Tired of trifles, sick of yule log, and fed up with Christmas pudding? When it comes to festive desserts, it’s high time we mixed up the menu with something a little more indulgent. Enter: Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes.

In his second book, The Great British Bake Off season 12 winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno returns with more accessible, hassle-free bakes from clementine cheesecake to coffee and pecan marzipan, perfect for those with a sweet tooth. But the real stars are the gooey hazelnut chocolate recipes that will delight any Nutella lover. With foolproof instructions and classic flavours, these glorious Italian goodies are the perfect way to conjure up a kitchen treat this Christmas.

Here are three of our favourite simple yet delicious bakes.

Makes 20

Prep time: 35 minutes, plus cooling and resting

Cook time: 24–26 minutes

Giuseppe says: “Nocciolatini are one of the many ways Italians have devised to use the abundance of high quality hazelnuts that Piedmont produces. These buttery and nutty biscuits have been so successful that they have now spread across the whole country and found their way into many families’ recipe books. The crumbliness of the biscuit complements perfectly the creaminess of the chocolate and hazelnut spread; the warming flavour of the toasted hazelnuts and the short texture are perfect to brighten up a cold, autumnal afternoon. They do come with a health warning though: it will be very hard to stop after just one.”

Ingredients 

• 100g whole unblanched hazelnuts
• 200g soft wheat flour or plain (all purpose) flour
• 130g unsalted butter, softened and diced
• 100g caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 medium egg
• 140g chocolate and hazelnut spread

Method

Set the shelf in the middle of the oven and heat it to 180°C/350°F/ Gas mark 4. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast them for 10–12 minutes, shaking the tray midway to ensure an even baking. Allow the nuts to cool completely, then rub them between the palms of your hands to shed any loose flakes of skin. (If you are using pre-toasted hazelnuts, you can skip this step entirely.)

Put the hazelnuts and the flour in the bowl of a food processor and blitz at high speed just long enough to grind them to the texture of coarse sand. Set aside.

Put the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment and cream the mixture at medium-high speed until soft and homogeneous; it will take about 2 minutes. With the mixer still going, add the egg and mix until fully incorporated. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add the hazelnut and flour mixture and mix at low speed until it comes together as a soft dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to bake, set the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with baking paper or silicone mats. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it evenly into 20 lumps. Roll each one between the palms of your hands to shape them as small balls. Distribute them evenly on the two baking sheets. Make a dimple in the centre of each biscuit with the back of a teaspoon measuring spoon. Bake one tray at a time for 12–13 minutes or until the bottoms of the biscuits turn amber.

Leave the biscuits to cool for a few minutes on the trays, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Spoon ½ teaspoon of chocolate and hazelnut spread into the dimple of each biscuit. Nocciolatini keep for up to a week in an airtight container.

Makes six

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 11-13 minutes

Giuseppe says: “Usually referred to in Italian as cuore morbido, or ‘soft heart’, because of their creamy, velvety core, chocolate fondants, also known as lava cakes or molten chocolate cakes took the baking world by storm only a few years ago. My take on this popular cake calls for my beloved gianduja flavour, the key ingredient being hazelnut butter: a thick purée made exclusively with crushed nuts, with no added sugar or oil. It is a relatively expensive ingredient, usually sourced through online retailers, but you can make your own, just by blitzing blanched, toasted hazelnuts in a food processor on full speed until they have been crushed to a smooth pulp. The batter can be prepared a day in advance, poured in the moulds and stored in the fridge, ready for baking just before serving. It can also be frozen and thawed overnight in the fridge. You can use metal moulds and turn out the fondants onto plates or bake them and serve them directly in ceramic ramekins. In this latter case, bake them for two minutes longer and wait five minutes before serving. The recipe is relatively easy and quite forgiving, yet the result is worthy of the most upmarket restaurant menu. Served still warm, next to a scoop of ice cream or crème fraîche, it is the perfect end to a romantic dinner.”

Ingredients

• Six 175ml  metal pudding moulds or ceramic ramekins
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
• 90g dark chocolate chips, or bar broken into small pieces
• 120g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 40g hazelnut butter 
• 3 medium eggs
• 100g caster (superfine) sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 100g  soft wheat flour or plain (all-purpose) flour
• 30g  toasted chopped hazelnuts, plus extra for sprinkling

Method

Grease the moulds with butter and dust them with cocoa powder, tapping off any excess.

Add the chocolate, butter and hazelnut butter to a heatproof bowl (preferably metal) and place it over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure that the water does not reach the bottom of the bowl. Melt the mixture, stirring occasionally, then set aside to cool. Avoid melting the mixture in the microwave as the hazelnut butter may burn.

Put the eggs, sugar and salt in a bowl large enough to accommodate all the ingredients and whisk them at high speed with a handheld electric whisk (or use a stand mixer) until the mixture has doubled in volume and looks pale and frothy. It will take 6–8 minutes. Still whisking, slowly trickle in the chocolate and hazelnut mixture. Sift the flour into the bowl and whisk at low speed until the batter looks smooth and lump-free. Fold in the chopped hazelnuts.

