Sunday, February 19, 2012

Hazelnut &Olive Oil Shortbread


               There's a lot of fantasy about what Scotland is, and the shortbread tins and that sort of thing.
-Sean Connery


Well, this is not a Scottish shortbread, more Italian . Hazelnuts paired with another citrus.( I have left over HAZELNUT meal from my Nutella pound cake.) This time -lemon. This classic combo I also adore. The tart lemon, and buttery nuttiness. Sandy, light, a bit salty. The original recipe is all olive oil. I did add butter because I wanted to press then into shapes. I was afraid oil alone would not be enough. I also added all the lemon juice  into the cookie.vs using it as a glaze with powdered sugar. I bet this would  have add another layer to the cookie, as well as sharpening up the beauty factor. They r surprisingly delicious. A nice rainy day, hot tea and these :)

Hazelnut & Olive Oil Shortbread

 Adapted from : From: ArcaMax Publishing's "Variety Menu," by Faith Durand (2/12/2012)
(Faith Durand is managing editor of TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food & home cooking.)


 
Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup hazelnut meal
3/4 cup A-P flour  ( I used wheat because it was all I had )
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon  fine sea salt
1 lemon, zested
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4cup extra-virgin light olive oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions:
  • Heat the oven to 375ºF.
  • Cream butter with brown sugar, powdered sugar - until light
  • Stream in olive oil and continue to blend until mixed.
  • Add lemon zest, and juice, vanilla - mix until blended 
  • Whisk together the hazelnut meal, flour, salt . 
  • Mix dry  into wet oil, until dough pulls together off sides of bowl.   The dough will be sandy & quite crumbly
  • Roll the dough out onto parchment paper- approx-1/4-1/2 inch thickness.  I think thicker is better because how crumbly the dough is.
  • Cut with cookie cutter or hand cut into shapes. ( I used a simple large cutter. Anything too intricate will break when placing.) 
  • Sprinkle with Demara sugar ( optional)   or  glaze with lemon juice and powdered sugar- after baking
  • Bake for approx 7 minutes/ -on parchment paper- or  until edges are light brown. 


STACKED


NEXT TIME:
  • I will cut them a bit thicker. Shortbread should be FAT!
  • I will make the lemon glaze :)  
  • I'll have white flour ..LOL 
  • MAYBE I'll actually find my camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


black and white 

2 comments:

  1. Lovely, simply lovely...I agree, the lemon icing would have been an indulgent touch. Next time...

    Thank you so much for sharing...

    P.S. I've added your link to my sidebar so I remember to pop back in for more goodies:)

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  2. I don't care if you call it scottish or italian - shortbread is shortbread. And I'd love to try out this recipe!

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