Hazelnuts and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, so it’s no wonder I’ve decided to use both in the form of cookies. To this, I added some cardamom powder, which enhanced the cookies with its wonderful, warm aroma.
To make things even more interesting, I divided the dough in half, and prepared different shaped cookies from each half. Once baked, I also dipped some of the cut-out cookies in melted chocolate and chopped hazelnuts, which made for a more festive presentation.
You can choose which way you prefer for preparing these cookies, or use all, as I have done. Whichever you’ll choose, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these tasty and delicate cookies.
Notes
* Cacao nibs are roughly chopped cacao beans. They add a unique crunchy texture and a slightly bitter chocolaty flavor to the cookies. They can be found in specialty stores or online. If you can’t find them, dark mini chocolate chips can be used instead.
* The baked cookies can keep, in an airtight container, for up to a week. The dough log can be frozen, in a freezer bag, for up to a month. To bake the cookies from frozen, add 2-3 minutes to the baking time given here.
Makes: about 70
Prep time: 25 minutes
Chilling time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled hazelnuts
1 stick (115 grams) butter, soft
1 tsp cardamom powder
¼ cup cacao nibs (see notes)
1¼ cups sugar
1 L egg
1½ cups flour
¼ cup cornstarch
Dash salt
For decoration (optional):
Melted bitter sweet chocolate
Coarsely chopped lightly toasted hazelnuts
1. Place the hazelnuts in a toaster oven and lightly toast them. Cool to room temperature and finely grind them in a spice grinder, or in a small food processor. You should end up with ½ cup hazelnut meal.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the hazelnut meal, butter, cardamom, cacao nibs, sugar and egg. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix briefly, just until the dough is formed.
3. At this point, choose which way you want to prepare the cookies: rolling into logs, or rolling the dough with a rolling pin and cutting with a cookie cutter. I chose to make both, by dividing the dough in half.
4. Option one: roll half of the dough into a log about 1.6” (4 cm) thick, and about 11” (28cm) long. Wrap in wax paper, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 3605F (180C) and line a cookie sheet pan with baking paper. Cut the log with a sharp, heavy knife, into slices, about 0.2”(0.5 cm). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies start to brown at the edges. Cool to room temperature before serving.
5. Option two: on a lightly floured work space, roll the rest of the dough with a rolling pin, to a thickness of about ¼” (0.6cm). Using a cookie cutter, cut out your favorite shapes. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies start to brown at the edges. Cool to room temperature before serving or decorating.
To decorate: dip each cookie in melted chocolate, and scatter chopped hazelnuts over it. Let the chocolate set before serving.
Delicious!! Nemo&Nancy by NemoInCucina!!!
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Thank you, they really were! 🙂
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Since we buy shelled, roasted, salted hazel nuts in five-pound bags, you can guess how much we like them! Refrigerator cookies are my favorite kind, and the chocolate seals the deal! We have Pfeffernusse and some star-shaped, chocolate-coated shortbread Christmas cookies from Trader Joe’s right now, but will be trying this out as soon as that supply is exhausted.
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I don’t buy such large bags, simply because I would probably nibble on them too quickly! Which is also another reason to keep some of the cookie dough in the freezer. The less temptations around, the better! 🙂
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Cardamom is such a good & unique flavor. I bet it’s really good in these cookies!
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Cardamom indeed added such unique aroma to these cookies. A little goes of it a long way! 🙂
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I’m another fan of Cardamom. Sounds interesting. 😋
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Thank you Gail, glad to find another cardamom fan. It’s such a great spice for cookies! 🙂
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Wow! These look sooo tempting! Love the idea of dipping these beautiful cookies into chocolate sauce and coat them with chopped nuts. Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.
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Thank you Megala, I’m glad you liked the cookies. Dipping them in chocolate indeed made them even tastier! 🙂
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A dozen of each, please. I love cardamom in cookies and other baked goods and these look so good. The dipped cookies with the hazelnuts would likely be my first choice. Well done Ronit!
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Thank you Ron, I’m glad you liked the cookies. Cardamom is indeed such a great spice, especially in baking. The dipped cookies are my favorite too, and they don’t last long! 🙂
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Mmmmmmmm….chocolate and hazelnut! My fav!
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Thank you! 🙂
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They look great
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Thank you! 🙂
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I love freezer cookies that can be made ahead of time, especially a good recipe like this. Yes to cardamon 🙂
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the cookies and use of cardamom. It’s such a great spice for baking. Freezer cookies indeed make for easy entertaining. 🙂
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Looks great! Just in time while I look for this year’s Airplane Cookie recipes 🙂
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the cookies. I’m sure your Airplane Cookies will be a hit! 🙂
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These cookies Would smell and taste amazing! The clear pictures guide reader through the whole process so well.
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Thank you. The cookies indeed had wonderful aroma and flavor. I’m glad you find the photos helpful. 🙂
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This is a wonderful combination of flavors! Chocolate, nuts and cardamom. 😋
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the cookies. This combination was indeed so good. 🙂
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I like nuts and aromatic spices. Then chocolate?? All bases are covered 🥰
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chocolate and hazelnut is perfect and add to that cardamom, even better! love the final touches to the cookies as well.
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Thank you Annika, I’m glad you liked the cookies. They turned out so tasty. I still have some dough in the freezer, so plan on making another batch soon. 🙂
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Looks great!!
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Thank you Deepti. 🙂
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Oooo my fav shortbread cookie. Love the addition of cardamom, I tend to do that too even if it is not called for 🙂 The dipping in the chocolate with the nuts definitely elevated it for me 🙂
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Thank you Loretta, I’m glad you liked the cookies. Cardamom is such a wonderful spice, I too love using it. The dipped cookies tend to disappear even quicker! 🙂
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Cookies dipped in chocolate… so much tempting!!! Cardamom flavour is my favorite. Loved that all your cookies are in same size!
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Thank you Deeshka, I’m glad you liked the cookies. Using a cookie cutter helps with making them the same size. 🙂
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Ronit, along with cookie cutter your recipe is too good..Cookies didn’t spread uneven while baking, so the shape remained perfect !
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Thank you! 🙂
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These cookies look divine with all my favorite flavors- chocolate, hazelnut and cardamom and then dipping them in chocolate took them to a whole new level! Yummy!
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Thank you Sandhya, I’m glad you liked the cookies. This combination of flavors turned out so good. Highly recommended! 🙂
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Yes please.
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Thank you Paul. 🙂
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So hungry!
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Reblogged this on Crackling Pork Rinds.
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Looks really nice and simple 🙂
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Thank you Jasper, I’m glad you liked the cookies. They were very tasty. 🙂
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