By Elina Chocolate hazelnut truffles are one ganache turned into four different finishes — a creamy classic, a liqueur crunch, a Ferrero-style centre and a triple chocolate Nutella version — and the thing that decides whether they work is the ganache ratio — two parts chocolate to one part cream by weight, chilled until firm enough to scoop. Get that right and the truffles roll clean; get it wrong and they smear. 20 minutes to make the ganache, 5 minutes on the heat, 2 hours chilling, 15 minutes rolling — 24 truffles.
Most truffle recipes lock you into one flavour and one coating. Here the ganache never changes — only the flavouring and the coating do — so one bowl gives you a mixed box instead of four recipes.
One ganache, four chocolate hazelnut truffles
The base for these chocolate hazelnut truffles is a 2:1 ganache: 8 oz (225 g) dark chocolate to 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream, with 2 tablespoons of butter for shine and hazelnut spread for flavour. The ratio is the whole recipe: more cream and the ganache stays soft and will not hold a ball; less cream and it sets hard and cracks when rolled. Weigh the chocolate; a cup measure varies by a third depending on how fine you chop it.
The four ways split after the ganache is made: the classic rolls in chopped hazelnuts; the crunch adds liqueur and a chocolate dip; the Ferrero-style hides a whole hazelnut inside; the Nutella way swaps half the dark chocolate for milk chocolate and uses chocolate-hazelnut spread as the main flavour. Same bowl, same chill, four truffles on the plate.
Make the ganache
Toast the hazelnuts first: spread 1 1/2 cups (180 g) on a baking tray and toast at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes, until they smell nutty and the skins loosen. Rub them in a tea towel until most skins come off, then chop finely. Raw hazelnuts taste flat in a truffle; toasted ones turn sweet and crisp.
Put 8 oz (225 g) of finely chopped dark chocolate (60–70% cocoa) and 2 tablespoons (28 g) of unsalted butter in a heatproof bowl. Heat 1/2 cup (120 ml) of heavy cream in a small pan until it just simmers — small bubbles around the edge — and take it off before it boils. Boiled cream can split a ganache.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave it alone for 2 minutes — the cream needs that time to melt the chocolate from the outside in. Then stir slowly from the centre outward until smooth and glossy, and stir in 3 tablespoons (45 g) of hazelnut spread, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt until the ganache is one even colour.
Press plastic wrap onto the surface and chill for 2 hours, until the ganache holds a spoon mark without closing over. Soft ganache smears; properly chilled ganache scoops clean.
Rolling chocolate hazelnut truffles without the mess
Scoop the chilled ganache with a tablespoon measure and roll each portion quickly between cold palms into a 1-inch ball. Work fast and in small batches: warm hands melt ganache, so rinse your hands under cold water between batches and keep the bowl in the fridge while you roll.
If a ball starts to soften and stick, chill it for 15 minutes on a parchment-lined tray before coating. A truffle that goes into its coating soft comes out lumpy; one that goes in cold comes out round and even. The video rushes past the rolling — take the time here and the finish will match the plate.
Four ways to finish them
1. The classic. Roll each ball in the finely chopped toasted hazelnuts, pressing gently so the nuts stick all over. This is the way the voiceover describes in full, and it is the recipe card below.
2. The crunch. Stir 1 tablespoon of hazelnut liqueur or dark rum into the ganache with the hazelnut spread. Roll the balls, chill 15 minutes, then dip each one in 4 oz (115 g) of melted dark chocolate on a fork, let the excess drip off, and roll at once in the chopped hazelnuts. The shell sets in minutes and gives the truffle its snap. The voiceover cuts off halfway through describing this one (“dipped in…”), but the dip is shown clearly on screen.
3. Ferrero-style, with a hidden hazelnut. Keep 24 whole hazelnuts aside, toasted and peeled. Flatten a portion of ganache in your palm, press a whole hazelnut into the centre, fold the ganache around it and roll into a ball, then roll in the chopped hazelnuts. Cut one open and the pale nut sits in the glossy centre, as the video shows.
4. Triple chocolate Nutella. Make the ganache with 4 oz (115 g) dark chocolate and 4 oz (115 g) milk chocolate instead of all dark, and replace the 3 tablespoons of hazelnut spread with 1/2 cup (150 g) of chocolate-hazelnut spread. Roll the balls in 1/2 cup (60 g) of fine wafer crumbs, as the video shows, or in cocoa powder for a darker finish.
When the truffles will not set — and the fix
A ganache that stays soft after 2 hours usually has too much cream in it. The fix is more chocolate, not more chilling: melt 2 oz (55 g) of dark chocolate, stir it in, and chill again for an hour. If your chocolate hazelnut truffles will not hold their shape, the ganache was too warm when you rolled it — chill the scooped balls for 15 minutes before coating.
A grainy ganache means the chocolate got too hot: cream that boils, or a bowl over direct heat, scorches the cocoa butter and turns the texture sandy. There is no way back — start again, and keep the cream at a bare simmer.
Truffles that crack as they warm up were rolled too cold and too hard. Let the ganache sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before scooping, and roll with a light touch rather than squeezing.
Coating that will not stick means the ball was too dry or too cold. Roll the balls straight from the fridge while they are still slightly tacky, and press the coating on gently — the nuts need contact, not force.
Swaps for the pantry you have
Swap the nuts: pecans or almonds replace hazelnuts at the same weight, toasted the same way. Walnuts taste more bitter, so use them only for the coating. Leave the nuts out entirely and roll the truffles in cocoa powder, desiccated coconut or crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
Swap the chocolate: a 50–50 mix of dark and milk chocolate makes a softer, sweeter truffle, but it needs 30 minutes longer in the fridge to firm up. White chocolate does not work at this ratio — it needs 3:1 to set, so do not substitute it one-for-one.
Swap the liqueur: leave it out of the crunch way and the truffle is exactly the same, minus the warmth. A teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in the hot cream gives the same depth without alcohol.
How to store chocolate hazelnut truffles
Chocolate hazelnut truffles keep best in the fridge, in a single layer in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks. Separate layers with parchment so the coatings do not stick. Bring them out 15 minutes before serving — fridge-cold truffles taste muted, and the ganache needs a few minutes to soften.
They freeze well for up to 3 months: freeze the coated truffles on a tray until solid, then move them to a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge, not on the counter, or condensation will spot the coatings. Uncoated ganache freezes too — wrap the chilled block tightly and thaw it in the fridge before scooping.
More desserts to try: No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites · St Patricks Day Cake Balls · Peanut Butter Balls with Rice Krispies
The closest no-bake neighbour on the site is the No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites — the same roll-and-chill idea, four ways, no oven. That is the point of these chocolate hazelnut truffles: one bowl of ganache, four finishes, a box that looks shop-bought. Watch all four finishes in the CraveWave Kitchen Short — https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_Oz1z-8CNkA.
Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Classic)
One ganache, four finishes — silky dark chocolate and hazelnut truffles rolled in toasted chopped hazelnuts, from the same base as the liqueur crunch, Ferrero-style and Nutella versions.
20 minutes
5 minutes
2 hours 40 minutes
24 truffles
Ingredients
Instructions
Chef Tips
- Chop the chocolate finely — big chunks leave unmelted lumps in the ganache.
- Do not let the cream boil; boiled cream can split a ganache.
- If the ganache splits, whisk in 1 tablespoon of warm cream until it comes back together.
- Keep your hands cold and work in small batches — warm palms melt truffles.
- Roll the balls while they are still slightly tacky so the coating sticks.
