25 Days of Christmas in Cookies

Day 8: Chocolate Hazelnut Kiss Cookies

     Found on Cake Duchess's blog.

    How can that name not grab your attention? I'm practically addicted to Nutella so finding a cookie that tastes like it? Forget about it. 

    2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

    2 cup confectioner's sugar

    1/2 tsp salt

    2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

    1 cup butter, room temp & sliced into pats

    4 large egg yolks

    1 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

    40 Hershey's kisses

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets (or line with parchment paper) and set aside.

  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy.

 

Beat in the yolks and confectioner's sugar just until it starts to combine. 

Slowly, so as not to create a dust cloud in your kitchen, beat in the 

flour-cocoa mixture. Beat until it 

just comes together. I was unable 

to beat in all of the flour with the stand mixer and I had to stir in 

the rest.The texture reminded 

me of chocolate ice cream...

and it smelled like it, too.

  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough briefly until it is smooth and shiny. 

  Shape the dough into approximately 40 1-inch balls. Using your thumb, indent the middle of each dough ball to flatten a little and work around the edges of the cookie to smooth out the shape.

  Pressing gently, roll the edges of the cookie in the toasted hazelnuts. Roll the cookie with just a little pressure so you can get as many nuts stuck into it without changing the shape. Place on the prepared cookie sheets.

  Bake the cookies, one batch at a time, for about 8 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and, being careful not to burn yourself, add a Hershey's kiss to each cookie. Press down gently so that the bottom of the kiss starts to melt just a bit, making sure it will stick to the cookie. 

  Add the sheet back to the oven and bake for an additional minute or two.

  Remove from the oven and let cool completely on wire racks. 

  Enjoy!

 *I am sorry for being behind in my posting. My 4-year-old and I are under the weather and while she has beaten it, I have yet to kick it. We are baking our cookies, just not posting. Hay, a girl can only do so much. ;)