by These homemade Biscotti with Nutella and Hazelnuts have a delightful twist from the more classic biscotto. They’re enriched with swirls of creamy Nutella for a little indulgence and are once-baked, yielding a tender, fragrant crumb, perfect for dunking in your morning cup of coffee.
A Twist on Traditional Italian Biscotti
Traditional Italian biscotti are known for being twice-baked with a dry, crisp texture and oblong shape.
This Nutella biscotti recipe offers a slight modern twist by incorporating a silky hazelnut spread over the rolled-out dough.
The result is a chocolate-hazelnut biscotti that still maintains that signature crunch Italians adore, but with a more tender, indulgent flavour profile.
It’s a perfect biscotti recipe for home bakers of all levels and makes a wonderful addition to holiday cookie trays, dessert tables, or even as beautifully packaged, homemade gifts.
The combination of the swirled Nutella ribbons, toasted hazelnuts, and whimsical sugar granules elevates a traditional Italian cookie without losing its rustic charm.
Key Ingredients for Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
To make these Nutella biscotti, you’ll need just a few simple pantry staples that you probably already have on hand.
The star ingredients, however, are the ever-popular Nutella and roasted hazelnuts.
Nutella offers an irresistible creamy-textured filling, creating an indulgent treat. You can also substitute the Nutella with your favourite hazelnut or chocolate spread.
Roasted Hazelnuts provide a rich nutty taste which complements the Nutella filling. For optimal freshness, roast your own hazelnuts, then remove the skins and grind to a fine consistency. (See below on how to roast hazelnuts in the oven)
Step-by-Step How to Make Nutella Biscotti
1 – Place the flour, finely ground hazelnuts, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2 – With the paddle attachment, stir to combine or use a wooden spoon. Alternatively, you can use a food processor to follow the same directions and pulse the ingredients together to combine.
3 – Add in the cold cubed butter.
4 – With the paddle attachment, mix on medium-low speed until you achieve a coarse sandy consistency. If there are a few larger pieces, that’s ok.
5 – Mix in the slightly beaten eggs along with both the vanilla and amaretto extracts until well combined.
6 – You will have a soft, workable dough ready to be divided into two fairly equal portions. For biscotti logs of the same size, use a kitchen scale to weigh your dough, divide it in half and measure each half so you have 2 equal-sized portions.
7 – Divide the biscotti dough into 2 portions, wrap and chill for one hour.
8 – On a work surface, roll out the piece of dough between two sheets of wax paper to approximately 12 inches long, six inches wide and about 1/4 inch thick.
Remove the top sheet of wax paper, leaving the bottom sheet underneath the rolled dough. (you’ll be using it to help roll the biscotti log)
9 – Spread half the Nutella over the rolled out dough to about a half inch off the edges.
10 – Start rolling the log from the longest width with the help of the wax paper underneath it by lifting the paper and easing the dough over the Nutella.
Continue rolling with the help of the wax paper, and seal the edges by pinching the dough together and tucking them underneath.
With the help of the wax paper, lift and transfer the logs onto the prepared baking sheet, seam-side down. Make sure to leave enough room between the 2 logs because they will spread out somewhat.
11 – Brush the biscotti logs with the beaten egg white and sprinkle the tops and sides with sugar granules. You can substitute the decorative sugar granules with sanding sugar or turbinado sugar.
12 – Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for approximately 35 minutes. The Nutella biscotti will be golden brown in colour when ready and will feel firm to the touch. Then, allow the biscotti to cool and slice.
If you love traditional Italian cookies like these Nutella and hazelnut biscotti, you may also enjoy exploring some of my other favourite recipes. From classic Almond Biscotti with a tropical twist to everyone’s favourite Lemon Poppy Seed combo.
And, one that’s on repeat at my house are these tender Cherry Biscotti made with the semi-candied Amarena Fabbri cherries soaked in syrup and roasted pistachios.
Any of these treats is sure to become a new favourite and on repeat in your own kitchen. They’re all perfectly delicious and perfectly dunkable.
How to Roast Hazelnuts
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the hazelnuts in a single layer onto a cookie sheet or low-rimmed baking pan and roast for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them after 10 minutes so they don’t burn.
The hazelnuts are ready when they have a golden-brown hue and are wonderfully fragrant. As they roast, you’ll notice the skins crack and separate from the hazelnut.
Transfer the hazelnuts onto a clean dish towel, cover to enclose and rub with a back-and-forth motion until the skins fall off.
Allow to cool and use in your favourite recipes.
How to Cut Biscotti
This is a delicate dough, so allow the Nutella cookies to cool 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. This way, you’ll get nice, neat cuts when slicing the cookies.
I wouldn’t recommend a serrated knife for these tender rolled cookies because they’ll easily break apart.
Use a sharp, sturdy knife with the tip pointed downwards to make swift, fluid cuts.
Also, you can slice them diagonally or straight up. Diagonally cut biscotti will yield a more elongated cookie. It’s just a matter of preference!
How Long Do Biscotti Keep
Because of the higher fat content in these Nutella and Hazelnut Rolled Biscotti they’ll have a shorter shelf life then ones made with a little or no fat.
These Nutella-filled biscotti are at their freshest when stored in an airtight container for up to one week for optimal flavour. However, at my house, they only last a few days.
Happy Baking!
This post was originally published on November 13, 2020 and republished on February 18, 2026, with updated content and photos.
