Replace jam with chocolate hazelnut spread and then add some ground hazelnuts to the dough for a wonderful holiday treat.  Chocolate hazelnut Linzer cookies are bound to become a tradition in your family.

My daughter, Becks, was the most picky eater in our family.  When she was young, she rejected foods on texture and taste. The only way I could get her to eat vegetables was on pizza. Even then I had to call spinach alfredo pizza “green pizza” so she didn’t associate the green stuff on the pizza with a vegetable.

She was also picky about the jelly in her PB&J. I usually used the high fruit apricot jam for her sandwiches because grape, cherry, strawberry, and raspberry were absolutely out.

At some point I decided to make her peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches. Nutalla is a little lower in sugar than jam and it has added protein – something I worried my picky eater wasn’t getting.

Becks took her lunch to school every day all the way through high school and every day she had a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

When I saw a recipe for Hazelnut Linzer cookies with Frangeilco Ganach on Williams Sonoma, I thought I’d simplify it with the substitution of Chocolate Hazelnut spread.

Hazelnut linzer cookies have ground nuts in the dough and in the filling making them

Yield: 28 sandwich cookies

Hazelnut Linzer Cookies

Print

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (360 g)
• 1 ½ cups hazelnut flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature cut into small pieces (250 g)
• 1 cup confectionsher sugar (125 g)
• ½ cup granulated sugar (125 g)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 ¾ cup chocolate hazelnut spread

Instructions

1. Mix together flour, hazelnut flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Set aside.
2. Cream butter, powdered sugar and granulated sugar until well combined.
3. Add vanilla, egg and egg yolk to the butter mixture.
4. Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Then mix in the next third and then mix in the final third.
5. Flatten dough into a large disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour but up to 3 days.
6. On a well floured surface, roll out the dough until it is 1/8" thick (3 mm). Cut with cookie 2.5" (6.25 cm) cookie cutters and then cut a 1" (2.54 cm) hole in the middle of half of the cookies.
7. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° F (190°C) for 10 minutes or until slightly puffy and golden brown.
8. Let cool in the pan for about 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Spread 1 tablespoon chocolate hazelnut spread on each solid cookie. Top with a cookie that has a hole in it. Chill for about 30 minutes to set the hazelnut spread.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

28

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 258Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 2gSugar: 19gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is provided as a guide only. Please consult a dietician for specific dietary needs.