My mother sent me a large bag of Oregon hazelnuts after I dropped a few not-too-subtle hints before Thanksgiving, because to me, "chopped nuts" or "ground nuts" in Christmas cookies simply have to be hazelnuts, because that is what we used throughout my childhood.
Of course, growing up in Oregon, we called them filberts. But that is a subject for another day.
In one of my favorite baking blogs that I read (Cream Puffs in Venice, I came across this recipe. She followed the recipe exactly until the very end, where she rolled the edges in chopped hazelnuts. I abandoned the recipe when it wanted me to chill the dough two separate times. Instead I did the first chill and then scooped out equal amounts of dough, pressed the cookies down with a fork, and baked them a little extra.
The result was a more rustic feel than the original recipe, more suited for a glass of milk than a shot of espresso. The taste was amazing, and the raspberry jam sandwiched in between seemed just perfect. Next time I'd like to use Nutella, because I'm sure that would only enhance the hazelnut flavor, but really, it came through on its own.
The recipe can be found here.
Categories: Cookies, Hazelnuts, Shortbread
Oooh! Jenny! I love the raspberry jam and good for you for changing the recipe to suit what you wanted. They look fantastic!
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