Yes, I’m a day behind, but I will catch up! I promise! Didn’t you enjoy yesterday’s French macarons? Twelve cookies in 12 days from the Bon Appétit 2008 Holiday Cookie-a-Day collection – that’s the goal and I refuse to disappoint you!
First the recipe, then my notes.
Hazelnut-Butter Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup creamy unsalted hazelnut butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 12-ounce package semisweet mini chocolate chips (2 cups)
Preparation:
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Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, hazelnut butter, and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before shaping.
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 level tablespoon for each cookie, roll dough between palms of hands into 1-inch balls. Arrange 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.
Notes:
Let’s start with my changes, which were not made out of preference, but rather because I didn’t want to go shopping. I didn’t have any hazelnut butter in the house, but I did have almond butter (which my husband bought awhile back purely out of caprice), and so I used that. I also didn’t have any mini chocolate chips, so I used regular-sized ones. In the end, we decided that these changes had no affect on the outcome.
Well, maybe the mini chips would have fit better in these little, ittty-bitty, bite-sized cookies. If you look at the cookie photo on the Bon Appétit site, they look enormous. They are not. These cookies really don’t spread much, if at all, and the one-inch spacing on the cookie sheet is more than enough.
I don’t know whether to call this a dough or a batter, but either way, once you manage to get the nut butter stirred up, this comes together really fast and easy. In fact, it probably took me twice the time to get the almond butter stirred up, than it did to put the whole recipe together!
When you’re ready to bake, you should absolutely let the dough/batter warm up for at least 30 minutes. When it chills, it gets hard as a rock. I tried to scoop some out for the first cookie after 15 minutes, and not only did I nearly bend my measuring tablespoon, I managed to fling a wad of the stuff across the room. You could put an eye out! Be patient. Or wear goggles.
I also reduced the baking time from the recommended 12 minutes to 10 minutes.
The verdict? This is a rich and tasty chocolate chip cookie. It’s got a lot of flavor, and I suspect you could use any of the smooth, natural nut butters in this recipe. It’s quick to put together and isn’t high maintenance. Of the nine cookies I’ve baked for this series so far, my husband rates this is as a top 3 contender (along with the biscotti and pecan lace cookies). I would definitely bake this cookie again. I’ll just make my husband stir the nut butter.
Please visit my partners in holiday baking, below, and see what they’ve got in store for you. And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the tenth (and maybe the eleventh!) installment!
Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes (honorary member and our founder but not participating this year)
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook
Judy of No Fear Entertaining
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Michelle of Big Black Dog
RJ of Flamingo Musings (hey! that’s me!)
Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench
Tiffany of The Nesting Project
Oh those look like bite sized pieces of joy! Such a sucker for hazelnut…
These look great. You are so on top of this challenge!
I'll be making this one for Phil over the weekend…they look and sound amazing. And don't worry…I have protective face gear!
Oh, nice! I love nut butters–we always have different ones on hand. I'll have to give these a try!
nom nom nom nom
Ooh, now you've got me wondering how these would be with cashew butter. Mmm. Good luck getting caught up–I'm now two days behind, but still hope to finish this weekend.
I congratulate, you were visited with a remarkable idea
The Hazelnut-Butter Cookies were my husbands favorite cookie so far. Loved using the nut butters which made such a difference in taste and texture.
I'll admit, THESE cookies are NOT undesirable. But I'll bet I could come up with some cookies no one would want.
Love all your cookies. These seem like a cookie my husband would love! I'm putting it on my list to try. Thanks!
I figured any nut butter would do — almond is easier to find than hazelnut around here and I'm with you on not wanting to go shopping unless I have to! We liked these too. They're chewy and have great flavor. Love the photo!