Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread

If you love shortbread, hazelnuts, and chocolate, you’ll love these cookies. It’s a quick and easy recipe and they are great for holiday cookie swaps or gift giving.

[Updated December 1, 2009.]

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CHOCOLATE DIPPED HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD

Adapted from Food Network.

Makes 12 cookies.

Equipment

food processor
stand mixer with paddle attachment
cookie sheet, ungreased
cookie sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper
small bowl
microwave safe bowl

Ingredients

1 cup (150 g) husked hazelnuts
1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick/113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup(58 g)  granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces (113 g) good-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F/175° C.

2. Place hazelnuts on the ungreased baking sheet in a single layer. Bake about 10 to 15 minutes, just until you can smell them roasting (not burning). Remove from oven and set aside to cool. If your nuts still have the skins on them, wrap the hot nuts in a towel for about ten minutes, then roll the nuts in the towel vigorously to remove the skins.

3. Lower the oven temperature to 325° F/165° C.

4. Place the cooled hazelnuts in the food processor and pulse to coarse bits, then set them aside. In the small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt to blend.

5. In the working bowl of the stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Remove the bowl from the mixture and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the flour is worked in. Add the chopped hazelnuts and stir until distributed evenly throughout.

6. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces and form the pieces into 1-inch by 2-inch long cookies. Place them on the greased cookie sheet.

7. Bake until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

8. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate. Dip one end of the cooled cookies into the melted chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet to harden.

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