HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high until creamy, about 2 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour and salt and beat just to combine. Use a spatula to fold in hazelnuts.
• Lightly coat a 9-by-13- inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper and lightly spray parchment. Press dough firmly into baking dish. Bake until golden and just starting to pull away from edges, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Let cool completely and cut into squares or rectangles. Cookies will keep wrapped tightly and at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Steps:

• If the hazelnuts are raw, toast them by spreading them out on a baking sheet and putting them in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes. Shake the pan a few times.
• Put the flour and the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor together and run until the hazelnuts are completely ground up (you are basically making hazelnut flour). Combining the nuts with the flour makes the whole process neater.
• Put all the ingredients into a large bowl.
• Mix by hand, quickly. Don't overmix. You may see flecks of butter, that's okay.
• Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and cool in the refrigerator for two hours or overnight.
• Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the rest refrigerated.
• Roll the dough into an oblong, and then cut quickly into equal size pieces, the size of a large walnut. Each piece should be rolled briefly between the palms and then put on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a whole hazelnut into the cookie, fairly deeply.
• Bake ten minutes at 350 Fahrenheit. They should be very lightly browned when you take them out of the oven.
• Let sit until cool. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.