1/4 cup lightly toasted chopped, hazelnuts, with their skins intact, cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly soft
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
2 1/2 teaspoons hazelnut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup untoasted chopped hazelnuts, skins intact
12 oz white chocolate, finely chopped (filling)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon hazelnut extract
1/4 cup lightly toasted, coarsely chopped hazelnuts, with skins, cooled
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center
of the oven. Line 2 or more baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the flour, hazelnuts, and salt in a food processor fitted with
a metal blade. Process until the nuts are finely ground but not
paste-like. Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an
electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium
speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and
extracts and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed,
until the mixture is well blended. Turn the mixer to low speed and
gradually add the flour mixture, blending just until incorporated.
3. Finely chop the untoasted hazelnuts and place in a large bowl or
cake pan to form a shallow layer. Roll the dough between your
palms into 1-inch balls.
(If the butter was overly soft to start, the dough may be sticky and
hard to handle. It may be necessary to refrigerate it for a few
minutes until it can easily be shaped. Take care not to overchill the
dough, however, or it may crack when you make the indentations
later in the recipe.)
4. Place the egg whites in a small bowl and whisk until frothy.
Working with 1 ball at a time, lightly coat the ball with the beaten
egg white and then tumble it in the untoasted hazelnuts to evenly
coat. Roll the ball between your palms again to firmly fix the nuts in
place. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and arrange the
cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using
your thumb or the end of a round-handled spoon, make a cup-
shaped indentation in the center of each cookie. Bake 12 to 14
minutes, re-pressing the indentations midway through the baking
process. When done, the cookies should be lightly browned on the
bottom.
Begin the ganache no sooner than you intend to fill the cookies
since it doesn’t keep well. Place the chopped or ground chocolate in
a large bowl to form a shallow layer. Set aside.
7. Pour the cream into a medium (3-quart) nonreactive saucepan
and place over medium to medium-high heat just until the cream is
almost scalded. (That is, heat the cream to just below the boiling
point. The cream will put off steam, but no bubbles should break on
its surface.) Immediately strain the hot cream through a fine-
meshed sieve directly over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 1 to
2 minutes, without stirring. Gently whisk the mixture until the
chocolate is entirely melted. (If the chocolate doesn’t completely
melt, set the bowl over barely simmering water in a double boiler or
a bowl set over but not touching simmering water and stir
frequently until smooth.
When the chocolate is malted and smooth, stir in the corn syrup until incorporated and then
stir in the hazelnut extract. Remove from the heat, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly
against the surface, and chill about 20 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
9. Transfer the ganache to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment. Beat on
medium speed just until the ganache turns a shade paler and holds the “tracks” left by the
beater. Do not overbeat or the ganache will break and become grainy. Immediately assemble
the thumbprint cookies.
Pipe ganache onto cookies and top with coarsely chopped hazelnuts.
Originally Submitted
3/31/2015
0 Out of 5 from
0 reviews
You can add this Thumbprint Cookies recipe to your own private DesktopCookbook.