NUSSTALER (CHOCOLATE-DIPPEDHAZELNUT COOKIES)

By porklion

Ingredients

• INGREDIENTS
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 4 oz. toasted hazelnuts, very finely ground, plus whole raw hazelnuts to garnish
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 6 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

MAKES ABOUT 40 COOKIES

Heat oven to 350°. Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add egg and beat until smooth. Whisk together ground hazelnuts, flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl; add to butter mixture; beat. Portion dough into 1" balls; transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spaced 2" apart. Place a whole hazelnut on top of each. Bake until cracked on top, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Dip bottom of each cookie in chocolate; chill until set.

NOTE: This recipe has been adjusted from the version that ran in the print edition of SAVEUR. The yield has been increased, and an egg has been added to the ingredients and instructions.

There is something missing from this recipe. After combining all the ingredients, the mixture is a very loose, sandy consistency that doesn't hold together. Help!

Had the same problem as the other 2 reviewers, so I creamed another 8 Tbsp butter with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla and added the part of the recipe I had already completed to it. Baked as directed and they turned out delicious.

Thanks folks that commented. These were on my list to make, but now they won't be.

I agree with everyone above - something is missing in the recipe. My dough mixture was also dry and would not hold together. I thought that maybe the typo was that instead of 8 TBSP they meant 8 ounces (double the butter). This ended up making the dough hold together so I could roll it into balls. One other problem I saw was that these cookies seemed to have much more chocolate than the cookies (from the Rischart bakery) pictured on page 59. Maybe I will reduce the cocoa powder by half, or eliminate altogether and see what that yields. Thanks for all the comments - I was starting to wonder about my baking ability until I was affirmed by all of your findings :)

My first issue, my first recipe. I spent a fortune buying hazelnuts to make three batches. I'm thinking of cancelling my subscription. I have a giant bowl of brown dust.

Very disappointing recipe published in what I consider to be a reputable cooking magazine. It appears no one at the magazine bothered to test this recipe. Sadly enough this is not a complicated recipe; essentially a hazelnut shortbread cookie. The fix, as previously mentioned, requires quite a bit more butter. Roughly double the amount called for. Not quite sure what to make of this gross oversight by the editorial department. An apology in the review section as well as a printed correction in a subsequent issue would go a long way towards restoring my faith in the integrity of this publication.

I wish I'd checked here before making these this afternoon. Clearly a test kitchen fail. I googled this after I had a bowlful of dust that was never going to come together. I couldnt use the fix, as the only other butter I had was frozen. However, I don't think the extra 4 tbsp of butter would have done the job. I wound up adding three (!) larges eggs and I STILL needed to add a couple of splashes of heavy cream for the dough to hold together. Baked as directed (that instruction was at least correct) and dipped them in chocolate. They are a not-too-sweet cookie with a deep chocolate flavor.

The nusstaler cookie pictured in the magazine cannot possibly be the same--as a previous reviewer noted, the color is much too light, given the addition of one half cup of cocoa in the recipe. It really seems as though this recipe was not tested at all. I was very disappointed, as hazelnuts are not cheap and I went to the trouble of toasting and grinding them. This is my first Saveur recipe fail.

I also made this reccipe in my KitchenAid mixer and ended up with a bowl full of crumbs. After spending so much money on hazelnuts, I was determined to fix this recipe. First I added one egg. Still didn't bind. Then I added 2-3T whipping cream(unwhipped), 1/4C confectioners sugar, 1/2t. baking soda and another egg. Finally it came together. I made small balls and rolled them in granulated sugar, pressed a hazelnut in the centre and baked as directed. When cooled, I dipped them in melted chocolate (Lindt) and let it set.

They were the favourite of many, and I will make them again with my changes.

Just landed here because I'm trying to make the cookies and found -- like so many others, it seems -- that they do not work as directed. Also that the dough is much darker than the photo. Will try the fixes and hope they work. Saveur, where are you? Don't you test your recipes? this is the first one I've tried from the magazine and it doesn't give me confidence. I don't buy your magazine just to look at the pictures!

In a recipe like this, usually equal amounts of ground hazelnuts (or whatever nuts are called for) and flour are used. I wonder if it should have been 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup hazelnuts....I may try this, adding the extra butter and omitting the cocoa to see how they turn out. Can't be any worse and I have some extra hazelnut flour on hand.

I would really like to make the complete Bavarian Christmas Dinner this year. Will you re-write the recipe for the chocolate hazelnut cookies? Sounds like a disaster with they way it is spelled out now. Saveur????