Ingredients:
- Cookie Dough
- 1 ¼ cup hazelnut flour (See recipe below).
- 3 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (400 grams)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (10 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz. softened butter (2 sticks/230 grams)
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar (75 grams)
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (75 grams)
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk / 2 flax eggs *
- Gianduja Filling
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Preparation:
Time: 2 hours
Yield: 60
Make the Cookies
- Whisk together the hazelnut flour, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and beat together for another minute.
- Stir the dry into the wet ingredients. Beat for 1-3 minutes until well combined.
- Form the dough into disk and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Bring the dough to room temperature. Roll it on a floured surface, ¼ of an inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a 2 inch round cutter. Place them onto parchment lined baking trays. You should end up with about 60 cookies. Place the baking trays in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 375° F.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. Allow the cookies to completely cool before handling.
Make the filling.
- In a double boiler, warm the heavy cream over not in hot water. Break up the 70 % dark chocolate and the milk chocolate - hazelnut bar and add them to the cream. Stir in Gianduja spread.When everything is melted and blended, spoon it into a disposable piping bag.
- Let it cool at room temperature until it firms up, to a piping consistency, about an hour.
- Fill the Cookies
- Snip the tip of the icing bag. Pipe a bit of ganache, about the size of a quarter onto the center of ½ the cookies. Sandwich them with the remaining cookies. Gently press down on them.
- Decorate the sandwich cookies by drizzling some melted chocolate over and topping them with chopped hazelnuts.
To Make Hazelnut Flour
- Preheat your oven to 375° F.
- Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Shake the pan after 5 minutes to ensure that they roast evenly. Rub them in a clean dishtowel to remove the skins. Spread them out to cool., about 15 minutes.
- When completely cooled, pulse them to a food processor until they are the texture of cornmeal. Use short pulses. You do not want to make hazelnut butter.
- *Make two flax “eggs” by combining 2 tablespoons of finely ground flax seed meal with ¼ cup of warm water. Let the mixture rest 10 minutes before using.
