If you love the Italian flavor of gianduja (aka hazelnut and cocoa), then you'll want to make these cookies. A twist on the classic linzer cookie recipe or occhio di bue in Italian, they're a bit sweet, crunchy, salty, and pretty much perfection!
1cup (2 sticks)unsalted butter(1 cup) room temperature
3/4cuppacked light brown sugar
1/2cupgranulated sugar
2largeegg yolksroom temperature
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1/2cupchocolate-hazelnut spread
Instructions
Make The Hazelnut Meal: Add the nuts to the bowl of a small food processor fitted with a blade and pulse until finely ground (it should look like meal and be powdery). Set aside.
Mix The Dry Ingredients: Combine the ground hazelnuts, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk until aerated and any lumps are broken up.
Cream The Butter: Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle and mix on medium speed until airy and light, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until well combined.
Chill The Dough: Turn off mixer, scrape down the sides, and add the flour mixture. Mix on low until just combined. Divide the dough in two pieces, place each in a square of plastic wrap or parchment, pat into a square that's 1-inch thick, and wrap tightly. Place in the refrigerator to chill, at least 1 hour.
Roll Out The Dough: When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350°F and arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm up until easy to roll and pliable, at least 10 minutes.
Stamp Out The Cookies: Place half the dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment or wax paper, and, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, stamp out cookies. Using a second smaller cookie cutter, stamp out the centers of half of the cookies to make stars or rings.
Freeze Before Baking: Arrange cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze briefly, at least 5 minutes, before baking. Gather dough scraps into a ball and refrigerate until ready to use.
Bake The Cookies: Bake 2 sheets of cookies at a time until the undersides are golden and the tops are set, switching the sheets halfway through baking, about 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack then repeat with remaining dough to bake off all the cookies.
Assemble: To assemble, spread 1 teaspoon of the chocolate-hazelnut spread on the solid cookie then top it with a ring or star-shaped cookie. Repeat to assemble all the linzer cookie sandwiches.