Preparation
Put the hazelnut milk creme spread in a bowl with the egg and whisk until smooth and combined. Carefully fold in the flour until you have a soft dough. Chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 and line two baking trays with baking paper. Scoop a small spoonful of the dough and roll into a ball with your hand, placing on the lined baking trays. Repeat until you’ve used all the dough, you should get around 15 balls. Use your thumb to press down in the middle of the balls to create an indent.
Put the rich chocolate hazelnut spread in a piping bag with a star nozzle attached and pipe a little in each indent. Finally chop the hazelnuts or almonds for crunch, if using, and scatter over the chocolate spread in the middle. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, they will still be quite soft, and leave to cool on the trays for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
An Italian favourite with a morning coffee, these clever little cookies are made with just a handful of ingredients. Top with chopped nuts for extra crunch or finish with a dusting of icing sugar.