Hazelnut Cardamom Shortbread Cookies With Dark Chocolate Recipes

HAZELNUT & CARDAMOM SHORTBREAD COOKIES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Process flour, hazelnuts, cornstarch, and salt in a food processor until hazelnuts are finely ground, about 40 seconds, stopping to stir halfway through.
• Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl, add cardamom and vanilla and mix to combine.
• Add flour-hazelnut mixture and beat on medium until dough resembles damp sand and holds together when pressed between fingers, 3-4 minutes. (Make sure to mix for at least 3 minutes for best results.)
• Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and firmly press together to form a 7×3-inch rectangle. Tightly wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 325° and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Slice chilled dough into ¼-inch thick slices and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until edges begin to brown. Cool cookies on sheet pan 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
• In a glass bowl, melt chocolate chips in microwave on high in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until completely melted.
• Dip cookies in chocolate, transfer to wire racks, and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Once chocolate has set, store cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED HAZELNUT & CARDAMOM SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Finely chop the hazelnuts until they are in pieces no larger than the size of green peas. This can be done with a knife on a cutting board or by pulsing several times in a food processor.
• Put butter, sugar, cardamom, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (alternately- a bowl and sturdy wooden spoon will do the trick), and mix on medium speed just until the butter and sugar are mixed together. Add all remaining ingredients and mix on low, turning up the speed slowly to medium, until a dough forms.
• For cookie cutter shapes: dump the dough onto a large piece of plastic or parchment paper, and press down into a large, 1-inch thick circle. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then remove from the fridge, dust with flour, and roll dough out into 1/4 inch thick circle and cut into preferred shapes. Re-roll the scraps, as needed, to cut out more cookies. Very gently transfer shapes to a cookie sheet (I used a small spatula to lift the small ones), and, for larger, more delicate shapes (such as moose), I recommend rolling the dough on parchment paper the size of your sheet pan, and removing the excess dough- not the shapes you cut- then just sliding the parchment onto the sheet pan. This way you never need to lift the delicate shapes and risk loosing a leg or an antler.
• For slice-and-bake circles: scrape the dough onto a large piece of plastic or parchment paper and form into a log. Roll up the paper/plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. Unwrap the log and slice into 1/4 inch thick circles.
• For the fastest possible shortbread cookies: scoop dough directly onto a cookie sheet with a Tablespoon cookie scoop (line with parchment for easier clean-up, but not needed since the cookies won't stick), then gently press down each scoop of dough with the bottom of a glass to form a flat circle.
• For any of the cookie shapes: preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then bake 8-10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and still tender in the middle. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.
• Once cookies have cooled, heat chocolate in two different bowls in the microwave in 20-second increments until melted, stirring once or twice in between. Dip cooled cookies halfway in chocolate, then place on a parchment-lined pan to harden. Alternately, cookies can be drizzled or completely submerged in chocolate (though you will need much more chocolate to cover them all!). Sprinkle with a few chopped up hazelnuts, if desired.