Hazelnut Cookies

Ingredients

• 100 g ground hazelnuts
• 150 g flour
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 egg
• 100 g sugar
• a vanilla bean, split and seeds removed
• 125 g cold butter
• 1 pinch salt
• 50 g mocha chocolate
• 200 g ready-made nougat
• 150 g couverture chocolate
• 2 tbsp hazelnut flakes

Instructions

1. 1.

   Sift the flour with nuts onto a work surface, mix in salt, lemon zest, and sugar. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and distribute around the well. Add the egg to the center, vanilla seeds, and about 50 ml lukewarm water. Use a knife to cut through all ingredients until small dough crumbs form, then quickly knead with hands into a dough, shape into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill for about 30 minutes.

2. 2.

   Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 4 mm. Cut out wavy-edged cookies (≈4 cm diameter) using a cookie cutter. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C (fan) for about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

3. 3.

   For the filling, melt chopped chocolate with nougat in a bowl over a gentle steam bath. Stir in coffee powder.

4. 4.

   Spread half of the cookies with the mixture or pipe the nougat mixture into a pastry bag and spray cherry-sized dots on top. Place another cookie on top and press together.

5. 5.

   To decorate, roughly chop couverture chocolate and melt it over a gentle steam bath. Transfer to a small freezer bag, cut off a corner, and use the chocolate to trace the cookie edges and add a dot in the center. Decorate with hazelnut flakes and let dry.