Il Cucinologo
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Hazelnut Hidden Cookies

17/11/2023

Hazelnut hidden cookies are delicious treats with a surprise heart of hazelnut cream that creates a pleasant contrast with the crispy shortcrust pastry. Here’s how to make them.

Ingredients

  • 250 g 00 flour
  • 100 g cold butter, cubed
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Vanilla flavoring to taste
  • Hazelnut spread as needed (for the filling)
  • Finely chopped hazelnuts as needed (for garnish)

Preparation

  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, baking powder, and pinch of salt.
  2. Add the cold butter in small pieces and work the mixture with your fingertips until it reaches a sandy texture.
  3. Make a well in the center and add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla flavoring. Knead quickly until you obtain a smooth ball.
  4. Wrap the shortcrust pastry in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Take the shortcrust pastry and roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 4-5 mm.
  6. Cut out disks with a round cookie cutter and, in the center of half of the disks, make a hole with a smaller cookie cutter to create the hidden cookie window.
  7. Arrange the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, keeping the whole cookies separate from those with the hole.
  8. Bake the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
  9. Once cooled, spread a little hazelnut spread on each whole cookie and then cover with the holed cookies, thus creating the hidden cookie. Press gently to make the two layers adhere well.
  10. For a final touch, you can garnish the edges of the central hole of the cookies with finely chopped hazelnuts, gently pressing them onto the hazelnut spread that peeks out.

Trivia

Hazelnut hidden cookies are named this way because of the cream heart that is “hidden” inside. They represent a sweet surprise and are much appreciated by both children and adults. For an all-Italian variation, you could enrich the hazelnut spread with a bit of amaretto liqueur, which will give the cookies a very special and irresistible aroma!