Hazelnut Cookie Acorns

Hazelnut Cookie Acorns

I adore these tiny bite-size acorn cookie shapes. These are perfect for fall and packed with delicious flavor. If you are a hazelnut lover like me, you will love the cookie recipe that yields plenty of dough to make some large cookies too! Read to the bottom for mini cookie cereal, hazelnut butter, and large soft hazelnut cookie tips.

(hazelnut cookie recipe inspired by NY Times cooking)

Hazelnut Cookie Acorns

Makes: 120+ acorns

Ingredients

• 6 oz skinned hazelnuts
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• Hershey kisses
• mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread the hazelnuts evenly over the top. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F to bring out the flavor. Let cool.
2. Prepare two aluminum baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Process the hazelnuts in a food processor to a coarse texture. Remove 1/4 cup of the chopped nuts and set aside. Process the remaining batch to a fine crumb. Add the oil and blend together into hazelnut butter. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix on high until light and fluffy.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and reserved 1/4 cup of processed hazelnuts. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue to mix on high until combined into a loose dough.
6. To create acorns, the size of the cookie is key. You want the cookie, when baked, to just go over the edges of the Hershey kiss. I highly recommend baking a few in different sizes to get the exact right size, it’s much smaller than you think! I typically fit 40 “large dough pearls” on a large baking sheet when I make mini cookies.
7. Bake at 350F for 6-8 minutes and let cool completely.
8. To assemble the acorns, re-heat an aluminum baking sheet. Place the bottom of a Hershey kiss on the hot baking sheet until it’s a little melty and press gently to the bottom of the cookie. Do the same for the mini chocolate morsel top and let dry to harden.

Have extra mini cookies? Bake them a little longer to a hard crisp and make yourself a sweet morning treat with mini cookie cereal!

Have extra dough? Roll into golf ball size rounds and bake for 8-10 minutes for delicious hazelnut cookies! Have extra hazelnuts? Make more hazelnut butter for other recipes or preserve it in a jar as a spread.