAKED AND THEN CRUSH THEM WITH BUTTER?? sorry for the caps, hope you answer, thank you
Kathleen Culver says
Hi Iliana,
Thanks so much for your question!
I'm glad you enjoy this recipe!
I haven't tried using them for a cheesecake crust before, but I think they might work just like other cookies!
I can't guarantee the results since I haven't specifically tested for this possibility.
If you do give it a try, please let me know the outcome.
Thanks,
Kathleen
Dan says
So happy to have found this recipe, it was very promising. My only issue is the biscuits were a tad soft and rather sweet (for my personal taste). Next time I give this a go I might cut out the honey or cut back on the sugar. I’m hoping that if I leave them in the fridge for an hour or so they’ll toughen up.
amy says
These came out great! Thank you for sharing.
Amy
Corinna Wildenauer says
These biscuits are really good. They are so tasty and crisp but not hard. The only problem I had was getting them off the parchment paper, even after refrigerating. I ended up putting the rolled out dough in the freezer so it took me a long time to make by the time you wait and reuse the offcuts.
Kathleen Culver says
Hi Corinna,
Thanks so much for your comment.
That parchment experience sounds so frustrating - I haven't had that problem before with this recipe.
Did you weigh your ingredients, or use volume measurements?
I wonder if your dough was a bit wetter than mine?
I think you came up with a great workaround!
Kathleen
Mika says
Love this!! Such a yummy biccy so glad I found this recipe how would i go about making them a bit more grainy texture (almost like the breakfast wheat thins,more similar to the original nutella biscuit)
June says
i love these nutella biscuits my brother bought them for us when he came back from a trip and i keep thinking about them, i’m so glad i found this recipe, this looks totally delicious so I’ll definitely try to make it! Anyway, do you use a cold or room temperature butter for this recipe?
Kathleen Culver says
Hi June,
Thank you!
I had so much fun making these. I hope you give them a try!
The butter should be at room temperature.
I've updated the recipe to reflect that detail.
Kathleen
Kristen Anderson says
I didn't like the flavor of the cookie part. it took away from the Nutella flavor and also didn't taste like the original Nutella biscuits. don't think I'll be making this again
Kathleen Culver says
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for your feedback.
I hope you find a recipe that you enjoy!
Kathleen
luna says
Amazing!!!!!!!!! *Was so good and I had a professional make them* 🙂
love,L
Kathleen Culver says
Thank you so much!
I'm glad you loved them.
Kathleen