Spoon or pour the batter into the moulds, filling them just over half-way. Each mould will contain about 100g (3½oz) of batter. Chill the batter in the fridge and, when ready to serve, set the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6. Arrange the moulds in a baking tray and, when the oven is at temperature, bake for 11 minutes (13, if using ceramic ramekins), or until the fondants have puffed up a little, forming a thin and dull crust on top. They should be still slightly wobbly when shaken. 

Take them out of the oven and let them rest for four minutes (5, if using ceramic ramekins). If using metal moulds, place an upturned small plate on top of the mould and flip it over quickly. The fondant will drop out effortlessly. 

Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts before serving. Cuore morbido al gianduja must be served immediately while still warm

Makes 50

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus resting and chilling

Cook time: 22–24 minutes

Giuseppe says: “Baci di dama are another delicious hazelnut-based creation of Piedmont, where these nuts grow in abundance and of unparalleled quality. The birthplace of the recipe is the city of Tortona, where these biscuits were invented almost two centuries ago. The name is a sensual reference to their typical shape, vaguely recalling a pair of pouting lips, about to kiss. The recipe is very simple, and the best part is that it will fill your kitchen with the intoxicating scent of toasted hazelnuts, one of my most loved flavours in the baking world. Do not skip the resting times in the method as they are critical to produce biscuits of the right shape. The fiddliest part of the process is undoubtedly shaping the biscuits: to preserve their typical crunch, they have to be tiny. Each small ball of dough should be no bigger than one hazelnut in-shell. My technique will produce biscuits of the ideal size. You can make them bigger if you adjust the baking time accordingly, but the texture might suffer. These dainty, elegant biscuits are unmistakably nutty, but if you prefer a more delicate taste, you can swap part or all of the hazelnuts for ground almonds. They are superb if paired with a cup of steaming hot chocolate.”

Ingredients

• 100g whole blanched hazelnuts
• 100g caster (superfine) sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 150g soft wheat flour or plain (all-purpose) flour 
• 100g cold unsalted butter, diced
•  1⁄2 medium egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 100g dark chocolate chips or a bar snapped into small pieces (70–75% cocoa solids)

Method

Set the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 180°C/350°F/ Gas mark 4, unless your hazelnuts are pre-toasted, in which case you can skip this step. Scatter the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for 10–12 minutes, shaking the tray midway to ensure an even baking. Leave them to cool completely before moving to the next step.

Once cooled, put the hazelnuts, half the sugar and the salt in the bowl of a food processor and blitz at high speed just long enough to grind the mixture to the texture of fine sand. Use the pulse function, if available, and do not work it for any longer than strictly needed, or the hazelnuts will start leaching out oil, turning the sandy mixture into a pulp.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the flour, butter, egg white, vanilla and the remaining sugar. Work the mixture by pinching the pieces of butter with the tips of your fingers to break them into very small lumps. Keep working the mixture quickly without crushing it until it resembles fine, loose breadcrumbs.

Once all the butter has been completely incorporated, start crushing the mixture between your hands to form a stiff dough. Shape the dough roughly as a square, wrap it in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.

When ready to shape the biscuits, line two baking sheets with baking paper or silicone mats. Prepare one extra sheet of baking paper on the worktop. Take the dough out of the fridge, place it over the sheet of baking paper and quickly roll it to 10mm (1⁄4in) thickness, trying to keep the shape as square as possible.

Now cut the dough into little squares. The quickest way to do so is to slice it first horizontally into 2cm (3⁄4in) wide strips using a knife or, better, a pastry cutter. Then cut the set of strips vertically into 2cm (3⁄4in) wide squares. Each one will weigh about 4g (1/8oz). Roll each square of dough between your hands to form a small ball, place it on the baking sheet and gently press it with your thumb, just enough to stop it from rolling away. Repeat until all squares have been shaped, spreading the balls across the two trays, about 2.5cm (1in) apart. Place both trays in the freezer for about an hour, or until the dough is completely frozen.

When ready to bake, set the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 170°C/340°F/Gas mark 31⁄2. Bake one tray at a time for about 11–12 minutes: baci di dama must go directly from freezer to oven, and they should be taken out while still pale; if the tops turn golden, they are overbaked. Check the bottoms as when they are golden, the biscuits are ready. Leave them to cool on the trays and only take them off the baking paper once completely cooled, or they will crumble.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate by microwaving it at full power for 30 seconds. Stir well with a silicone spatula and, if bits of solid chocolate remain, give it subsequent five-second bursts, stirring well between bursts, until all the chocolate is melted. Allow to rest at room temperature for a few minutes to stiffen up. To check whether it is ready, scoop a small amount with the spatula and let it fall back into the bowl: the chocolate is ready when it forms a blob that holds its shape without flowing back into the rest of the chocolate. While the chocolate stiffens up, arrange half the biscuits upside down on a wire rack.

Transfer the chocolate to a small piping bag with a 3–4mm (1⁄4in) opening (no nozzle required) and pipe about 1⁄2 teaspoon of chocolate on each biscuit. You can also simply spoon dollops of chocolate onto the biscuits using 2 teaspoons, although the result might not be as neat. Pair each filled biscuit with its empty counterpart, slightly pressing them together, and place them back on the wire rack to set. Work quickly or the chocolate will set. Make sure the chocolate has hardened fully before taking the biscuits off the wire rack. They will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.

Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes by Giuseppe Dell’Anno (£24, Quadrille) is out now. 

Photography © Matt Russell