TigerChef

These cookies definitely take a bit of effort, but the beautiful results will encourage you to make them again and again. They are very well worth the extra effort!

Dough:

¾ cup + 2 ½ tablespoon (7 oz.) margarine

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 packages vanilla sugar

Pinch of salt

4 egg yolks

3 cups flour

8 tablespoon finely ground pecans

Directions:

Place the margarine, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and egg yolks into the mixer and mix with the dough hook until you get a creamy, smooth mixture. Add the flour and nuts and continue to mix until the dough is soft, but not sticky.

Divide the dough into two parts. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out one part of the dough until it is flat. Using a square cookie cutter,

cut 1 1/2” squares from the dough.

Preheat the oven to 300°F, and using a flat card or metal spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a baking-paper-lined baking sheet. Make sure to maintain the cookies’ square shape. Bake the cookies until they are golden. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool.

Prepare the three components needed to assemble the cookies: chocolate squares, chocolate-nougat cream, and hazelnut crunch for the garnish.

Chocolate Squares:

3 ½ oz. bittersweet chocolate

3 ½ oz. baking chocolate

Directions:

Chop the bittersweet chocolate. Combine with the baking chocolate in a microwave-safe container and melt it in the microwave until you have a smooth, uniform chocolate mixture. It’s best to microwave the mixture in several short periods, so that the chocolate will melt nicely without burning. A grainy consistency or burned smell indications that the chocolate was not melted correctly.

Once the chocolate is melted, pour it into a shallow chocolate mold. The mold used here makes square shapes with holes in the center. Use a flat knife to smooth the chocolate into the mold and scrape off any excess chocolate. Keep the edges of the shapes sharp and clean.

Place the chocolate mold on a cutting board or any flat, moveable surface, and place it in the freezer for five minutes; the chocolate freezes very quickly. Remove the mold from the freezer and push the back of the mold very carefully until the chocolate pop out. You should have pretty chocolate squares with a hole in the center of each one.

Chocolate Nougat Cream:

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate

3 ½ oz. nougat cream

Directions:

Melt the bittersweet chocolate, add the nougat cream, and mix well until smooth. Pour the cream into a squeeze bottle.

Garnish: 3 ½ oz. hazelnut crunch or chopped hazelnuts To assemble the cookies, squeeze a bit of the chocolate-nougat cream onto the center of each whole square cookie and top with a chocolate square. Immediately sprinkle some hazelnut crunch over the hole, so that the nuts stick to the chocolate-nougat cream. Allow it to harden.

Note: These cookies should be stored in layers in a container, with baking paper separating the layers. They should stay fresh for three weeks if stored in a tightly sealed container. Condensation will cause droplets to form on the chocolate, therefore it is not recommended to freeze the cookies.

Filed under: Recipes • General

Tags: cookies