Hazelnut Goodness

As I mentioned in an early post I made some chocolate hazelnut linzer cookies for a dinner party. This was my second time whipping up these little gems. They came up on the Smitten Kitchen blog a while ago and I haven't stopped thinking about them. Some ladies were coming over for wine and snacks a few weeks back so I figured not better time to make these tasty treats.

What excites me most about these cookies was the use of hazelnuts and Nutella, possibly two of my favorite things. The cookie is essentially a sugar cookie but with finely chopped toasted hazelnuts mixed in there. I had never toasted hazel nuts before but it turned out to be super easy. You just lay them on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Once they are toasted the shells just fall off in your hands. The first time I toasted my hazelnuts and put them all in my little food processor. The directions say to not let the hazelnuts turn in to a paste. Trying to not make this happen I didn't chop them up enough and I had rather large chunks. The second time making these I only put half of the hazel nuts in at the time to make sure they got nice and fine.

Another issue I had with my first batch was that it was too dry; maybe it had to do with the large hazelnuts or not enough liquid. Regardless this time around I decided to add the whole egg instead of just the yokes that the recipe calls for. In the end this was not the fix I needed.

This time my cookies came out flat and they ran together, not holding their shape. They tasted fabulous but didn't have that sugar cookie consistency I wanted. I think the next time around I will try just one whole egg and one yoke. Maybe that will be the magic number.

Once the hazelnut cookies were prepped and chilled in the fridge I had fun with cookie cutters. I did all shapes and sizes: stars, circles, flowers, etc. They were a fun cookie to work with. I baked them all and then constructed the cookie. The bottom cookie has nutella spread on it and then you put the other cookie, which has been dusted with powder sugar, on top to make the most delicious hazelnut cookie.

These are a bit of an time-intensive cookie but I deemed it worthy of my time. I suggest you have some friends over to hang out while you cook. I did this (with a glass of wine) and the company makes all the hard work go quick!