Nutty Crunch Cookies

As you might tell from previous posts I have a thing for hazelnuts.  I found this recipe while once again trying to clean up my ever growing file. When I saw hazelnuts I knew I had to give it a go. There are also almonds involved, but truth be told I couldn’t really taste them in the cookie.  Two sticks seemed like a lot of butter and these cookies are certainly worth it. The finished product is crunchy and buttery and full of hazelnut flavor. I’ve been enjoying them with my morning cappuccino.

Nutty Crunch Cookies

      1 cup blanched hazelnuts

      ½ cup unsalted, roasted almonds

      ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar

      1 teaspoon kosher salt

      ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

      1½ cups all-purpose flour

      1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Let cool.

Combine almonds, brown sugar, salt, and ½ cup hazelnuts in a food processor. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; reserve pod for another use. Pulse until finely ground, then pulse in flour just to combine. Add butter; process until dough just comes together.

Roll dough into 1” balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2” apart. Flatten cookies to a little less than ½” thick. Coarsely chop remaining ½ cup hazelnuts and press gently into cookies.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden brown, 15–18 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely.

Yield: 36 cookies

Panini Girl In Lucca September 2020–get in touch at paninigirl4@gmail.com