Hazelnut Cookies

One of the things I enjoyed doing while growing up back home, was baking. There wasn’t a cake or cookie I wouldn’t make, there wasn’t a sweet treat I wouldn’t sample, there wasn’t a day that would go by without me munching on something sugary. 

I loved to bake mostly because just as I loved to make them, I also loved to eat them. Just as I finished baking them, as fast I had them on my mouth with no minute to spare. 

It was a fun and relaxing activity around the house. It kept me occupied and out of trouble but the main objective, it reduced costs to a fraction of that of a shop, I could tailor the recipe to my liking, besides, it was the thing to do. We would rather make it ourselves then buying them.  Hmm imagine serving your visitors homemade, freshly baked goodies? The aroma... I can hear the the tambourine playing. 

So, this weekend I was hit by a baking pan. I had a urge and did something have not done in a long time, baking. I can envision the folks at my local supermarket rattled up, hands on their head saying "oh no" about the news. 

With some time to burn and feeling domestic, I made some hazelnuts cinnamon cookies in a whimsy. Yes, I did and they turned out mighty tasty thank you. But something change on my way to      in the process however with my munching habits; times have changed. The cookies did not square straight to my mouth but to a basket in my kitchen with tea and coffee looking fixedly at them saying “pick me, pick me”. They didn’t, I didn’t, we did not. I have it down now, I laid low. I was motivated not to upset the scale but watch it and not to appear in the love handles wall of fame. It was fun I may add, liberating and a delight. Loved it. 

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RECIPE 

- Courtesy of epicurious.com

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts (2 oz)
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• 1 soupspoon cinnamon
  

PREPARATION

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan until fragrant and skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes. Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove any loose skins (some skins may not come off) and cool to room temperature.

Pulse nuts and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground, then add flour and a pinch of salt, pulsing until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough just forms a ball. Divide dough in half, then roll dough on a work surface lightly dusted with sugar and flour into 2 (11-inch-long) logs (each about 1 inch wide). Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.

Cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch slices and arrange rounds 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until bottom edges just begin to turn pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheet 2 minutes. Place remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a small dish and dip tops of cookies in it, then cool sugared cookies on a rack.

Happy baking!