This winter I wanted a cookie to get me through the shoulder of the solstice: a cookie that works in a Christmas box, but symbolizes much more. These Hazelnut Brown Butter Solstice cookies do just that. Hazelnuts are symbols of luck, wisdom and fecundity, but when most people think of these nuts they think of flavored coffee and chocolate-hazelnut spread. While both hazelnut coffee and spread are delicious, those products make hazelnuts’ flavor seem intense and domineering. But hazelnuts have a gentle flavor, they are buttery with slight acid/woody kick.
After several failed attempts at this cookie (it kept being stogie and tasting like a mild natural peanut butter cookie), I added hazelnut oil, and changed from creaming the butter to browning it. The browned butter was a revelation and now this cookie is magnificent, adding a dose of elevated coziness on a dark day and adding intrigue to a generic cookie box. This cookie is gorgeous dusted in powdered sugar (my husband Erich’s favorite) or dipped in chocolate (my favorite). Next time I make these, I might cover 60% of each top side in chocolate to match the 14 hour night we’ll have on December 21st). We’re almost to the shortest day. The old year will die, but in earliest days of spring the hazel trees will be the first to flower. Until that time, hopefully, these cookies will keep you cozy. (Side note, I’m planting a few American hazel trees on my hill this spring).
Notes
NOTE ABOUT HAZELNUT OIL
You can absolutely make this cookie without hazelnut oil, but using it adds a bit more depth to the flavor of these cookies. I can taste the difference, but it’s not a huge one. The people who tested the version with avocado oil still raved about the cookies. Toasted hazelnut oil is available at many specialty kitchen markets or online.
NOTE ABOUT TOASTING YOUR NUTS
Hazelnuts can be toasted in the oven. Toast nuts on a rimmed cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Make sure to turn the nuts regularly to promote even browning. If you buy “lightly toasted hazelnuts” from the grocery store, you’re still going to want to gently toast them for maximum flavor.
NOTE ABOUT TEMPERING CHOCOLATE
If you’re going to dip these cookies in chocolate to make moon cookies, please consider tempering your chocolate to preserve the chocolate’s glossy sheen. The most reliable way to temper chocolate is to heat 2/3 of it over a double boiler (the water underneath should be at a very gentle simmer) until the chocolate is just melted, then remove from heat and stir in the other 1/3 of the chocolate until melted. The bowl of melted chocolate can then be returned to the steaming pot of hot water if it begins to harden. I turn off the heat under my double boiler and leave the pot in place to use as needed. If you prefer to use the microwave, chocolate can be tempered by heating 2/3 of your chocolate at 10-15 second bursts until melted and then folding in the other 1/3 of the chocolate.
Key Ingredients
Hazelnuts
Unsalted butter
Light brown sugar
all-purpose flour
Toasted hazelnut oil (Optional)
Milk chocolate (Optional)
Egg
Hazelnut Brown Butter Solstice Cookies – Recipe
Adapted from Moira Hodgson’s Hazelnut Cookie Recipe. Time: 10 minutes to toast nuts and brown butter, 5 minutes to make hazelnut butter, 10 minutes to make the dough. 30 minutes to bake the cookies, plus 15 minutes to chill the dough (45minutes-1 hour). Special equipment: Food processor, and parchment paper. Makes about 40 cookies.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces 1 and ½ cups hazelnuts skin should be at least 50% removed
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil or avocado oil
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cups packed light brown sugar (160 grams)
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (plus 1-2 tablespoons for flattening cookies)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Diamond Kosher Salt or 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- OPTIONAL: 1 cup or 170 grams of chocolate for covering cookies or ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Step One
Toast hazelnuts and set aside (see above note about toasting hazelnuts). Brown 6 tablespoons of butter by heating butter on medium heat in a pan and stirring occasionally. Butter will melt, then spurt and hiss, then get silent. Once butter goes silent you need to watch it like a hawk until little flecks of brown appear at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat as soon as you see those flecks. Set brown butter aside.
Step Two
Make hazelnut butter by adding toasted hazelnuts to the bowl of a food processor. Processes about 15-30 seconds, until you have fine pieces of nut. Remove ¼ cup of finely chopped nuts and set aside. Continue processing the rest of the nuts until they start to become smooth. Add 2 tablespoons of toasted hazelnut oil (or avocado oil) to the ground nuts. Puree in the food processor until you have a paste with an even consistency.
Step Three
Make the cookie dough. Add sugar, egg, browned butter, vanilla, and salt to the hazelnut butter in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until thoroughly mixed. Sprinkle 1 cup of flour, and reserved ¼ cup ground hazelnuts on top of the wet ingredients and then ½ teaspoon of baking soda on top of that. Pulse mixer until just combined. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes (and up to 3 days) in the fridge.
Step Four
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure out 1-2 tablespoons of flour in a shallow bowl and set aside. Roll cookie dough into 1 tablespoon balls and space them about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet (I can fit 9 cookies on one standard baking sheet). Dip the flat side of fork tines into 1-2 tablespoons of flour and then use the fork to press the cookie ball flat into a disk (just like you would with a peanut butter cookie). Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until the outside rim of the cookie takes on color. Set cookies aside to cool completely.
Step Five
Once cookies are cool, dust them with powdered sugar OR using a spoon cover half of the top of each cookie with tempered chocolate (see note above on tempering chocolate). If covering cookies in chocolate, set up a cooling rack, a sheet of wax paper or piece of parchment paper and place cookies on the rack or paper to cool. Allow at least 1-2 hours for the chocolate to harden (this depends on the temperature of your kitchen.
Cookies will keep for up to a week in an air tight container, and the hazelnut flavor is actually stronger the second day.