If you've ever found yourself at either Sam's or Costco, chances are you've seen those very large containers of mixed nuts. My husband buys these with reckless abandon. Unfortunately he really doesn't like mixed nuts, what he likes are cashews and pecans. The other nuts in the mix -- almonds, hazelnuts, and Brazil nuts, he carefully extracts and places in their own, labeled, individual containers. He then places these containers into the corner cabinet and forgets about them. When they start stacking up like cord wood and begin to fall onto my head whenever I reach for a set of mixing cups, I know it's time to take action.
I use almonds frequently for green beans amandine. I use all almonds and Brazil nuts when I make granola -- delicious! The hazelnuts, however, tend to get overlooked. So today with all of the excitement of the Cardinals winning the National League Championship, and the newly adopted Rally Squirrel mascot, I felt a cookie was in order, so created these. I could tell they were a success when a friend of ours came for dinner and gobbled up half of the plate, and this was before I dipped one side in chocolate. They are easy to make, the dough rolls out very well (particularly with my new marble rolling pin -- thanks, Carol!), and they won't last long, so don't worry about having too many.
Oh...GO CARDS!!!
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| Image from Rally Squirrel T-shirt available at Dierbergs markets. |
Nuts to You Hazelnut Sandies
2 cups flour
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
2 Tablespoons whole milk
2 cups hazelnuts
Preheat oven to 400F. Put the hazelnuts into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Check periodically and don't overdo it or you'll end up with hazelnut butter. Pour the ground hazelnuts onto a foil-lined baking sheet and toast them for 5 to 10 minutes, until they start to brown. Remove and set aside.
Reduce the heat of the oven to 325F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Add the butter and cut in using a pastry blender or two knives until the pieces are the size of peas. Turn mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the hazelnuts and mix together on medium speed. Slowly pour the milk into the bowl and mix only until a dough forms. DO NOT OVER MIX! If you do, the cookies will be tough. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 3/8" thickness and cut the cookies with a 2 or 3-inch round cutter. The number of cookies you get from this mixture will vary depending upon the size of the cutter and thickness of the dough. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-19 minutes until the edges are golden. Dust powdered sugar on the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, and again while they are still warm.
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