Bentley-Scheck, Grace
Chocolate Hazelnut Filled Cookies
Prepare hazelnuts by baking or microwaving until skins crack. Rub
in a tea towel to remove skins. Grind hazelnuts and reserve ¾ cup.
In a large bowl cream together 1 ¾ sticks (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
unsalted butter, softened, 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar,
sifted, and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract until the mixture is light and
fluffy. Add 1 large egg yolk and beat the mixture until it is well
combined. Add gradually 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted with ½
teaspoon cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and ¾ cup of ground hazelnuts
blending the mixture until it forms a dough. Chill it, wrapped
in wax paper, for 1 hour.
Divide the dough into 4 balls and reserve 3 of them, wrapped in
wax paper and chilled. Roll the remaining ball into a round 1/8
inch thick on a floured surface and with a 1 ½-inch fluted cutter
cut out rounds. Arrange the rounds on baking sheets lined with
parchment paper and with a 5/8 inch cutter dipped in flour cut out
the center of half the rounds to form rings. Press the dough scraps
together and reserve them chilled.
Bake the rounds and rings in a preheated moderate oven (350 degrees
Fahrenheit) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden, and
transfer them to a rack to cool. Roll out, cut, and bake the remaining
balls and reserved scraps in the same manner.
Spread the flat side of each round with Nutella and top the filling
with a ring flat side down. Makes about 60 cookies.