Dear readers,
Here at home everything still smells of vanilla, sugar, and marzipan. But now the moment has come when we can all take a breath. We can hang up the apron, put our feet up, and eat the cookies (if there are any left). I love the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve almost more than Christmas itself.
The house is quiet, and so are the streets. It’s just the right time to take some time for yourself.
Trude loves my Christmas Grinch slippers and thinks they’re toys.
Santa Claus makes sure I don’t eat too many cookies at once.
Here’s my recipe for “Nussecken,” my family’s beloved German hazelnut triangles. The name simply means nut corners.
300 g flour plus a little extra for rolling
300 g sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
2 eggs
300 g butter
200 g ground hazelnuts
100 g chopped hazelnuts, or the other way around, depending on how crunchy you want them
1 jar of jam, traditionally apricot or peach, though orange is also incredible
200 g couverture chocolate, dark or milk
- Knead the flour with 150 g sugar, the eggs, vanilla sugar, and 200 g butter until the dough is smooth. Shape it into a ball, flatten it slightly, cover it, and chill for 30 minutes.
- Melt the remaining butter, 100 g, with the remaining sugar, 150 g, in a pot on the stove. Stir well, then add both the ground and chopped hazelnuts. The mixture should be smooth but firm and should not fall off the spoon. Let it cool a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees or 160 degrees fan.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface, or directly on the baking paper, into a rectangle about 30 by 30 centimeters.
- Warm the jam briefly on the stove until spreadable, then spread it over the dough.
- Spread the nut mixture on top.
- Bake for about 30 minutes.
- Let the baked sheet cool slightly, then cut it into strips, then squares, then into triangles. Let everything cool completely.
- Once the cookies are cold, melt the chocolate over a water bath, making sure the water does not boil, and dip the corners or one side of each triangle. Let them cool again.
Stored in a tin, they keep for about four weeks.
I always make a double batch because they are the family favorite and disappear faster than you can blink.