SPECIAL COOKIE EQUIPMENT

• food processor, parchment paper, rolling pin

MISE EN PLACE FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH

• Toast the hazelnuts slowly in the oven at about 325F for about 15 minutes until the skins crack and begin to fall off.

• Let cool.
• Rub the hazelnuts in a clean towel to get the skins off.

• Use the fingers for the stubborn ones.

• Whiz the sugar, hazelnuts and seeds in a food processor until finely ground. Set aside.
• Stir the flour and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.
• Measure the cold butter in small dices and set back in the refrigerator until ready to use
• Separate the eggs and set the yolks aside.
• Add the vanilla to the egg yolks.
• Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
• Tear two sheets of parchment for rolling and line two baking sheets with parchment too.

MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH

• Add the flour and salt to the nut mixer and blend in the food processor.
• Add the cold butter to the food processor.
• Pulse until the butter is pea-sized.
• Add the yolks and vanilla and process until the dough holds together between your fingers

• If it’s too dry, add a few drops of water just to create enough moisture for the dough to hold together.

• Gather up the dough into a solid mass.

• Break the dough in half.

• Form two balls.

• Set the dough between the two pieces of parchment or plastic wrap. I prefer plastic wrap.

• Roll the dough to 1/8 of an inch thickness.

• At this point, the dough need not stay icy cold. What’s important here is that the dough be solid and smooth and not have any air pockets.
• When the dough is rolled to the correct thickness, set it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so to firm it up for easier handling.

CUT AND BAKE THE COOKIES

• With a ruler and a sharp knife, pick any edge and cut a straight edge.

• Being that most rulers are approximately 1.5 inches wide, use the ruler’s width to get 1.5 inches by placing one edge of the ruler along the straight edge of the dough and cutting along the other side of the ruler.

• Repeat until the entire dough is cut into strips.
• At this point, you can cut the strips into squares or diamond shapes.
• For diamond shapes, shift the ruler about 45 degrees until you get a diamond shape you like and make your first cut.
• Again, using the width of the ruler, make sequential cuts. What will happen is that the width of the ruler will create even diamond shapes. There will be a little asymmetry along the edges.
• Bake them up anyway and save them for the chef and his/her helpers.

• Place in the butter cookies on the baking sheets.

• Set in the oven for 20 minutes or so, until the edges become brown.

• If the cookies are browning too quickly, turn down the temperature by 25 degrees and bake for a couple more minutes at a time until they are firm to the touch.