Hazelnut Sable Stars Recipes

PATE SABLEE

Steps:

• With a standing mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add flour and salt, and beat until just combined and crumbly (do not overmix). Shape dough into a 9-inch round disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days), or freeze for up to 1 month.

DARK CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT SABLES

Steps:

• Pulse the chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a bowl. Add the hazelnuts to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped; transfer to the bowl with the chocolate.
• Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the flour mixture and chocolate and hazelnuts, then increase the speed to medium high and beat until combined.
• Divide the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper; roll each into a 1-by-9-inch log, using the parchment to help you. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the logs and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE STARS

Steps:

• 1. Finely chop hazelnuts in a food processor; remove to a bowl. Finely chop chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon flour in food processor; add to the nuts. Set aside.
• 2. Sift the 1 1/3 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• 3. Cream butter and brown sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until well combined.
• 4. Add the flour mixture to the butter in thirds, beating well after each addition. Add the hazelnut-chocolate chip mixture, using a wooden spoon and mixing until the dough is well combined.
• 5. Form the dough into three flat disks, dusting with a little flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking; wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
• 6. Remove one disk from the refrigerator and roll on a lightly floured work surface into an 11-inch circle, 1/4-inch thick. Cut out stars using a star-shaped cookie cutter. (You may use different sizes of stars for variety.) Save the scraps and reform into a disk. Chill the scraps slightly before rolling out and cutting. Repeat with other disks.
• 7. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the stars on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are brown around the edges, about 7 to 8 minutes. Cool cookies on a rack.
• 8. Prepare apricot filling: Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until all of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Puree this mixture in the food processor until smooth. Allow the filling to cool completely before filling the cookies. (Filling may be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated.)
• 9. Fill the cookies just before serving, if possible, so they stay crisp: Spread a thin layer of the filling on the bottom side of one star and sandwich with another, bottom-side facing the filling.

HAZELNUT SABLE STARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in yolks and vanilla. Beat in flour and salt. Stir in nuts. Transfer dough to work surface. Flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; freeze until cold, about 10 minutes.
• Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/3-inch thickness. Using 2- to 3-inch star cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps; reroll dough and cut out additional cookies. Bake cookies until pale golden (rotate baking sheets after 15 minutes), about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack; cool.
• Spoon chocolate into small plastic bag. Cut off tip from 1 bottom corner of bag to allow small ribbon of chocolate to come out. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let cookies stand until chocolate is set. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.)

DARK CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT BONBON SPIDERS

Steps:

• For the hazelnut ganache: Put the chocolate couverture in a medium bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, scald the heavy cream. Pour the scalded heavy cream over the chocolate couveture and set aside for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the scalded milk to melt the chocolate. With a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and heavy cream until fully blended and smooth. Add the butter and stir with a rubber spatula to incorporate. Add the hazelnut extract and stir to incorporate. Pour the mixture into a large pastry bag and set aside.
• Pre-treat the polycarbonate chocolate mold with red (or any color desired) cocoa butter. Once the cocoa butter is set, brush each mold with a thin layer of tempered chocolate. Fill the entire mold with the fluid tempered chocolate and tap on work surface to release air bubbles. Quickly invert the mold and tap out excess chocolate. With a putty knife, scrape off the rest of the chocolate, let the mold rest upside down for 1 minute, and then scrape off surface of mold again. Let the chocolate set. Fill each mold with hazelnut ganache, 3/4 of the way full. Let the hazelnut ganache set. Pour the fluid tempered chocolate over the mold and spread thin, scraping off any excess. Tap mold on surface to release any air bubbles, and then scrape excess chocolate again. Transfer the finished mold to the freezer and let set for 2 to 3 minutes. Pull out the mold, invert, and tap on clean work surface to release finished bonbon.
• To assemble: Dip the hazelnuts in fluid tempered chocolate and let set. Attach to finished bonbons with a small dab of tempered chocolate. With a small pastry bag, pipe the tempered chocolate on parchment paper in a 1 1/2-inch upside-down V-shape. Repeat to make 80. Once set, lift the piped tempered chocolate and attach to the bonbons with a small dab of tempered chocolate to look like the legs of a spider.
• Over a double boiler, melt 1 pound 4 ounces chocolate to 115 to 120 degrees F. Bring the bowl with the melted chocolate to a flat, clean work surface (preferably marble or stainless steel ), wiping away any access water or steam from the bowl. With a rubber spatula, fully incorporate the remaining 2 ounces chocolate. Bring down the temperature of the chocolate to 80 to 84 degrees F by either stirring constantly in a figure 8 motion, or tabling (see Cook's Note). Once cooled, test the chocolate by dipping a small strip of parchment paper into the melted chocolate, and then lay it down on a clean work surface. If tempered, the chocolate on the parchment paper should be dry, hard, shiny, and without any streaks in 3 to 5 minutes. If any of these occur, keep stirring (agitating) the chocolate, or table it again, until a parchment paper test shows that the chocolate is tempered. When tempered, bring the chocolate back to the double boiler and reheat to NO HIGHER than 89 degrees F. (Bringing the temperature back up aids in a more fluid working consistency.) Transfer the chocolate to a chocolate warmer or set the bowl on top of a heating pad (at medium setting) to keep in temper.