Enjoy these German Christmas hazelnut cookies this holiday season – they are soft and slightly crumbly without being chewy and packed with a nutty flavor. Plus, this recipe uses just 7 ingredients, is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and ready in 25 minutes!
People associate several foods with Christmas, from specific mains to the sides and the desserts. For me, I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for German Christmas cookies like these hazelnut cookies. I’ve already recently posted my vegan, gluten-free cookie recipes for Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars) and Snickerdoodles (perfect for enjoying year-round). Still, you can never go overboard with different vegan cookies for the holidays!
Personally, Christmas is all about getting in the kitchen and baking wonderful, aromatic goodies for friends and family (if you don’t eat them all first, that is). These cookies should definitely be on your bake list this year.
Soft & Nutty German Christmas Cookies
As it is, there are several varieties of German hazelnut cookies. Nussmakronen (or, more specifically, Haselnussmakronen) are a type of hazelnut macaroons that are soft, chewy, and pillowy. Meanwhile, there are harder versions too, that are crumblier in texture and have more in common with traditional sugar cookies.
This recipe lies more towards the latter. These vegan cookies are soft in the middle, not too crisp, and not as airy as traditional macaroon-style cookies due to the omission of egg white in the recipe. I’d liken them most to the texture of vegan shortbread cookies, with a thumbprint cookie aesthetic.
Best of all, there are only two super-simple steps to making these cookies, and they’re ready in under 30 minutes! Perfect for whipping up at a moment’s notice whenever the cookie cravings arise! Plus, this recipe is gluten-free and can even be made into sugar-free cookies too!
Here are the ingredients that I used:
How To Make Hazelnut Cookies
Step One: Prepare the hazelnut cookie dough
- First, preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Then, if you’re using whole hazelnuts, process them in a food processor/blender into a coarse powder. Add the flour, powdered sugar (or Erythritol for sugar-free cookies), and baking powder to the processor. Process again for 20 seconds.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend into a soft dough.
Step Two: Form & bake the cookies
- Use a tablespoon or small ice-cream scoop to portion the dough and shape it into balls by hand. Place on the baking sheet, flatten slightly (but not much), and press a whole hazelnut into the middle of each cookie.
If you flatten the cookies more (so they’re less like thumbprint cookies and more like general cookies), then they’re likely to be crisper.
Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes. They’ll still be soft when first removed from the oven – allow them to cool completely before enjoying!
I often store them in the fridge, and they will become firmer.
For the full ingredients list, ingredient measurements, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
Storing Instructions
Store the hazelnut cookies in a cookie tin/another airtight container in a cool place for up to 2 weeks. They can also be stored in the fridge for about 3 weeks, though they will become firmer.
How to freeze: You can also make the cookie dough ahead and freeze it, wrapped in plastic wrap for up to one month. Alternatively, shape the cookies, freeze them on a baking tray then transfer them to a bag to take up less space in the freezer. Allow the cookies to thaw before baking.
Ingredient Subs & Variations
- Flour: I made these into gluten-free cookies by using rice flour, but you can use regular flour or spelt flour if you are not gluten-free. I do not recommend coconut flour in this recipe because it’s too absorbent.
- Sugar: I used powdered Erythritol for sugar-free cookies, but you can use icing sugar if you like. The cookies are less sweet with powdered Erythritol. The type of sugar you use will affect the cookies’ texture – powdered creates soft, tender cookies, whereas granulated will be crispier.
- Vegan butter: I used vegan margarine, but any vegan butter should work fine. Coconut oil (softened) should work sufficiently, as well.
- Baking time: If you flatten these cookies more, they will be done a few minutes earlier. I left mine quite chubby (similar to thumbprint cookies), and therefore, baked them for about 16 minutes.
- Orange: I love the flavor of fresh orange juice and zest. Alternatively, you could use lemon instead.
- You can make these cookies into hazelnut thumbprint cookies by making an indentation in the center before baking. Once cooled, add your favorite jam or vegan Nutella to the center of the cookie.
- Alternatively, you can optionally make a simple glaze for these hazelnut cookies with a mixture of orange juice (or lemon juice) and icing sugar (or powdered Xylitol). For more ‘adult’ vegan cookies, then use a splash of liquor with the icing sugar.
- There’s no need to chill this dough before placing it on the baking sheet, as the cookies naturally don’t spread much while baking.
More Vegan Christmas Recipes
If you enjoy these German cookies, you might like some of my other German-inspired bakes. I’ve included some of my favorite Christmas bakes below too!
- Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars)
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Easy Apple Strudel with Puff Pastry
- Vegan Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel
- Vegan Fruit Cake with Chocolate
- Apple Crisp Without Oats
- Homemade Marzipan Recipe
If you try this vegan recipe for hazelnut cookies, I’d love a comment and recipe ★★★★★ rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan/ #elavegan – I love seeing your recreations.
And since I’m on such a baking spree at the moment. Let me know in the comments what other German Christmas cookies and bakes you’d like me to veganize! 🙂
Hazelnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (100 g) hazelnuts ground + 16 whole hazelnuts
- 2/3 cup (80 g) flour I used rice flour
- 1/2 slightly heaped cup (70 g) powdered sugar (I used Erythritol)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup (50 g) vegan butter (*see notes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams on a kitchen scale for this recipe. Also, watch the video in the post for easy visual instructions.
- If using whole hazelnuts, process them in a food processor/blender into a coarse powder Then add flour, sugar, and baking powder. Blend again for about 20 seconds.
