Hazelnut Shortbread Sandwich Cookies Recipe

For gluten free hazelnut shortbread

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line two large baking sheets with baking/greaseproof paper.Tip: You will bake the cookies in several batches, so you can line 2-3 baking sheets if you have them on hand. Otherwise, just re-use the same baking sheet, but make sure to cool it completely before you place the next batch of unbaked cookies onto it. First, toast the hazelnuts:Place the hazelnuts on a lined baking sheet and spread them out into an even layer.

Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 12-14

Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 12-14 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are a golden colour and their skins start loosening.Once toasted, allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer them into a clean tea towel and rub them vigorously to remove their skins.Discard the skins, allow the hazelnuts to cool completely, and then grind them finely in a food processor or blender. Set aside until needed.

In a large bowl, using a

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the softened butter, light brown soft sugar and vanilla bean paste until combined. Don’t cream the butter - just stir it all together until you get a homogeneous mixture.Tip: You don’t want to cream the butter and sugar together, as that aerates the mixture (that is, it incorporates air into it), which can cause the cookies to spread and lose shape in the oven. Sift together the gluten free flour blend, ground toasted hazelnuts, xanthan gum and salt, and add them to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough starts coming together, then knead it by hand until smooth.

Roll out the cookie dough between

Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of baking/greaseproof paper to a thickness of about 5mm.Tip: Rolling out the cookie dough between two sheets of baking/greaseproof/parchment paper prevents it from cracking during rolling. It also eliminates the need for dusting your work surface with extra flour, as you don’t want to incorporate more flour into the cookie dough. Once you’ve rolled out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm, cut out the cookies using a 2 inch (4cm) round cookie cutter (for prettier cookies, use a cookie cutter with fluted edges). Re-roll the scraps until you use up all the dough - you should get a total of 64 individual cookies (that will give 32 sandwich cookies).

Transfer the cookies onto the lined

Transfer the cookies onto the lined baking sheet(s), spacing them out slightly (leave about 1cm/½ inch of space between them, they don’t really spread out during baking).Tip: You can use a small offset spatula to lift the cut cookies off the baking paper. Be gentle with them as they’re fairly fragile. One baking sheet at a time, bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 12-14 minutes until light golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. For milk chocolate ganache: Place the chopped milk chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the double/heavy

In a saucepan, bring the double/heavy cream just to the boil, then pour it over the chocolate, making sure that the cream covers the chocolate as much as possible. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes, then stir together until smooth and glossy.Tip: Usually, dark chocolate ganache is made with a 1:1 cream-to-chocolate ratio (or an even higher ratio where you use a larger amount of cream). However, milk chocolate gives a much softer ganache, so a larger amount of chocolate is required to give a ganache that sets nicely (otherwise, the ganache could be too runny to sandwich between cookies).

Chill the ganache in the fridge

Chill the ganache in the fridge for about 15 minutes with occasional stirring until it firms up slightly and reaches a spoonable/pipeable consistency. Assembling the cookies:

Transfer the ganache into a piping

Transfer the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle and pipe dollops of ganache onto the flat (under)side of half of the cookies (about 6-7g of ganache per cookie). Sandwich with the other half of the cookies, so that the flat (under)sides are facing each other. The recipe gives a total of 32 sandwich cookies.

Hazelnut Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

How to make it