Ingredients
Directions
Combine flour and baking soda; set aside. In the food processor, roughly crush hazelnuts and transfer to a separate container. Blend the room temperature butter (microwave butter a few sec if still firm) with the salt, sugars and vanilla. Add the egg and give a few pulses. Add powders and mix until just combined. Then add the nuts and the broken pieces of chocolate. Give a few pulses and finish mixing cookie dough on the countertop (do not overwork). Shape cookie dough into a 12-inch cylinder, wrap it up in parchment paper and refrigerate to harden. Cut cylinder into 12 equal cookies and keep refrigerated until ready to bake. Cookie dough can be made days in advance; stored in the fridge for a few days or frozen for weeks.
Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Cookie may be baked using 3-inch/7.5 cm diameter tartlet rings. Bake cookies for 8 minutes, flatten a bit with a flat device and bake for 7 minutes more. Do not overcook cookies. They are always better underdone than overdone. Let cool to room temp before adding the toppings.
This technique (melted chocolate on frozen tray) does not require tempering. However, the use of chocolate couverture grade is preferred. Also, the addition of cocoa butter makes chocolate more pliable. Place a couple of clean baking trays in the freezer (trays must be frozen otherwise it wont work). Make a few cones out of parchment paper. Melt chocolate over a water bath – remove from the heat as soon as it is melted. Do not overheat chocolate. Fill a cone two-thirds full, seal it and make a small cut from the tip. Grab frozen tray and make lines of thin chocolate strips as close as close possible from each other. Immediately, trim edges and make 3 nests – chocolate strips should remain supple during the shaping procedure. Keep nest frozen until ready to use. Clean up tray with paper towels, and put it back in the freezer. Grab the other frozen tray and repeat until done.
Top each cookie with a frozen chocolate spaghetti nest. Fill the center of the cookies with jam and garnish with a couple of Easter eggs. Enjoy!