- Add vegan butter, orange juice, and vanilla extract and blend until you have a soft dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little more vegan butter.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to portion the dough. Use your hands to shape the dough into balls and place them on the lined baking sheet. Flatten them slightly and press a whole hazelnut into the middle of each cookie.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for about 15-16 minutes. They will be still quite soft when you take them out. Let them cool completely and enjoy!
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- Flour: I made the recipe gluten-free by using 80 grams of rice flour, but you can use regular flour or spelt flour. I do not recommend coconut flour in this recipe because it's too absorbing.
- Sugar: I used powdered Erythritol for sugar-free cookies, but you can use icing sugar if you like. The cookies are less sweet with powdered Erythritol.
- Vegan butter: I used vegan margarine but any vegan butter should work fine. Coconut oil (softened) should work fine as well.
- Baking time: If you flatten the cookies more, they will be done a few minutes earlier. I left mine quite chubby, and therefore, baked them for about 16 minutes.
- Check the step-by-step photos in the blog post above.
- Nutrition facts calculated with icing sugar. If using powdered Erythritol, 1 cookie will have about 76 calories and 5 grams of carbs.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!
I know this is a vegan recipe, but for non vegans, can you substitute vegan butter for real butter?
Yes, you can.
Hi Ela,
Planning to make these hazelnut cookies and thumbprints tomorrow morning, question once cooled can you freeze them.
Thanks, Sara
Yes, that’s fine, Sara. 🙂
Oooooh these cookies are delicious!!! I couldn’t help moaning when I tasted them. I love it when my body does that, it’s my perfect guide 😀
I used a little less sugar and a little more zest I think. Darn they are heaven! Thank you for all your love and hard work. <3 <3 <3
You are very welcome, Daphne! So glad you like them. 🙂
Thank you Ela for this lovely recipe!!! So easy and delicious. As I am not a fan of rice flour I used 80 gr of freshly ground rye berries. Alert to your warning not to use drying flour I increased the shortening to 80gr. For sweetener I used used 2 tbs of sugar and added 100 gr of chopped prunes and dates, plenty sweet and probably added to stickiness of dough, can probably reduce to 1 tbs of sugar or even eliminate the organic sugar all together. Thank you again for recipe and beautiful presentation,
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Just baked a batch and they’re almost all gone 🙂
Family loved them. It’s a perfect recipe and they turned out great.
I love your cookie recipes. I also tried your Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies a few weeks ago that were also a big hit.
Yay, that makes me so happy, Maria! Thanks for your lovely feedback. 🙂
I just baked mine. Love hazelnuts! Not sure why but mine came out more flat….
Hi Monika, did the cookies spread while baking? Or did you maybe flatten them too much? 🙂
Hi. Can I use maple syrup as sweetener? Thank you.
Hi Mary, I am not sure, as this will affect the texture of the cookies. 🙂
Hi Ela
I love your recipes, especially this one!
Crunchy cookies are my favorite, so I used cane sugar (don’t have Erythritol) and they turned out great!
But is it possible to make these cookies MORE healthy? I absolutely love everything with banana’s, so can I use very ripe ones instead of butter and/or sugar? Or will the cookies become very soft? I think I read somewhere that banana’s make everything moist…?
Hey, cookies normally need butter or oil to be soft, but you can try using bananas. The texture will be definitely different though, but they can still be yummy. You could also add some nut butter like peanut butter or cashew butter to add a little more healthy fat and maybe some dates for more sweetness.
They seemed so good I had to try them!
Unfortunately, they didn’t come out like yours at all: they spread (still round but not holding their shape) and they were too crispy, not the texture in your pictures :/
I wonder what was wrong, you don’t say in your recipe if the butter needs to be room temp? Mine was quite hard so I let it at room temps until squishable.
I’ll try to place the dough in the fridge for an hour next time and hope for the best!
Sorry to hear they didn’t turn out well, Eva. I used softened vegan margarine, and they didn’t really spread. They were soft, thick, and not crispy at all, as you can see in the video.
Yes, I would suggest chilling the dough in the fridge for a bit, and bake them a few minutes shorter. 🙂
Thank you Ela, will try that. Indeed they seem delish on the video!
My bf loved them crispy though ^^
Hehe, I am glad your BF loved them crispy. 🙂
I love it ????. Thank you for the recipe it’s perfect on the way you made. I will make it again in the next few days ????????
I am so glad you liked it, Anita. 🙂
Thanks, Ela.
So in this recipe, I can try to use a very ripe banana instead of the butter (50g)? Or also instead of the sugar (70g)?
I was wondering if you have a recipe for banana cookies/muffins? I already tried the banana bread, it was delicious!
Hi Levie, I never tried it, so you will need to experiment. I think they will be quite chewy and not very sweet if you use a banana instead of the butter/sugar. Maybe it’s better if you make these banana muffins instead. 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! I love hazelnuts, so cookies are nice, but heavy ????
I used coconut oil, which did the job, but cookies were rather crumbly and a bit greassy. I think butter would work better.
I will also try adding some instant coffee next time ????☕
Hello, yes, vegan butter works better (it’s 80% fat and oil is 100%), therefore, I used margarine.
Instant coffee sounds like a great idea. 🙂
Could you do a vegan Käsekuchen?
I have lots of vegan cheesecake recipes on my blog. For example this Baked Vegan Cheesecake or this No-Bake Cheesecake. There are many more though. 🙂
Hi Ella, do you think powdered coconut sugar will work!? Thanks ????
Hi Jessica! Yes, that will definitely work. The cookies will be a bit darker though. 🙂