These Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies are absolutely delightful: buttery, tender, crispy and filled with a rich, nutty hazelnut chocolate cream. They’re perfect for the holidays and perfect for holiday gifting!
Nothing gets me more excited than Christmas. Every year, it sneaks up on me: I blink and it’s already December. Once again, I’m blindsided in the most wonderful way and my coping mechanism is no one’s surprise: baking, baking, baking!
Why You’ll Love Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
These buttery cookies are light and crumbly, and more importantly, simple as can be: you only need a handful of ingredients and everything comes together in the same bowl. For more details on how to get the perfect cookies, make sure to check this post. It’s the same recipe!
As you’ll see, this is an extremely versatile recipe. And it’s also very flexible: the dough can be made days and even months ahead of time, then refrigerated until needed. The cookies can be baked a day or two before assembling, stored in an airtight container, and then all you have to do is add the filling. It’s like having a little treat on demand. And what are holidays if not an excuse to have endless treats?
Step-by-Step Recipe for Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
The most important step when making the dough is creaming the butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy in consistency.
Then add the egg yolks and mix until fully combined. And finally, add the flour and mix until just incorporated – you don’t want to develop gluten!
Chilling is important for two reasons: the dough gets enough time to hydrate and intensify flavors and the cookies will better hold their shape when baking: they’ll spread less as the fats are hardened and take longer to melt in the oven.
Now let’s talk about the filling: keeping with the simple theme, guess what? The ganache can also be made ahead and reheated in the microwave (10 second intervals, stirring in between), until needed. I mean, talk about practicality!
The filling is very firm, so the chocolate won’t be seeping out. If you find it easier, you can use a piping bag to fill the cookies, but a spoon will also do just fine.
I got chopped hazelnut pieces so I just used a blender and blended them until finely ground, but if you can’t find chopped ones, just use a food processor and process them until finely ground.
To toast the hazelnuts, heat a skillet over medium high. Add the hazelnuts, tossing frequently, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Key Ingredients for Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
If I could give you one solid tip for successful baking, it would be to get a kitchen scale. A scale makes your life so much easier, because:
- you can weigh all the ingredients into the same bowl, avoiding getting all those extra measuring cups and spoons dirty.
- Measuring ingredients by weight rather than volume is more accurate, especially when it comes to ingredients such as flour: a cup of flour can weigh differently depending on how it’s packed. Whether a cup of flour has been tightly packed or sifted before measuring, the volume is affected by these variables, whereas its weight will always be the same. So weighing ingredients is a way to achieve consistent results.
Make sure to use good-quality butter and that it’s at room temperature. If you’ve forgotten to leave it out on the counter beforehand, there are a few ways to soften your butter quickly:
You can either pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds at 50% power and repeat the process as necessary or you can fill a glass with very hot water, dump it out, then place the glass upside down over a stick of butter. It should take about 15 minutes for the butter to soften.
Now, if you don’t want to use a microwave and don’t want to wait 15 minutes, there might be a third alternative, but you didn’t hear it from me;) : in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on its own until soft. Then add the sugar and continue with the recipe.
These Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies make wonderful holiday cookies, but let’s be honest, they’re great for any time of year. If you make these homemade nutty sandwich cookies, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating!! I’d love to hear from you and I love responding to every comment. And don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see your photos.
Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
about 20
cookies15
minutes2
hours12
minutesIngredients
3/4 cup (185g) butter
3/4 cup (75g) confectioners' sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (240g)
- Filling
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter, sugar, egg yolk, salt, and vanilla, and beat until smooth (you can also use a hand mixer).
Add the flour, mixing until smooth and the dough comes together, but don't over mix. The mixture might seem dry at first, but it will quickly come together. If it doesn't, mix in a tablespoon of water.
Shape the dough into a flattened disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften for about 15 minutes, until it feels soft enough to roll. It should still feel cold, but not too hard.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lightly coat your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough to 1/8" thick and use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Re-roll and cut the dough scraps. Place the cookies on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets - they can be close together as they won't spread too much.
Pop the baking sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up.
Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they're set and just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove the cookies from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
To make the ganache: Add nuts to a blender and blend until finely ground (but not a paste). Set aside. Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Add heavy cream to a small saucepan. Heat over medium until it just begins to gently simmer. Pour over chocolate, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate. Stir in the ground hazelnuts.
Transfer ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe filling onto half of the cookies (or use a spoon), then sandwich with remaining cookies. Drizzle with melted chocolate and serve.
Pingback: Holiday Butter Cookies - from a small kitchen
Pingback: My Ultimate Christmas Movie List: Best Films to Watch This Holiday Season - from a small kitchen
Pingback: Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies - from a small kitchen