The Hazelnut Cutout Cookie Recipe You Need This Season!
No chilling, no spreading and a beautiful blend of chocolate and hazelnut is what dreams are made of! Simple enough for kids to make, but delicious enough for everyone!
Ingredients
Hazelnut Cookies
- 1 cup (227g) Unsalted Butter Chilled, Cubed
- 1 cup (200g) Granulated White Sugar
- 1 Large Egg Chilled
- 1 Tbsp Hazelnut Baking Emulsion LorAnn Brand
- 1/2 cup (60g) Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp (5g) Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp (3g) Salt
- 3 cups (380g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp (1.8g) Espresso Powder
Hazelnut Royal Icing
- 5 Tbsp Meringue Powder I use Genie's Dream
- 1 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Hazelnut Baking Emulsion LorAnn Brand
- 1 cup Water
- 2 lbs Powdered Sugar
Instructions
Hazelnut Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- We bake on our favorite perforated baking mats to eliminate any chance of spread, for even baking and pretty undersides of our cookies!
- Cream butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. No need to excessively cream as it can lead to cookie spread.
- Beat in hazelnut baking emulsion and egg, until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, salt, flour, cocoa powder and espresso powder. Add to wet ingredient mixing bowl a little at a time.
- Mix until thoroughly blended. Dough should be pulling away from the bowl.
- Chilling the dough is not necessary! I have tried many different ways of rolling out dough and always come back to the old-fashioned way; a sheet of wax paper that has been floured.
- I usually divide the dough into 3 chunks and roll out each onto a floured surface and cut. In my experience, this dough works best for cookies at 1/4" thick. I use my Joseph Joseph rolling pin which does the measuring for me – genius! If you prefer thicker cookies, you'll just want to adjust your baking time.
- Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes, depending on size of cookie. I also suggest baking similar-sized cookies together.
- Cool cookies on cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to cooling rack.
Hazelnut Royal Icing
- Combine meringue powder, light corn syrup, vanilla extract, hazelnut emulsion and water in mixing bowl.
- Using a whisk, mix until ingredients are foamy. This is essentially reconstituting the egg whites in the meringue powder.
- Add the powdered sugar.
- Using your whisk, mix until powdered sugar is slightly incorporated (and won't fly everywhere)
- Beat for 5 minutes on medium-high
- Icing will thicken, whiten and will have peaks once ready (you want medium/stiff peaks)
- Your Royal Icing will now be ready to color and thin to your desired consistencies for decorating!
Notes
Cookie Consistency Notes:
The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the mixer. If dough seems too crumbly or dry, it has not come together yet. Mix for another minute.
If dough is not pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add more flour a Tablespoon at a time until it is.
For a stronger hazelnut flavor, you can use additional hazelnut emulsion, but you’ll want to add more flour one Tbsp at a time to compensate for the additional moisture.
Royal Icing Notes:
If you live in a humid home, you may want to reduce the water to 1/2 or 3/4 cup to start.
If your icing is not bright white (from the flavorings), add a touch of purple coloring to turn it white again.