Shelly's Recipe

HAZELNUT-NUTELLA SANDWICH COOKIES

Category: Cookies

2/3 cup roasted and salted hazelnuts
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Nutella or another chocolate spread

In a food processor, finely grind hazelnuts. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the ground nuts, baking soda and salt.

Beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla, scraping the side and bottom of the bowl. Beat in the dry ingredients at medium-low speed. Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a round, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough 1/8-inch thick. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, stamp out rounds as close together as possible. Arrange the rounds on large baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Gather the scraps and reroll, cutting out more cookies.

Bake the cookies in batches for about 20 minutes, until golden; shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Sandwich the cooled cookies with Nutella or another chocolate spread.


Make Ahead: The cookie dough can be wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator before using. The baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week or wrapped in plastic and foil and frozen for up to 1 month.