Add the hazelnut onto a baking tray and roast for 8-9 minutes until they are golden brown and you can smell them in your kitchen. Once roasted, remove the hazelnuts from the oven and let them cool down.
In the meantime, add the softened vegan butter, vanilla bean paste, caster sugar and brown sugar into a mixing bowl. Using a stand mixer or electric mixture, cream the ingredients until the mixture is soft and fluffy. This takes about 10 minutes.
Next, sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the creamed butter and sugar. Fold until just combined.
Now, fold in the hazelnut meal.
Lastly, roughly chop the chocolate. Fold the chopped chocolate and roasted hazelnut into the cookie dough.
Take 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and roll the dough in your hands to from a ball. Then, lightly press the dough to form a disk.
Place the cookie disk into a container and continue shaping the rest of the cookies. Once all the cookies are shaped, store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months.
To bake the cookies, place the desired amount of cookies onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Make sure there is sufficient space around each cookie as they will expand during the baking process. Bake the cookies at 180°C fan for 10 minutes. Let them cool down slightly and enjoy.