Soft and Chewy Hazelnut Bars

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Soft and Chewy Hazelnut Bars

I think hazelnuts may be my favorite nut. That is of course until I smell fresh roasted cashews or pecans or walnuts or...well, maybe I love all nuts! This recipe was an attempt to interpret a nut cake as a cookie bar. These could just be served plain without the melted chocolate on top but it does add just enough of a finishing touch without interfering with the crunchy toasted hazelnuts which are still the star of the show here.

These cookie bars froze beautifully and I keep pulling one from the freezer almost every day as an afternoon treat. At this rate there won't be any left for the Holidays. Sometimes the simplest and most uncomplicated recipes are the best and this is a great example; I'm sure the nut lovers will agree.

Soft and Chewy Hazelnut Bars

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Based upon a favorite nut cake and ideal for the holiday freezer, these easy cookie squares are quick to prepare and freeze exceptionally well. 

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 25 cookie squares
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluff.
2. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, folding to combine well.
5. Fold in the chopped toasted hazelnuts. (Hazelnuts can be toasted in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees F. Roll them on a clean tea towel to remove the skins. Roughly chop with a sharp knife.)
6. Spread the cookie dough in a parchment lined or greased 9 inch square baking pan and bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees F. (325 for glass bake ware) A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. (This recipe is too large for an 8x8 pan. If you do not have a 9x9 pan you can multiply the entire recipe by 1 1/2 and use a 9x13 pan instead if you have one of those.)
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the surface of the baked squares. Let stand for 10 minutes until the chocolate chips melt and then spread the melted chocolate evenly over the surface of the cookies. Sprinkle with additional chopped toasted hazelnuts if you like.
8. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares or bars. Store or freeze in airtight containers

Hazelnut Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

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Hazelnut Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

I thought I was the only shortbread obsessive in our family; sure, everybody here does love them but it seems we have a new avid enthusiast recently who has been eating these particular treats straight from the freezer! Yes, Olivia, I know it was you!

I went to pull some out of the freezer the other day when my mom visited and there were only 2 left out of the entire batch! Liv loves toasted hazelnuts and chocolate too, so the combination with buttery shortbread was apparently too much to resist because she practically polished off half the batch over the course of  the week, sneaking them one at a time from the basement freezer. If you are so easily tempted you may want to make these closer to the Holidays as there seems to be no safe place for these to hide.

Hazelnut Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Just a few simple ingredients is all it takes to create these nutty, all-butter shortbread cookies with a light drizzle of chocolate.

Prep time: About an hour or two including chilling time for the dough
Cook time: 15-18 minutes per cookie sheet
Total time: About 2 hours
Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups toasted, roughly chopped hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp whipping cream

Cooking Directions

1. Toast the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes until the skins begin to have a cracked appearance.
2. Spread a clean tea towel on the counter top and sprinkle the hazelnuts onto it.
3. Cover with another clean tea towel and roll the hazelnuts with a flat palm between the two towels to remove the skins. They may not all be perfectly clean but a few skins left on is perfectly okay.
4. Let the hazelnuts completely cool to room temperature before chopping them roughly with a large sharp knife. 1/4 to 1/2 sized nut pieces are best.
5. Cream together the butter sugar and vanilla until very light and fluffy.
6. Gently fold in the flour and salt until the dry ingredients are almost completely incorporated.
7. Add the chopped hazelnuts and work into a soft dough.
8. Form the dough into two 1 1/2 inch wide logs.
9. Wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours. (Note: This dough will be fine in the fridge for several days if you want to bake off the cookies a few at a time as needed.)
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees when ready to bake the cookies.
11. Using a very sharp knife, cut 1/4 inch slices of dough from the log and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
12. Bake for about 15-18 minutes until the bottom edges are noticeably golden brown.
13. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
14. Melt together the chocolate chips and whipping cream in a double boiler.
15. Using a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, drizzle the chocolate over the surface of the cookies and let stand until the chocolate is set.
16. Store in an airtight container. Freezes well.
17. You can also drizzle these with white chocolate if you prefer.

Blueberry Hazelnut Baked Brie

Blueberry Hazelnut Baked Brie

One of the most popular things we serve at evening gatherings of friends is a baked brie in puff pastry with various combinations of nuts and berries. We have used raspberries, cranberries, blackberries and partridgeberries in combination with almonds, pecans, macadamias and as in this case hazelnuts. Use whatever combination you like best. We also add a couple of tablespoons of honey or maple syrup before wrapping the brie, berry and nut bundle and baking it to golden oozing creamy perfection.

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 small wheel brie cheese
• 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 egg + 2 tbsp water, whisked together to make an egg wash

Roll out the pastry sheet and cut it into a circle about twice as wide as the wheel of brie. The pastry must be very cold in order to work with it so, if necessary, return it to the fridge or freezer for a few minutes if it gets too warm.

Place the brie in the center of the pastry circle and cut eight evenly spaced, 1 inch slits in the crust all around the outside edge of the pastry pointing toward the center of the circle.

Top the brie with the hazelnuts, blueberries and honey. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and begin bringing the flaps of pastry over the top of the brie, to the center of the cheese. These flaps will start to overlap so that the brie becomes completely enveloped in the pastry.

At this point, you can decorate the top of the pastry with leaf shaped cut-outs of puff pastry if you desire. Brush the entire pastry with the egg wash and chill for at least an hour before baking on a parchment lined baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about half an hour or until the pastry is evenly golden brown.

Serve with crackers or small slices of French baguette.