Description
European baked goods just make my mouth water, especially at Christmas time. Nuts and dried fruits play a large role in holiday baked goods – think Stollen. These cookies are a delicious classic, made with finely ground hazelnuts, flour, and of course, butter!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 3/4 sticks salted butter (only use real butter!)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbl Vanilla extract
- 2 extra-large egg YOLKS
- 1 cup finely ground unblanched hazelnuts
- 2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in a large electric mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg yolks and beat on low speed for about one minute more.
- Add the hazelnuts and the flour, and beat on very low speed (or by hand) until you have a nice dough.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet. Roll the dough into balls of about the size of a meatball ( 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches diameter). Place the balls on the baking sheet about one inch apart, then press a well into the center of each ball with your thumb.
- Spoon a little bit of jam into each well. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes, until pale tan. Transfer at once to wax paper and cool to room temperature.
Notes
- You can decorate the cookies with some powdered sugar once they are completely cooled, completely optional.
- Cookies should be stored in an airtight container, layers separated with sheets of wax paper.
- I tried using my mini food processor for preparing the ground hazelnuts, but a coffee/spice grinder does a better job of grinding the nuts super fine. The mini food processor will work in a pinch, just make sure to grind them finely!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: cookies
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: desserts
Keywords: cookies, european, holiday treats, hazelnut cookies, german cookies, german baked goods, thumbprint cookies, europe, german, Christmas cookies