Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cloud Cookies

Intensely chocolatey, with a meringue-like outer shell that gives way to an interior as rich and gooey as a perfect brownie - or sub walnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts... you get the idea

I’ve found my favorite cookie recipe. Full stop.

These cookies are intensely chocolatey, with a meringue-like outer shell that gives way to an interior as rich and gooey as a perfect brownie. They’re the kind of cookies that make you pause after the first bite and involuntarily sigh with pleasure (surely I’m not the only one?) Somehow light and airy (only 1.5 tablespoons of flour in the batch!!) and crazy chocolate-rich at the same time. You may even eat the whole batch trying to figure out how to describe them (okay I ate 3/4 of one batch.)

Inspired by a Williams Sonoma recipe I loved as a kid (if kid me could make them, adult you definitely can) and a meringue-like chocolate cookie from my favorite bakery in Montclair, California, these look like something straight out of a fancy bakery—but they come together with minimal effort and just a handful of basic ingredients. Whether you’re baking them as Christmas gifts or keeping the whole batch for yourself (no judgment), these cookies will have you tossing a bag of chocolate chips into your shopping cart just because.

I absolutely love recipes like this. Basic pantry ingredients, adaptable (choose your favorite nuts), unfussy, and guaranteed to make you look like a pro—even if you’re winging it. And they are SO QUICK TO MAKE. Knowing you’re just 20 minutes away from the idea of cookies to actually holding one in your hand is almost sorcery. With 10 minutes of active time and 10 minutes in the oven, you’re basically one preheated oven away from cookie greatness.

NOTES:

Need them gluten-free? Skip the flour. While the very small amount of flour adds some nice structure, I’ve also made them without flour. I prefer the flour version but either way, they’re delicious and I’d happily gobble either up. If you do skip the flour, you can also leave out the baking powder. I haven’t tried it with gluten free flour but I’m sure that will work great.

Nuts. My favorite nuts to add are hazelnuts, walnuts or macadamia nuts but you could do peanuts, pecans, etc.. My kids were really desperate to put mini marshmallows in which works, but the marshmallows will melt a bit and the finished cookie will be a bit more spread out with some sticky pockets (see top right photo.) Allergic to nuts? Substitute more chocolate chips or some other add in (dried cherries, mini pretzles, corn flakes, crisped rice, chocolate covered espresso beans….)

Other flavors. I’ve substituted the vanilla extract for pepermint and coffee extract (not together!) with great success.

Equipment. Standing mixer? Totally optional. An electric hand mixer or even a whisk will do. No parchment paper or Silpat? Aluminum foil, shiny side down, will do the trick. Or get a silpat like this set of two from Amazon basics or this set in the traditional orange trim. If you want the fun checkered ones I have you can find them here (2 for $40.). I use a 1 oz scooper for these cookies, but a heaping tablespoon will also work.

Need more? Double the recipe. I like making small batches but you can easily double this recipe.