Hazelnut cookie cups

Has your hazelnut tree been particularly generous this year? Try these simple hazelnut cookie cups! Crisp pastry filled with a delicious hazelnut filling. All you need to make these little cups is a mini muffin tin and… a little patience to carefully line all 24 cavities with pastry ;). If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, don’t worry – you can make larger hazelnut “cups” in a standard muffin tin. They will just need to bake a little longer. The combination of crisp pastry and hazelnuts is simply delicious!

Makes 24.

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 300 g plain flour
• 150 g cold butter, cubed
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 g icing sugar
• pinch of salt

Sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and quickly rub or cut it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks, icing sugar and salt and quickly bring the dough together (you can also use a food processor). Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1–2 hours.

Prepare a 24-hole mini muffin tin. Grease the cavities with butter and dust with flour, shaking off any excess.

Roll out the chilled pastry to about 3 mm thick. Cut out rounds slightly larger than the muffin cavities. Use them to line the prepared cavities, pressing the pastry carefully into the sides. Chill in the fridge while preparing the hazelnut filling.

Ingredients for the hazelnut filling:

• 1⅓ cups hazelnuts
• ⅔ cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 15 g butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or dark rum)

Set aside 24 hazelnuts.

Place the remaining hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor and process until the nuts are finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, add the lightly beaten egg, cooled melted butter and vanilla. Mix thoroughly until you have a fairly thick filling.

Remove the pastry cups from the fridge. Fill each one with the hazelnut filling right up to the top, placing one whole hazelnut in the centre of each cup.

Bake the hazelnut cookie cups at 180°C for about 17–20 minutes, or until the pastry is baked through and the filling is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and, while still hot, carefully loosen the cups with a knife and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Recipe by Bajaderka from the MniamMniam.pl forum.