Ingredients:
225 g sweet unsalted butter
100 g powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, to taste ( she said 2 dashes)
200 g all-purpose flour
40 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 g finely ground hazelnuts
2 cups nutella chocolate hazelnut spread, approximately
125 g bittersweet chocolate, more as needed ( such as Lindt brand) (optional)
1 teaspoon shortening (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Have ready a pastry bag with an small round opening tip or ziploc type baggie and some scissors to snip off the end (once filled with dough).
Cream butter until smooth and creamy.
Add powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, and cinnamon and mix until well blended.
Add flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder by spoonfuls (using an ordinary large soup spoon), until just mixed inches.
Stir in the ground hazelnuts.
Fill pastry bag and squeeze about 1 1/2″ long sticks onto the lined baking sheets (or you can squirt out round drops).
Bake at 350 F for about 8-10 minutes.
Let cool on wire racks.
When cool, use an icing spatula to spread some Nutella on a cookie (bottoms inward), then stick another cookie to it making a sandwich.
Optional decorative step:Melt bittersweet chocolate& shortening together in a double boiler and dip one end of each cookie sandwich into the melted chocolate.
Let cool on wax paper until chocolate is hardened.
Servings: 36
Time preparation: 30 min.
Time total: 40 min.