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Recipe: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandos

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A video recipe for chocolate hazelnut sandwich cookies

Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandos

Makes about 4 ½ dozen cookie sandwiches

If you ask me, there’s pretty much nothing better than the classic combination of hazelnut and chocolate. One of my nephews said these were the best cookies he’d ever tried. My niece doesn’t like hazelnuts.

For the cookies:
355 g all-purpose flour
150 g granulated sugar
1 tsp coarse salt (preferably Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp hot water
128 g toasted skinned hazelnuts
15 g cocoa nibs
226 g cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
2 tsp vanilla
1 yolk

For the chocolate filling:
4 tbs cocoa powder
7g powdered milk (optional)
4 tbs hot water
113 g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp coarse salt (preferably Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)
200 g confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In a small bowl, bloom the cocoa powder in hot water and whisk to combine.

In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts, cocoa nibs, and a scoop of the flour mixture until coarsely ground. Add the remaining flour mixture and pulse until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the texture of coarse meal. Add the vanilla, cocoa mixture, and yolk, and pulse until a dough just starts to come together.

Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead gently into a ball, then divide in two. Flatten each half into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill 45 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (325 F Convection) with racks in the upper- and lower-third positions.

Working with one disc of dough at a time, roll between parchment sheets to a scant ¼-inch thick. Use a 1 ¾-inch round cutter to punch rounds. Gather the scraps into a ball and reroll.

Place the cookies on lined baking sheets, about 1-inch apart, and bake 18-20 minutes until firm to the touch and the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling: In a small bowl, bloom the cocoa powder and powdered milk (if using) with the hot water and whisk to combine. Combine the cocoa mixture with the butter, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time and beat until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag with a round tip.

Pipe a generous teaspoon of filling onto the underside of half the cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies. Drizzle with melted milk chocolate, to garnish.

Store in a cool place for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Hazelnut Banana Bread

in ,

A video recipe for hazelnut banana bread

Hazelnut Banana Bread by Jason Schreiber.

HAZELNUT BANANA BREAD

Originally published in FRUIT CAKE: RECIPES FOR THE CURIOUS BAKER

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS  

The bananas and plantains for this recipe need to be soft, dark, and basically mushade, because that’s when they are the sweetest and most full of flavor. The plantains, which are starchier than your typical banana, don’t break down completely, forming little pockets of intense banana flavor scattered throughout the loaf.

The original recipe from FRUIT CAKE uses walnuts instead of hazelnuts. Both versions are delicious.

Pan Goo (below), for greasing the pan
2 (240 grams) large, very ripe, very mushy bananas
2 (450 grams) large, very ripe, very soft sweet plantains
¾ cup (160 grams) granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups (178 grams) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons (3.8 grams) coarse salt
1 teaspoon (2.5 grams) ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon (4.5 grams) baking soda
1 pinch ground mace
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter
½ cup (4 ounces, 113 grams) cream cheese
2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup (128 grams) toasted hazelnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the center position. Brush a standard 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan with Pan Goo.

2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas and plantains together until the bananas have almost totally disintegrated and the plantains have broken into pieces about the size of modest grapes. Add the sugar and continue mashing it all together until the sugar more or less dissolves. Set this mixture aside to macerate for about 15 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and mace.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then remove it from the heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir the cream cheese into the butter until it’s mostly dissolved, then whisk to combine. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, until the mixture has lightened to the consistency of melted ice cream.

5. Stir the wet mixture into the banana mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the dry mixture and gently fold it all together as you might pancake batter, being careful not to overwork it or leave any dry pockets behind. Store in the nuts, if using, and then pour the batter into the prepared pan. It will be almost completely full.

6. Bake the loaf until it’s deep golden brown, springs back to the touch, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 80 to 85 minutes.

7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Let the loaf rest in the pan for just about 15 minutes, then unmold it onto the rack until—here comes the hard part—it’s completely cool.

STORAGE
You can probably keep the loaf in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days, but good luck with that.

PAN GOO
¼ cup (62 mL) neutral oil, such as safflower
⅓ cup (47 g) all-purpose flour.

In a small container with a lid, whisk the oil and flour together until combined. Brush onto baking pans in place of parchment paper or cooking spray. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. A month seems like maybe too long

From FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).