nectar of the gods

After I made some raspberry jamble shortbread bars and had leftover shortbread dough, I knew instantly what I wanted to do. A vision of almond shortbread cookies squeezed together with Nutella danced in my head and I was sold.

Nutella. Just the mere mention of this chocolate heaven is enough to evoke images of me swimming a pool of Nutella, licking the hazelnut spread off my arms and fingers…

Sorry, got a little lost there. I believe that there is probably no other food that just universally screams comfort. From its native Italy to France to the US, it’s taken on the globe. World domination is at its finger tips.

So it’s no surprise then to have a special holiday in the jar of good stuff’s honor. Thankfully, Ms. Adventures in Italy has proclaimed that February 5^th, 2008 as that special holiday. Go ahead, run to your local grocery store and grab this decadent spread.

It works so well with everything, and I think for one week I literally tried it on everything. I had it smeared on my wheat toast (ha I laugh at my effort to make it healthy) with my cup of coffee, I baked with it in some cupcakes, and topped it on my bananas. It can do no wrong. But this time, I wanted to make something different, something that would enhance the nutty flavors and it’s smooth chocolate texture. Enter almond shortbread!

The shortbread cookie recipe comes from Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey. I have never made shortbread before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but the almond shortbread didn’t let me down. The ground almonds give the shortbread a savory crunch, giving the cookie more flavor and better texture. If you don’t like almonds, that’s fine. I imagine you could use hazelnut or possible pistachios.

I wanted to make really thin crispy shortbread cookies but my dough was a little hard to work with after I threw it in the fridge for a while. I didn’t give it enough time to thaw in the fridge so I struggled to shape the dough, but in the end it didn’t matter. They looked like little round buttons, except let me assure you, they tasted way better.

The cookie was soft in the center with a golden buttery crust. It has a nice bite to it, thanks to the ground almond used with the flour. And the filling? Of course, I decided to add a big dollop of the good stuff. It started to ooze the minute it hit the cookie. Talk about food porn right? The nuttiness in the cookie and the hazelnut flavor from the Nutella complemented each other fantastically.

Hopefully, everyone out there gets in the kitchen and plays around with Nutella. It was made to be eaten, so go ahead and have a good time! Big thanks to the gals who have helped with this nutella round-up for giving me another reason to make these sandwich cookies. Although, let’s be real, I didn’t need a lot of convincing!

Almond Nutella Cookie Sandwiches
adapted from Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey

Ingredients:

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
3 and ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 cup almond flour or very finely ground almonds
Jar of Nutella

Directions:

If you don’t have almond flour on hand, you can make it like I did by grinding up 1 cup of almonds in your food processor until they are finely ground. It’s going to be combined with the flour so texture-wise, you want to get it as finely ground as possible.

Combine the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Using an electric mixture set at medium low speed, beat it until creamy. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined.

Combine almond flour (or ground almonds) with the flour. Mix well. Combine the dry mixture into the butter mixture on low speed, until a smooth, soft dough forms.

Divide in half. Shape each dough piece into log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Chill until firm enough to slice, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Cut each dough log into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rounds; place on sheets. Bake until cookies are golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove baking sheets from oven and let cool on tray slightly.

Remove cookies from baking sheet and transfer to wire rack to cool. The cookies will be slightly delicate when removing from baking sheet so be careful or else they will fall apart.

To assemble the cookie sandwich, spread the flat side of half the cookies with the Nutella, top with the remaining cookies and serve.