Biscotti with Nutella and Hazelnuts
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour (275 grams)
- 1/2 cup whole roasted hazelnuts (see notes below) (finely ground, 70 grams)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (135 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (I used fine sea salt)
- orange zest (from a medium size orange)
- 3/4 cup cold butter, cubed (170 grams)
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon amaretto extract
Biscotti Filling
- 2/3 cup Nutella
Topping for Biscotti
- beaten egg white (from a large egg)
- 1/2 cup sugar granules (55 grams)
Instructions
- Place the flour, hazelnuts, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest directly in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine.
- Add in the cubed butter and mix together till you get a sandy texture.
- Mix in the beaten eggs and extracts until well combined and you have a soft workable dough.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Wrap and chill for 1 hour, so that it's easier to roll.
- Work with one piece at a time while keeping the other covered.
- Place one piece of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper. (Dust with a little flour if needed.)
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to approximately 12 inches long and 6 inches wide. And, approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- Remove the top parchment paper while keeping the bottom one in place.
- Spread half of the Nutella over the dough till about a 1/2 inch from the edge.
- Gently start rolling the log from the longest width with the help of the wax paper underneath it by lifting the paper up and easing the dough over the Nutella.
- Continue rolling by hanging on to the wax paper as you roll.
- Seal the edges by pinching the dough together and tucking them underneath.
- With the help of the wax paper, lift and transfer the log onto the prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
- Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
- Make sure to leave enough room between the 2 logs because they will spread out somewhat.
- Brush the tops of the logs with the beaten egg whites.
- Sprinkle the tops of the biscotti logs with the sugar granules.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F., for approximately 35 minutes.
- When ready the biscotti logs will have a deep golden brown colour and will feel firm to the touch.
- Allow the biscotti logs to cool for about 20 to 30 minutes before slicing into 1 inch slices.
- Cool completely before storing in an air tight container.
Nutella lovers, this cookie is delicious and easy to make. Thanks so much, I will file this recipe under a 5star rating and make it often.
Loulou
Thanks so much Lou! I’m happy to hear this and yes it’s definitely a must try for Nutella lovers! We can never get enough of these biscotti…they’re a keeper!
Can one make this without adding hazelnuts to the flour?
Hi Janice since I’ve only ever made these cookies with the addition of ground hazelnuts I can’t say with certainty! You may simply need to replace the hazelnuts with a little more flour!
Nice recipe, but I have a question, do I bake the biscotti again after cutting the logs?
Hi! No, these biscotti only have one bake. Enjoy!
Love these cookies, easy to make. Definitely a 5 star keeper.
Thanks so much Maria! It’s one of those cookies that disappear in a flash!
I’m afraid to try these because they’re not twice baked as a biscotti should be. They sound good though.
Growing up all cookies were called biscotto which is the singular form and also a generic term for us.
These have more of a butter content than the usual twice baked biscotti and they’re not much different than baking a regular buttery cookie.
Baking these twice would be over baking them and not quite the same end result.
We love them and I hope you get to try them!
Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
awesome and very easy despite rolling out dough. Only suggestion is that in step 6, the bottom sheet of paper is parchment, while in step 10, it is waxed paper. Tried both, found wax paper on bottom and parchment on top worked best.
Thanks so much for your feed back! I actually used parchment paper but will definitely try the wax paper next time. And I’ll correct that type-o.
Do you think I could sub almond flour for crushed hazelnuts?
Hi Stefanie, although I haven’t tried it with almond flour I don’t see why not. Just not sure if it’s equal part ratio to the ground hazelnuts. If you give it a go, let me know how it turns out!
Simply delicious! First time making these and they instantly became part of my ‘redo’ list. I used left over jams (one log with pear & cranberry and the other log with sour cherry jam) and they were just spectacular. The cookie dough is exactly how you described, tender and crumbly. The orange zest reminds me of childhood cookies my mom used to bake. Thank you again for sharing this recipe
You’re very welcome Marisa! So happy to hear you love them and that jam variation sounds delightful. Thank you for commenting!
The cookies are delicious but not sure why the top of the cookie log cracks There are no cracks when rolled out. Not sure what I am doing wrong?
Carla, you are not doing anything wrong! The biscotti dough is naturally prone to cracking and leaves a distinctive cracked appearance.
What is the measurement after the hazelnuts are already ground? I want to substitute already ground hazelnuts for the whole ones.
Julie round it off to 2/3 cup finely ground hazelnuts.
just wondering if you could make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it till ready to use?
Theresa, you can make the dough the day before you’re ready to bake and allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling.
Hi Marisa, these (once baked) biscotti were so delicious, they have become my new favourite! I will definitely be making these on repeat. Thankyou so much!
Hi Crissy, who can resist a Nutella-filled biscotti?!
can I use gluten flour free for this recipe?
Maria, I haven’t tried it with GF, so I couldn’t say. But if you give it a go do let me know.
A few additions if i may.
1-Its much better to weigh out the dough and evenly split in half.
2- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or 15 in freezer before rolling.
3- Spray some pam on the wax paper before rolling out dough. Top and bottom.
4- Re-chill dough nutella logs after you assemble and before backing.
It was so much easier to work with the dough after chilling and spraying paper.
Enjoy
Thanks for taking the time to write some excellent tips, Robert. Powdered sugar sprinkled over the wax paper also helps prevent sticking.